While much of , in the southern states of the United States, an educational policy revolution is taking place that is breaking many schemes.
In Spain, Europe and much of the United States, we continue to be immersed in power dynamics between actors. Administrations are not capable of implementing measures to improve the real learning of students, when this has become the main challenge of modern educational systems.
Both in what and, above all, in how, the so-called “Rise of the South” (Southern Surge) is unprecedented. Several of the poorest states in the United States, such as Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi or Alabama, historically at the bottom in reading and mathematics in primary school according to the NAEP tests, have starred in one of the most relevant improvement stories in a context of generalized decline that began in 2013.
The case of Mississippi is illustrative: it went from being the state with the worst reading levels in 4th grade to reaching the national average, and it achieved this by raising the results of the black minority: in just 20 years, African-American students in Mississippi went from occupying 43rd place to third place nationally. In Tennessee, improvement in 8th grade was the fastest in the country. It wasn’t magic. Nor taxes, as the meme would say. It was a smart investment, and, above all, a conscientious implementation. These are the four “southern lessons” that are worth taking into account.
1. Take reading and mathematics curricular materials seriously. In reading, many states and districts in the USA have historically positioned themselves in favor of global reading (rather than phonics), which has shown disastrous results. However, the southern states changed strategy and opted for explicit and systematic teaching in phonetics, phonology, and morphological awareness. Furthermore, against the national trend, reading plans were promoted with rich texts that incorporated a wide range of knowledge of history, science or geography. The latter is perhaps the most relevant for the Spanish case, which even having been successful for decades with a reading model based on phonetics, remains in the infinite loop separating content and skills as if they were not part of the same thing. In mathematics, in addition, the focus has been on returning to clear learning standards and ensuring that primary teachers have a deep understanding of the subject. The objective was teaching based on solid mathematical principles and with a logical sequence, demonstrating that innovation is not at odds with academic discipline. Perhaps the most important thing is that, while in the United States it is common for states to evaluate the materials that are going to enter their schools, in Spain we still have not developed institutions that review said materials. Then we put our hands on our heads with the , which, by the way, have happened in advanced systems like the North American one.
2. Rethink grade repetition in Primary. Several of these states adopted controversial laws that promote grade repetition around age 8 or 9, and only once. This measure, today residual in most countries of the world in Primary, pursued a very simple goal. Ensure that all students knew how to read before they could learn by reading. The tool was not summative but formative (and therefore early prevention), since all students who repeat or are at risk of doing so receive intensified and individualized support before, during and after this process. Causal evaluations of the measure show that, indeed, when combining the measure with accompanying and reinforcing measures, the effect has been positive in reading and mathematics in the short term (see , or ). This is somewhat surprising since all the causal literature on repetition in secondary school shows a notably negative impact on the continuation of studies.
3. The implementation, the vault key. Instead of financing scattered and unevaluated projects, the southern states invested resources in implementing their new vision well. This meant several things. First, the aforementioned exhaustive and professional reviews of the curricular material that entered the classrooms; second, the development of materials and guides with teachers, incorporating practical use cases to train all teachers (with a separate remuneration); third, the hiring of intermediate figures (trainers, coachesspecialists) to train all teachers, finding the time necessary to provide that training. For example, in the case of Tennessee, the data shows that he received training on using materials and guides on teaching reading.
4. Real progress involves intensive use of data to track it. It is advisable to banish the usual caricature, which tends to inelegantly protect an opaque and low-responsibility model of the educational sector. Periodically evaluating whether a 10-year-old child understands a written text is not being resultsist (or neoliberal): it is radically protecting his or her right to education. He Southern Surge was sustained with exemplary data management. Everything was rigorously monitored: from teacher training to student learning. The data was not only used to measure the final result, but to adjust the implementation in real time. The key was not to have data, but to use it to make pedagogical decisions at the center level at all times.
He “Southern Rise“is difficult to digest in our sector, so polarized and pessimistic, because it has ingredients that can be perceived as conservative (repetition, standards, intensive evaluation) and progressive (additional public investment, focus on equity and support for teachers). And because it has unapologetically addressed both the processes (having teachers and accompanying them) and the results (the increase in learning gaps have been reduced or protected). What is happening in a place as unexpected as the southern states – all They are governed by republican administrations, by the way – in any case it invites reflection.
The reality is that we must begin, radically, to do educational policy in a different way, thinking more about the how and not so much about the what. As Michael Barber, education advisor to the Blair and Brown governments in the United Kingdom, said that they brought so many improvements in financing and results: “We think that in educational policy 90% of success comes from having good ideas and the remaining 10% from implementing them; but it’s just the other way around. Only 10 percent has to do with deciding what you want to do; the other 90 percent are the blood, sweat and tears of relentless implementation”.
