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Dear Colleague,
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
is pleased to present the enclosed education policy
recommendations, Ready
to Learn, Empowered to Teach: Excellence in Education
for the 21st Century, for inclusion in the national
debate over how best to help all of America’s children
achieve their fullest potential. NASP represents over
25,000 school psychologists who work with students,
educators, and families to support the academic achievement,
positive behavior, and mental wellness of all students,
especially those who struggle with barriers to learning.
We would like to collaborate with you to make education
that meets the needs of the whole child a national priority.
Ready
to Learn, Empowered to Teach outlines five principles
necessary to ensure excellence in education by lowering
barriers to learning and effective teaching. Too often,
students of all ages come to class struggling with life
challenges that can interfere with instruction, impede
achievement, and undermine the school climate. Preventing
or remedying such barriers is critical to school success.
Teachers cannot do this alone and it is counterproductive
to expect this of them. Effective student support services
enable teachers, administrators, and parents to know
how best to ensure that students are ready and able
to learn. They also help to select evidence-based interventions
to guide progress monitoring, and to implement accountability
measures that inform better instruction and provide
a comprehensive picture of student and school achievement.
The five Ready
to Learn, Empowered to Teach principles call
for providing:
1. Comprehensive curricula matched with individualized
instruction.
2. Sufficient student support services to address barriers
to learning for all students on a continuum of care
that engages families and community providers.
3. Comprehensive accountability and progress monitoring
measures that provide a valid picture of student and
school functioning.
4. Professional development and supports for teachers
and other educators necessary for instructional excellence.
5. Federal leadership and school-based research to promote
effective services that support the whole child in the
learning context.
Ensuring quality, genuinely accessible education for
all children is our nation’s most important responsibility
and wisest investment. Services that lower barriers
to learning are not ancillary to this mission but rather
central to the supportive educational process necessary
to prepare all of America’s children for academic
success, healthy development, and responsible citizenship.
NASP is committed to working with policymakers, educators,
parents, and others concerned with helping children
achieve their best. We have long led or collaborated
on efforts to improve learning and development related
to issues such as special education, school-based mental
health services, culturally competent practice, improved
home-school collaboration, effective discipline and
violence prevention, and school crisis response.
We look forward to working with you in the months ahead
as our nation’s leaders collaboratively work to
craft education policies that will truly achieve excellence
in education and a positive future for all children
for the 21st century. Please feel free to contact us
at (301) 657-0270 with your questions and comments.
The full description of each recommendation can be
found here: Ready
to Learn, Empowered to Teach: Excellence in Education
for the 21st Century
Sincerely,
Ralph E. “Gene” Cash, PhD, NCSP
President
Susan Gorin, CAE
Executive Director
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