Last month, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer issued an executive order to create the "Arizona Ready" Education Council. Superceding the P-20 council Governor Brewer formed through earlier executive orders, the Arizona Ready Education Council will build upon the goals and strategies identified by the previous entity.
Is the council a new P-20 council for the state? While the executive order and related press release do not use the term "P-20", the council's diverse membership, and focus on improving student outcomes at key junctures (3rd grade reading, high school graduation, and baccalaureate completion) and improving teacher quality, suggest that the group is intended to function as such.
It will be important for the council to incorporate voices from the early learning community as the group works towards one of the objectives identified in the press release: to improve the number of 3rd graders reading at grade level from 73% to 94%. It is not clear that the council includes an explicit "P" representative at this time, yet the early years are critical for any state that intends to move the needle on 3rd grade reading proficiency.
No comments:
Post a Comment