For Media

About the Education Consumers Foundation The Education Consumers Foundation (ECF) is a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation chartered in Tennessee. It is a spin-off of the Education Consumers ClearingHouse (ECC)—an online consumer organization founded in 1995.  ECF is dedicated to representing the interests of parents. taxpayers, and their elected representatives.  Its mission is to improve public education outcomes through the use of research and policy analysis.  ECF is like Consumer Reports but focused primarily on education policy, practice, and outcomes.   … Read More

For Activists

American Decline can be Reversed through Grassroots Action Public education has been decaying on the inside for decades. Educators blame poverty, poor parenting, changing demographics, the growth of hedonistic popular culture, insufficient funding, and myriad other factors. Seldom mentioned, however, is education’s failure to adapt and overcome these conditions. In the view of most educators, schools are doing all they can–an explanation that is contradicted by the measurable differences in effectiveness among teachers within the same school and … Read More

For Parents

Support for Parents, Educators, and the Community For parents and others interested in pursuing improved student and/or school performance, the links below should serve as a starting point. An Overview of Resources from ECF The Education Consumers Foundation website offers a great deal of information for parents and others interested in effective K-12 education. Download this brochure for an overview of what’s available, presented in a format that’s easily shared with others in your child’s school. Books by Elaine McEwan … Read More

Are Tennessee’s Children Learning to Read?

posted in: Data Scoreboards, Graphic Tools Used in Tennessee, Tools for Rating Schools |

Reading is the most essential skill that children learn in school. It is taught over a 4-5 year period that begins in preschool or kindergarten and extends to 3rd grade. Beyond 3rd grade, schooling turns from learning to read, to reading to learn. Promoting children to the 4th and subsequent grades without sound reading skills not only reduces their chances of success, it misleads their parents about the child’s progress, it unloads poorly equipped and discouraged learners on … Read More

Shared Practices of Effective Principals

Educational Practices of Six Effective Tennessee Schools In April and May of 2007, researcher Guy Bruce visited six elementary and middle schools in Tennessee whose principals were recognized through the Value-Added Achievement Awards. By visiting these schools – some of the most effective in the state – he hoped to identify the practices that they had in common that might contribute to solid student learning gains. He identified 12 distinct practices, all of which are related to the … Read More

Recommended Reading

Emily Hanford on Why Children aren’t Learning to Read Journalist Emily Hanford explains how teacher training grounded in flawed pedagogical theory has brought about decades of shockingly poor reading outcomes in American public schools.  Her reporting on the subject is the clearest of any observer in 50 years.      Clear Teaching Clear Teaching: With Direct Instruction, Siegfried Engelmann Discovered a Better Way of Teaching Written by veteran journalist Shepard Barbash over a period of 10 years, Clear Teaching is a … Read More

Teaching & Learning

ECF has numerous tools to help keep you informed. Check out the links below for more detailed reports and articles. Effective Schools, Common Practices Reading failure is imposing a hidden annual surtax: Find out how much your schools are contributing to the problem.  [small_button text=”Effective School Practices” title=”Effective School Practices” url=”/tnproject/EffectiveSchools_CommonPractices_ECF.pdf” align=”left” target=”_blank” style=”light”]   Learning Requires More than Play A decidedly different view of why successful students pay attention, complete their assignments, and succeed. [small_button text=”Successful Students” … Read More

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