BRICE FIELDER CHECKS IN THIS MORNING 8/19/26

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Good morning. All right. Thanks for joining us. So uh lots of kids aren't they starting school today, Nick, in Ori County?

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Ori County, first crystal day back.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Oh, look at that. And Bryce is here right on time. There's a lot of uh, it seems like good news coming out with the reading initiative going on in Ori County. Uh, could you tell us more about that, Bryce?

SPEAKER_03 0:39

Absolutely. So the latest round of test scores that tell us how students are doing in reading and math and science recently came out. And so this comes from FC Ready. This is something many parents will know well. It's taken by students in grades three through eight. And um, before I get to the scores, I'll talk a little bit about sort of how it works. It's pretty simple. The scores range from doesn't meet expectations sort of at the bottom end to exceeds expectations at the top end. Um, if you're meeting expectations, that's considered to be at grade level, and that's sort of the pivotal area where we want to see kids at least being at or above grade level. So talk a little bit about Ori. Um, in eighth grade, the number of kids meeting or exceeding expectations in reading increased by four points, right? And so these latest results are from the 2025-26 school year, the school year that just most recently passed. And that percentage of eighth graders that I mentioned is now sitting at 64%, which is which is admirable, absolutely. Um English and language arts scores uh in third grade increased by two points. What really stood out to me though is in math, okay, the number of eighth graders at or above grade level jumped by eight points year over year, coming in at just under half. So the total number of kids that are at or above grade level in eighth grade is still less than half, but we saw a major jump year over year, suggesting that if we keep doing the right thing, that teachers and kids keep working at it, we'll see positive gains that will put us into a territory that we want to be in. And the whole backdrop of this list is that South Carolina, excuse me, has a target of ensuring that at least 75% of kids are doing math and reading at or above grade level by 2030. So that's the target that collectively all of our schools and districts and parents and teachers and everyone is sort of striving towards together.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

You know, where does the parenting piece come into this? Because uh we talk about this topic a lot with United Ways Education Director. Uh, and they are trying to do a lot of things with kindergarten readiness. And a lot of people who send their kids to uh to uh school they're saying, Well, you know, uh the school's doing nothing. My kid's behind in reading, and it's like, well, what did you do for the first you know, three, four, five years of your child's life?

SPEAKER_03 3:13

Um and so I'm just wondering if there's anything in the study that reflects how they came in for kindergarten Well I don't know that kindergarten was was covered in this assessment because this is for three through eight. But as far as the importance of reading at home, I mean it couldn't be more important. I mean all parents are encouraged to start reading early. Don't wait for when it's being taught in school. You know, take the initiative, start reading books. I remember vividly my father sort of starting to teach me how to read well before it started in school, and that was a big boost for me. So by the time that I actually got into school, I I in many ways I felt like I was much more prepared and much more ready. So it's uh it's a holistic experience. And when you look at sort of different initiatives to improve literacy, a lot of it talks about at-home efforts, and so that's a huge thing that parents can do.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Yeah, because I'm thinking, you know, if 54% of third grade students statewide read at grade level. Um and I'm guessing that means that the rest of them are under grade level, not above, right? I mean, I don't know. That's right. Okay. So um so if the rest of them are under grade level, that's that's really not good. And, you know, it's you can't blame the schools completely. Uh so what are we pinning? What are we saying? Uh why are children not reading at grade level? It's one thing to point it out, but do we know why?

SPEAKER_03 4:44

Well, that's that's the million-dollar question. That look, there's a there's a multitude of factors. Um, COVID is not an excuse by any means, but it obviously set things back a couple years. Uh I hate to say it, you know, we're six years out, but we're still seeing seeing some of the lingering effects. We are getting back to where we were before that, but that was a big obstacle because of those extended school closures. Um, and a lot of it has to do with individual conditions at the school. What we really like to see is where schools that are have a high percentage of kids that are in poverty is when they make the most gains. Because what it shows you is that despite maybe some different demographic factors and some challenges at home, if you have the right recipe in the schools with good leadership and good curriculum and good teachers, gains are possible for every student. And so, you know, certainly not a time to be making excuses. Um, if things continue on the right track, we we hope, based on the data, that that percentage of grade level proficiency will continue to go up. The gains in the last couple of years have been promising for that so far.

SPEAKER_02 5:51

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Okay. Uh, what else did you want to bring to light uh for us? And we're speaking with Bryce Fielder from Carolina's Academic Leadership Network. Um how you know there are people that uh in engage in all sorts of summer reading camps, and and in Georgetown, there there is a push or a an um uh I guess a framework that the kids go to school kind of all year long. And I'm wondering, has there been any comparison about that? And was there a good showing of kids in Ori County participating in summer reading camps? I mean, what kind of data do we have on that?

