End of Reading First

Although the new federal budget includes a funding boost for the Education Department, Reading First will be ending. I guess I'll be able to carry my experiences and knowledge of RF into my future research, and I'll understand the RF policy era and can account for the sediment it leaves behind. Of course I wonder which structures and practices from RF will remain, and I'm curious how districts and states will choose what to do next. Will California give more choices to its districts? Will Open Court TEs gather dust in classrooms? Will teachers turn back to contextualized phonics instruction and lit circles? It seems like another policy window is opening!

Back to catalysts

If I'm going to obtain data about school leaders who are attempting to change teachers' approaches to reading instruction, then I need to revisit my Catalytic Strength paper that used Fligstein's concept of social skill...

To do:

• re-read MY paper
• re-read FLIGSTEIN paper on social skill
• make a list of other references that I should check out
• determine how I can "see" social skill in schools (especially during the coaching cycle and in interactions between coach, principal, and teacher)
• figure out what background information I need about the school, its actors, etc [the context part of the paper]