Panel advances
literacy standards
for schools

Reformers rejoice as standards
for reading are moved to the
full Board of Education

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By Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com

Kindergartners should be able to recognize some words by sight.

A first-grader should be able to read one-syllable words fluently. A second-grader should be able to read with phrasing and expression.

And a third-grader should be able to read 120 words per minute.

The building blocks for these grade-by-grade expectations are outlined in key documents approved by a state Board of Education committee yesterday as part of the board's quest to improve reading in the public schools.

"I'm just so pleased with it," said Denise Matsumoto, chairwoman of the Regular Education Committee and the board's main literacy advocate. "I've been working toward seeing something like this happen for 12 years."

The committee approved the performance standards for language arts -- the first set of performance standards to be approved since revised content standards were approved by the board in 1999 -- as part of the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards, which is Superintendent of Education Paul LeMahieu's cornerstone of reform. Standards for academic content set out what a child should know, be able to do and care about, while performance standards assess how good is good enough.

Matsumoto's committee will take up performance standards for math, science and social studies next month.

"The performance standards are carrying out the content standards. It's what kids are going to be taught. It gives more direction and guidance to teachers, many of whom have already implemented the content standards," Matsumoto said. "And (teachers) can look at the activities they're doing with students to make sure it's directly linked to the standards and what the students actually have to know and be able to do."

The committee also gave the green light yesterday to what is called "A Curriculum Framework for Reading Instruction."

"With the framework, it's breaking down (the standards) even further. It's more specific," Matsumoto said. "It gets into the actual instruction -- what am I doing, how much time am I spending with these students to read, how often do I assess my students, and do I know where each child is in my class?"

For example, a performance standard for kindergarten and first-graders expects a student to retell stories that the student has read with assistance or has heard someone else read.

But the framework document breaks it down further: A student in kindergarten can retell a story, including characters, settings and important events.

Matsumoto said her committee in August will discuss implementation of the performance standards and the related components and any additional funding the department would need to accomplish the task.

The performance standards and the reading framework will be voted on by the full board in August.