The National Board of Education Sciences (NBES) held a short meeting on May 13, to approve its response to Senator Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) report on the lack of proficient reading among K-12 students, discuss the status of hiring an executive director for the Board, and share the ideal qualities of a new IES director.
The Cassidy report, titled “Preventing a Lost Generation: Facing a Critical Moment for Students’ Literacy,” seeks to promote the “science of reading” in classrooms across the country as a solution to falling literacy standards. While the NBES policy committee noted in their letter that the report’s emphasis on the science of reading has merit, they also reiterated that it is necessary to consider the full spectrum of evidence-based teaching methods. They suggested that any approach to improving literacy should take into account social-emotional learning (SEL) techniques, which helps students with critical thinking skills and is linked to higher test scores. During the Board’s last meeting, a panel presented about the utility of SEL in the classroom and found that its benefits helped with literacy while improving morale and classroom behavior.
The Board talked about the 2000 National Reading Panel to education science. The Panel’s 2000 report covered eight areas of reading education including: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, text comprehension, independent reading, computer assisted instruction, and teacher professional development. Since then, new research has looked at the role of different teaching practices, including SEL, and that a new panel should analyze the newest research. The Board believe that Congress should consider re-establishing the panel, as recommended in their letter.
NBES is looking to hire an Executive Director to liaise with Congress. Hiring an executive director will help them to support IES’s research priorities. The applications closed on May 17. The Board intends to hire an executive director by the end of this summer.
The Board discussed what they would like to see in a permanent Director. Matthew Soldner, PhD, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), has been serving as the interim director since April. The Board suggested that an ideal director should:
- Understand the federal policy landscape and how to navigate the complexities of the federal government.
- Have experience in government, education, and academia.
Once a new NBES Executive Director is in place, the Board hopes to have an in-person retreat.
