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SDE Spotlight: “JOB ONE - Academic Growth and Achievement”
JOB ONE - Academic Growth and Achievement
Dr. Eric Mackey
One of the first endeavors I undertook as State Superintendent of Education was to pull together a committee of stakeholders and develop a strategic plan that focused squarely on my primary objective – student academic growth.
While compiling the contents of the plan, it became obvious that although there are more than 720,000 students in Alabama’s public schools, our goal is to make sure we reach and have a positive impact on every student in K-12, every opportunity possible, all the time. And so, our slogan was established: Every Child, Every Chance, Every Day. But platitudes without a strategy fall short of what our strategic plan mandates. To make sure we fulfill the promise of our plan, we are putting systems in place, and investing in programs that will affirmatively answer three fundamental questions:
• Will it help our students become better readers? • Will it help our students be better prepared for success in Algebra? • Will it help our students become more productive, responsible citizens when they graduate high school and enter into the workforce?
This year as we enter the legislative session, we did so with an understanding of the areas we need to focus on most and clear expectations for academic growth and achievement for Alabama students. The Alabama Achieves strategic plan outlines five areas of interest: Academic Growth and Achievement, College, Career, and Workforce Readiness, Safe and Supportive Learning Environments, Highly Effective Educators, and Customer Friendly Services. Although each of these areas are critical to establishing a more perfect public school system, Academic Growth and Achievement are the pinnacle of priority.
Dr. Eric G. Mackey currently serves as the Alabama State Superintendent of Education. Prior positions include executive director of the School Superintendents of Alabama, superintendent of Jacksonville City Schools, principal, and assistant principal. Throughout his career, Dr. Mackey has been an advocate for increased rigor and advanced high school courses as well as challenging elementary and middle school classes. He and his wife, Robin, have three boys, John (22), Brandon (19), and Christopher (14).
@egmackey
The Alabama Literacy Act, established in 2019, mandates all students entering the 4th grade read on grade level or face the possibility of retention. The point of the law is not to be punitive towards students, but rather to identify struggling readers early and showcase the array of reading resources available to them ahead of time. The goal is to push students forward, not hold them back.
In addition to much needed help from parents utilizing the new Read-at-Home Plan for Student Success, we have also asked the Alabama Legislature to fund the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) with $59 million – on par with last year’s appropriation. This allowed for Alabama to increase the number of Reading Coaches who receive LETRS training (LETRS is professional development that helps teachers understand how students think and learn to read) from 0 to 11,761 in one year. Also
