While much of Western countries – including Spain – is seeing a real decline in learning outcomes, a revolution in educational policy is taking place in the southern states of the United States that is breaking many patterns.
In Spain, Europe, and much of the United States, we remain immersed in simple debates that intersect with power dynamics between actors. Managements are unable to implement policies and incentives with clear and measurable goals to improve students’ real learning, when this has become the main challenge of modern educational systems.
Both in terms of what and, above all, how of the so-called “rise of the South” (Southern boom) is unprecedented. Many of the poorest states in the United States, such as Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, or Alabama, which have historically been at the bottom in elementary school reading and mathematics according to NAEP tests, starred in one of the most relevant stories of improvement in the context of the overall decline that began in 2013.
The case of Mississippi is an illustrative example: It went from the state with the worst fourth-grade reading levels to reaching the national average, and it did so by raising black minority scores: In just twenty years, African-American students in Mississippi went from ranking forty-third to ranking third nationally. In Tennessee, improvement in eighth grade was the fastest in the country. It wasn’t magic. Nor taxes, as the meme says. It was a smart investment and, above all, thoughtful execution. These are the fourSouthern Lessons“Which deserves to be taken into consideration.
1. Take reading and math curriculum materials seriously. In the area of reading, many states and regions in the United States have historically positioned themselves in favor of universal reading (rather than phonics), with disastrous results. However, the southern states changed their strategy and chose explicit and systematic teaching in phonetics, phonology, and morphological awareness. Furthermore, contrary to the national trend, reading schemes were promoted with rich texts incorporating a wide range of knowledge in history, science or geography. The latter is perhaps most relevant to the case of Spanish, which, even after succeeding for decades with a phonics-based model of reading, remains in the infinite loop separating content and skills as if they were not part of the same thing. In mathematics, in addition, emphasis was placed on returning to clear educational standards and ensuring that primary teachers have a deep understanding of the subject. The goal was to teach based on solid mathematical principles and in a logical sequence, demonstrating that innovation does not conflict with academic discipline. Perhaps most important is that while it is common in the United States for states to evaluate the subjects that will enter their schools, in Spain we have not yet developed the institutions that review said subjects. Then we shake our heads at the newcomers, who by the way have passed these controls in advanced systems like the North American one.
2. Rethinking grade repetition at the primary level. Many of these states have adopted controversial laws that encourage repeating a grade at age 8 or 9, and only once. This procedure, which today remains in most countries of the world at the primary stage, seeks to achieve a very simple goal. Ensure that all students know how to read before they can learn by reading. The tool was not summative but formative (hence early prevention), as all students who repeat it or are at risk of doing so receive intensive and individualized support before, during and after this process. Causal evaluations of the measure show that, in fact, when the measure was combined with accompanying and reinforcement measures, the effect was positive in reading and mathematics in the short term (see here , here or here ). This is somewhat surprising because all of the causal literature on high school repetition shows a significant negative effect on persistence studies.
3. Execution, key to the safe. Instead of funding scattered, unevaluated projects, the southern states invested their resources in implementing their new vision well. This means several things. First, the above-mentioned comprehensive and professional reviews of curriculum materials that have entered classrooms; Second, develop materials and guides together with teachers, incorporating practical use cases to train all teachers (with separate pay); Third: Appointing intermediary figures (trainers, Trainersand specialists) to train all teachers, and find the time necessary to provide this training. For example, in the case of Tennessee, data shows that 96% of teachers received training in using materials and guides for teaching reading.
4. Real progress involves extensive use of data to track it. It is recommended to avoid the usual caricatures, which tend to inappropriately protect a vague and low-responsibility model of the educational sector. Periodically assessing how well a 10-year-old understands a written text is not an outcome-based (or neoliberal) measure: it radically protects his right to education. he Southern boom Maintained by perfect data management. Everything was strictly monitored: from teacher training to student learning. The data was used not only to measure the end result, but to fine-tune implementation in real time. The key was not to obtain data, but to use it to make pedagogical decisions at the center level at all times.
he “Rise of the South“It is difficult to digest in our sector, which is so polarized and pessimistic, because it has components that can be considered conservative (repetition, standards, intensive assessment) and progressive (additional public investment, focus on equity and support for teachers). And because it unapologetically addresses both processes (teacher presence and accompaniment) and outcomes (increases in learning gaps are reduced or protected). What is happening in a place as unexpected as the Southern states — all governed by departmental republics, by the way — is in any case thought-provoking.
The truth is that we must begin, radically, to implement education policy in a different way, thinking more about how and less about what. As Michael Barber, education adviser to the Blair and Brown governments in the UK, said, they brought many improvements in funding and outcomes: “We believe that 90% of success in education policy comes from having good ideas and the remaining 10% from implementing them; But it’s the opposite. Only 10% is about deciding what you want to do; The other 90 percent is the blood, sweat and tears of continuous implementation“.