SPEAKER_03 6:32

Oh boy, the year-round schooling. I mean, I don't know that you could pick a more contentious issue among parents. I mean, I'll tell you who really loves their their summer breaks, so the parents and the kid. Um the data is interesting, right? So the the argument in favor of something like year-round schooling is there's no extended summer break, right? And people will point to when your kid is out of school for two and a half months, there's there's gonna be maybe a level of learning loss because they're just not engaged at school and they're and they're back home. And so you maybe lose a little bit of opportunity. So the benefit of year-round schooling is that they're in the whole time. Um, you know, I I don't have any immediate data in front of me. It's still kind of an experimental thing, um, but it's something we get a lot of questions about from even from school board members about what are other districts doing to this. And I I I and the parents that I speak with, a lot of them are are uh have strong feelings about it, uh, you know, in both directions.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Yeah, I mean I don't know. Nick, how do you feel about it if your kid was going to school year-round as opposed to, you know, uh having summers off? Do you think that would be more beneficial? Well, other countries. His daughter just entered first grade, second grade.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

My daughter's second grade, yeah. Second grade. Um you know, I know other countries have success with it. They think that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

Well, Georgetown has successfully.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Well, and then there's that. Yeah. I I honestly don't know. It's such a foreign thing for me that immediately I would think no. But I mean, if you can show me the data, how it's going to improve, what it will improve, I I I think the summers off are a good thing for kids, but that's me.

SPEAKER_03 8:16

Yeah, I I think this is one of those things where we put a lot of stock into this question. Does it have a big impact? Does it not? It I think it might on the margins. I think the most important factors are the same things we've all known for a long time, which is high-quality teachers, uh, hands-on instruction, teacher at the front of the classroom, leading the class, heavy on reading, building reading stamina. You mentioned earlier about one of the things that we could potentially talk about. There's an initiative in Ori called Rise of Reading. And I got to give credit to your superintendent, Clifford Jones. He really seems to be leading the charge on a few key initiatives. Talked about, like his zero-based budgeting proposal, which we had not really seen used at the local school district level. And they have set a very ambitious goal of making or having 95% of kids in the district reading at or above grade level by 2030, again, compared to the 75 for South Carolina. And one of the things that they're emphasizing, which is really important, is building reading stamina and reading full-length books, um, which has taken a huge hit in the era of smartphones and TikTok and short form content and reducing attention spans. And so we hope that they have success with that, and that in doing so, our other districts can look at what Ori's doing and maybe model some policies around that.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Okay. Nick, you had a question on the budget blinds text line.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Uh yeah, this individual said, and I didn't heard this. Uh my daughter's in a charter school, so we're not aware of what, but I guess in Ori County schools, this uh this whole thing about the no homework policy this year. Have you heard about this? This individual who texted in uh said it seems like a good way to bring low-scoring kids, you know, their scores up. What have you heard about this and what is your experience with it?

SPEAKER_03 10:07

Uh a no homework policy would be news to me. That would be something we I'd have to look a little bit more into. Is that like grade level? Is that year-round? Is this a a new pilot initiative or something like that? My gut says don't like it, right? Just because, you know, as as much as we sort of dislike homework, it is a way to keep students engaged and working at home. It doesn't need to be a lot, but as a way to test their knowledge there too. Yeah. So I'd have to uh I'd look a little bit more into it.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

I would have to agree with you because my daughter gets limited homework, but it is it's a great way to say, hey, you've got a responsibility here, you've got to do this and you've got to get it done. And it's a great teaching tool in and of itself, just the exercise.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

Yeah, and on the accountability front too. You're in charge of doing your own homework. Don't make mom or dad come check on you, you turn it in. I agree.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

You know what I liked about homework? I mean, my kids are old now, but I like the fact that I get to see what they're doing because otherwise you don't have a clue. You know? So when they get the work home, and then you can say, Hey, my kid's not getting this, and uh, you know, or you know what I what used to drive me nuts is when they would come home with this quote unquote new math. And I'm like, I don't know the new math. What is this new math? This is how you do it. And then you teach a kid like the old way, you know, and then they go to school and they're like, no, we're supposed to show our work. This is the new way. Like, what is this new math? Math is math. Why why are we doing it new? You know? So sometimes, you know, you're kind of left in the lurch because you don't you don't want to counteract what they're learning and the way they're being taught. But um, sometimes it seems like they make things so complicated.

SPEAKER_03 11:51

Absolutely. Yeah. It gets to a point where you you look at the homework and say, I don't know that I can help you with this because I don't know what to talk about on the page there. We have a tendency, you know, we figure out a good way that things work, and then we really love to overcomplicate it for the many years to find out it was a big mistake that we've got to go back. And that's just the story of education in a lot of ways.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Yeah, it would be kind of cool if the teacher could like do a little video and there'd be like some kind of parap and say, hey, parents, tonight I'm sending home this homework. Uh, this is how you do it. And reinforce this at home.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

But why do we always have to reinvent the wheel?

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Math is math. Oh no. They made new math. I'm like, how what's new about it? Uh, do you remember that? You were well, you weren't having children then.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

No, did they discover some new norms I was unaware of back in the day?

SPEAKER_01 12:41

It's like ridiculous. All right. Well, thank you so much, Bryce. Is there anything that you'd like to share, any upcoming events or anything like that?

SPEAKER_03 12:50

Sure. Uh, people can join us virtually. We're hosting a webinar next week talking about the role of your school board attorney. I promise we will make it interesting. Um, having a good school board attorney can make a big difference for the district, and having a not so good attorney can also have not so great results. So we'll be talking about that on a webinar uh next Wednesday at noon. You can sign up for that and visit our website at schoolboardleader.com.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

All right, Bryce Fielder, thank you so much for all that information. We uh appreciate it. We'll talk to you next time.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

Thanks, Liz.