Tag: Education

Apr 25

2024

Reading scores lag across WNY

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Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series. It’s not just Buffalo where students are struggling to read and write. Only 39 percent of third through fifth graders in Western New York’s 99 school districts scored at grade level on recent English Language Arts tests. What’s more, 31 percent of students lack even basic reading and writing skills. In some districts, including Buffalo and Niagara Falls, that figure approaches or exceeds 50 percent. The problems extend from the city to the countryside, urban neighborhoods to suburban cul de sacs, according to an Investigative Post analysis of New York[...]

Posted 21 hours ago

Jan 31

2024

Pushing for phonics-based reading instruction

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Education advocates called on state leaders Tuesday to step up their commitment to phonics-based instruction to address poor reading skills in students across New York. “Reading is foundational,” said Jeff Smink, interim executive director for The Education Trust-New York said at a press conference at the state Capitol. “Fundamentally, it’s a civil right that’s necessary to participate fully in American society … Unfortunately, in New York, we have too many students that don’t have that right.” New York remains one of the few states in the country that has not passed legislation focused on the “science of reading” – a[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 26

2023

Garrett Looker’s reporting on literacy

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Over the past year, parents, school district officials, education experts, and a smattering of others have told me – either directly or off-hand – that literacy is the key to a child’s future.  It’s not necessarily surprising, nor is it a revelation.  But after a year unpacking the state of reading in Buffalo, there’s at least one conclusion that can be reached: learning to read is complex. At the core of it is a battle for a fair, equitable education for all of Buffalo’s children, education experts have said. “Our district has a commitment to improving the literacy rates of[...]

Posted 4 months ago

Aug 6

2023

Podcast: “Book deserts” signal disinvestment

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Investigative Post’s I’Jaz Ja’ciel and Garrett Looker have reported on the state of literacy and access to books throughout Buffalo. Literacy experts say parts of the city’s East Side are “book deserts.” In this latest episode of Investigative Post’s Reporter’s Notebook, Looker and Ja’ciel talk about their months-long analysis of library data and book access. Watch via YouTube or listen as a podcast.

Posted 9 months ago

Jul 25

2023

Cashing in on the post-pandemic learning crisis

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This story is republished from ProPublica, a nonprofit, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Investigative Post republishes its work from time to time. For the nation’s schoolchildren, the data on pandemic learning loss is relentlessly bleak, with education researchers and economists warning that, unless dramatic action is taken, students will suffer a lifelong drop in income as a result of lagging achievement. “This cohort of students is going to be punished throughout their lifetime,” noted Eric Hanushek, the Stanford economist who did the income study, in ProPublica’s recent examination of the struggle to make up for what students missed out on during[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jun 30

2023

Phil Rumore: An appreciation (of sorts)

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Phil Rumore is considered Public Enemy No. 1 by a fair number of people in this town. His term as president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation ends today, and a lot of folks are happy to see him go.  I get it. He can be obstinate. The Buffalo teachers he represents enjoy generous health insurance benefits through to retirement. Nary a teacher gets fired for incompetence. Settling grievances, of which there were many, could be overly difficult. But you know what? All these years, 42 of them, he was doing his job. He didn’t represent taxpayers or students or their[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jun 7

2023

Podcast: How tax breaks deplete school budgets

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Last week, Investigative Post’s J. Dale Shoemaker reported on tax subsidies distributed by industrial development agencies — subsidies that deprive school districts of millions of dollars each year. In this latest episode of Investigative Post’s Reporter’s Notebook, host Garrett Looker sat down with Shoemaker to talk about his months-long analysis into how tax subsidies are affecting school districts. Watch via YouTube or listen as a podcast.

Posted 11 months ago

Feb 23

2023

Most suburbs lag on reading instruction

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Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series. Our previous story focused on the challenges face by Buffalo schools and its adoption of a phonics-based approach. Unlike 30 other states, New York does not require a phonics-based approach to reading instruction. That leaves each of the state’s 731 school districts free to select its own reading curriculum. “New York, in general, is behind most other states when it comes to this, which I think is reflected in the reading scores,” said Jeff Smink, deputy director of The Education Trust – New York. “Every district is like the Wild West,”[...]

Posted 1 year ago
Investigative Post

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