Presentation delivered at the 2017 Tennessee Reading Association Meeting. Covers just some of the things I've learned over 40 years of work in education

1. WHAT I’VE LEARNED
ABOUT LITERACY OVER
FORTY YEARS
Keith Pruitt, Ed.S
www.woweducationalconsulting.com

3. Lesson #1
Politicians Rarely Fix
Anything!
• Elementary and
Secondary Act
• Head Start
• Creation of
Department of
Education
• Reading Excellence
• Reading First
• Core Knowledge
• Race to the Top
• NCLB
• IDEA
• Charter Schools
• NO PUBLIC SCHOOL
LEFT OPEN

4. There is nothing
Wrong with education
That can’t be fixed
By GOOD Educators!

6. Lesson #2
Continuing to do what we have always
done
Will continue to gets us what we’ve
always gotten.

7. HAVE WE BEEN GUILTY OF MALPRACTICE?
60-70 % of American
children are reading
below grade level.
77% of HS students can’t
pass the citizenship test.
Less than 50% of College
Freshmen are ready for
College level work.
85% of juveniles in the
justice system are
functionally illiterate.
1.2 million students drop
out of school every year in
the United States

8. I’m now going to tell
you everything I know
about life.
This won’t
take long.

9. Lesson #3
Schools are built for Children
not teachers.
They must be the focus of
instruction.

10. Lesson #4
Education isn’t about the
teaching
It’s about the Learning!

11. Lesson #5
Students need the same things
Today
That they needed forty years
Ago.
• Someone cares about them!
• Exposure to language
• Vocabulary
• Foundational skills
• To learn how to express
thoughts
• Choice in reading
• Engaging Literature
• Experiences
• Directionality
• Warm, welcoming environment
• Turn the snack bar into a buffet

12. Lesson #6

13. The teacher you
remember the
most are those
most passionate
about teaching.
Be the teacher your
students will
remember!

14. Thank You
www.woweducationalconsulting.co
m
Keith Pruitt