K-3 literacy program adopted by NC is killing it
Program is part of Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021
This huge news about K-3 literacy achievement flew under the radar for a lot of folks (but not me, obviously).
“Based on middle-of-year testing data, North Carolina kindergarten through third grade students again outpaced their peers on a national level. North Carolina kindergarteners improved by 22 percent from the beginning- to middle-of-year assessment while nationally the same age group improved by only 13 percent.
The assessment – DIBELS 8 (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) – consists of a set of measures designed to evaluate component skills involved in reading.
Since implementation in 2021-22, North Carolina students have steadily increased their benchmark results from 47 percent at or above benchmark in 2021-22, to 53 percent in 2022-23 and now to 56 percent in the current school year’s middle-of-year assessment. From the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, there are over 20,000 fewer students below benchmark and more than 34,000 students at or above benchmark.”
The program being credited with the continued uptick in reading is The Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, or LETRS.
LETRS was picked as the program to roll out phonics based reading as part of the legislature’s Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021. NC State Superintendent Catherine Truitt spearheaded getting LETRS front and center as part of the Act.
Governor Roy Cooper vetoed that Act the first time around, by the way.
Per the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), “By July, all 115 school districts will have completed LETRS training, totaling 44,000 K-5 educators.”
DPI also noted that “While scores have been steadily rising for all subgroups, achievement gaps persist among Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native children and their white and Asian peers.”
These literacy gains are HUGE and are unparalleled when comparing North Carolina to other states in K-3 reading.
More To The Story
The Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021 was a Senate bill championed by Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden).
Senate Republicans issued a press release about the recent news, calling out major media outlets for their lack of coverage.
“Despite being a newsworthy update, the announcement has been ignored by so-called “news” outlets like the News & Observer, WRAL, and EdNC, North Carolina’s sole education-focused media outlet,” the press release from Senate Republicans reads.
The press release went on to single out EducationNC (EdNC):
In EdNC’s case, the “nonpartisan” organization is instead promoting divisive DEI and CRT initiatives, and providing ad nauseam coverage of the governor’s publicity tour, where he hypocritically criticizes parents for utilizing school choice options. As a reminder, Gov. Cooper understands the importance of school choice, considering one of his daughters attended a private school.
EducationNC is supposed to be a non-partisan 501(c)3 outlet but it could be viewed as donor advocacy driven due to its hefty funding from left-leaning donors.
Since 2017, tax filings show EdNC received $8,925,650 in “Gifts, grants, contributions, and membership fees.”
In Fiscal Year 2022, EdNC’s revenue was $4,993,876. Net income was $2,759,021 and expenses came in at $2,234,855.
That year’s paid employees included Mebane Rash (President/CEO) with $178,967, Nation Hahn (Director of Growth) at $137,720, Molly Urquhart (Director of Policy And Research) at $115,220, and Virginia Drescher (Director of Operations) with $110,637.
High-level donors ($15k up to over $100k) have included SAS, Goodnight Educational Foundation, and a group with very little transparency called the “Low Wealth Schools Consortium.”
EdNC has also received $400k in grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of which was for “Global Policy and Advocacy.”
A significant EdNC donor is the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (ZSR), which has bankrolled every left and far-left organization in the state including the left’s main organizing hub, Blueprint NC.
On it’s website, ZSR promotes groups it has a stake in, including EdNC.
ZSR, per its own published timeline, provided “startup” funds for EdNC in 2014 and has supplied a large amount of funding to EdNC for “operating support.”
2022 - $100,000
2021 - $50,000
2020 - $150,000 (2 grants, $100k and $50k)
2019 - $100,000
2018, 2017 - Unknown, ZSR filing did not attach an itemized grants list.
2016 - $125,000 (2 grants, $100K and $25K)
2015 - $75,000
2014 - $75,000
Current Democratic candidate for NC state superintendent, Maurice “Mo” Green led ZSR for nearly the last seven years.
The latest ZSR tax filing from 2022 shows Green was making $325,703 plus an additional $60,873 from outside sources.
EdNC did a very long write-up last fall on his candidacy announcement, noting at the end ZSR funding but also Green’s direct involvement with their organization:
The editor in this editor’s note is the CEO, Mebane Rash, who has ZSR ties too.
I looked into EdNC when it launched back in2015 and found Rash’s LinkedIn profile at that time listed her as having previously worked for The N.C. Center for Public Policy Research. That old LinkedIn bio was light on education and heavy on legal experience and stated an interesting fact, that ” she currently serves on the inaugural Z. Smith Reynolds Leadership Council.”
Note: I am not trying to cast anyone in a bad light here. I’m just presenting what I know. I’ve met Rash a number of times; she’s a great person and was very accommodating when I asked questions.
A quick note about EdNC’s founding.
It was previously called “Emerging Tar Heel Leaders Inc.,” according to the NC Secretary of State and the EdNC website at the time of it’s launch:
“EdNC was founded by Gerry Hancock and Ferrel Guillory. Mebane Rash serves as the CEO, President, and Editor-in-Chief. The CEO has independent control of all content. Our Board of Directors guides the mission, strategic vision, and financial sustainability of EdNC. EdNC is a 501(c)(3), formerly known as Emerging Tar Heel Leaders Inc., and our work is supported by foundation grants, corporate contributions, individual contributions, and event revenue. “
Emerging Tar Heel Leaders used to have a website that resided at “www.ethl.org ” according to its now-defunct website. The WayBack Machine offered some archived page hits of the page.
The partners for Emerging Tar Heels included Blue Cross Blue Shield NC (BCBSNC). EducationNC’s board includes Brad Wilson, President and CEO of BCBCNC.
Gerry Hancock has been involved with NC Public Schools Forum, as are many of the original and current EducationNC board members.
Ferrell Guillory has ties to Jim Hunt, The Hunt Institute and UNC.
According to the excerpt on EducationNC for Guillory when the site launched, he was “Executive Director, Program in Public Life & Professor of the Practice of Journalism, UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication Author, Reporter, and Former Editor of the Editorial Page, News & Observer Member, NC Journalism Hall of Fame.”
Now his profile, and Hancock’s, just says, “EdNC Founder.”
Final note - EdNC has provided some useful reporting since its inception but its founders, Guillory in particular, are very biased and the site gives one-sided opinion pieces a platform quite a bit. I’ve personally found most of the articles written by Guillory and certain authors tend to contain what I call “narrative drivers.” These narrative drivers are elements that literally drive a specific agenda item, narrative, or ideological perspective more often than not from the progressive left.
Quick Update: Despite overwhelming evidence LETRS is working, the News and Observer’s editorial board trashed the program in 2021. Wonder if they’ll backtrack?