Two-thirds of students who can't read by fifth grade end up on welfare or in jail.
This episode is part two of a discussion on Mike Schmoker's book 'Results Now 2.0: The Untapped Opportunities for Swift Dramatic Gains in Achievement.' Host Brett Anderson begins by acknowledging community advocate Grandma Harris and Omaha Mayor John Ewing's recognition of her daughter. He then transitions to sharing what Schmoker calls 'little-known facts' about public education, citing various studies from 1999 to 2022. These statistics reveal that U.S. students have a 1 in 14 chance of being in an effective classroom, two-thirds of literacy blocks are ineffective, and there's a strong correlation between illiteracy and incarceration. Anderson discusses Schmoker's emphasis on curriculum, highlighting the concept of 'curricular chaos' where teachers in the same school teach entirely different content. He cites research showing alarming variance in what students learn depending on their teacher. The host explores international comparisons, noting how France, Germany, and Sweden experienced achievement declines after abandoning national curricula, with Germany rebounding after reinstating theirs. Anderson shares success stories like Massachusetts' curriculum-focused reforms that led to top NAEP scores and Brockton High School's dramatic turnaround through a literacy-rich curriculum. He also mentions an Arizona school with over 90% poverty that improved math scores by developing clear curriculum maps. The episode concludes with action questions for educational leaders about conducting curriculum audits and monitoring implementation, followed by positive quotes from John Gordon and Daniel Decker and a promotion of Anderson's own book.
