A young child reading a book. The Alabama Literacy Task Force could reconsider portions of a portfolio tied to the 2019 Literacy Act. (Catherine McQueen/Getty Images)
Alabama’s Alabama Reading Initiative Director said at a Literacy Task Force meeting Friday that the Task Force could think about considerations on portfolios for certain populations of students.
Bonnie Short, director of the Alabama Reading Initiative, said that areas she heard the most about included blind and deaf students, as well as English language learners.
“As your director of literacy, I hear the most about and I’m not saying that any changes need to take place, but I do think we need to be very thoughtful and make sure that we take that as a consideration, because they do have some very unique situations,” she said.
The Alabama Literacy Act, passed in 2019, aims to have students reading on grade level by the end of third grade. Third-grade students who do not meet necessary requirements, such as a test, could be retained. The law also created the Task Force to make recommendations around reading programs and instruction in the state.
The 2023-24 school year was the first year of full implementation after years of delays.
Students can also advance in some other limited ways, such as good cause exemptions for students who have received intensive reading intervention for more than two years and still demonstrate a deficiency or were previously retained in a previous grade, according to the 2023 ALSDE Literacy Act FAQ. Students can also advance if they meet an acceptable score on the supplemental test or “Master grade 3 Essential Reading Standards” in a student reading portfolio.
Members went around the room and added comments in red, green and purple to sheets of paper labeled as items like “portfolio” to say why something should be a priority; should be delayed or should be a consideration after a review is done.
One purple consideration on the portfolio paper around the room was that English learner students could have other things considered, like the WIDA test, which is given to English learner students to test progress in learning academic English.
Ana Behel, English Language Development Teacher in Florence City Schools, said that the two tests, WIDA and reading, were not the same. She said the WIDA test measures more than literacy, and the literacy sub-portion is one where students struggle the most because it includes grade-level content, like language of science.
“I just think it’s two different things,” she said. “It’s not just reading.”
Behel said students learning English could potentially have texts in languages side-by-side and raised the question about whether it was about learning to read or learning to read in English.
“Do we want to know if the student can comprehend the text and make sense of it, or are we measuring English only?” she said.
Other members of the Task Force argued that it was part of an English Language Arts curriculum.
Kristy Watkins, chair and director of curriculum at Jasper City School District, said that they might also need clarification for visual and hearing impaired and English learner students on what that portfolio should look like.
Short told members that she would send out a survey to have members note what they see as needing potential revision.
“So that we can kind of get everyone’s voice at the table as to what they think about these different areas,” she said.
Justin Hefner, co-chair of the task force and Homewood City Schools superintendent, said that while the task force is required to meet a minimum of two times a year, if members decide that many areas need revision, they will likely need to meet more often.
“So I think we need to be mindful of how many times we wish to meet,” he said. “I think that if it comes back from the survey, Bonnie, that all of these need review, that’s going to be a lot.”
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