In the News
American Public Media Reports - Emily Hanford
At a Loss for Words: What's wrong with how schools teach reading
There is a theory about how people read words — one that's deeply embedded in teaching practices and curriculum materials widely used in elementary school classrooms. Although the idea has been disproved by cognitive scientists, it continues to be included in teacher preparation programs, promoted in professional development sessions, and marketed by publishers.
New York Times
There Is a Right Way to Teach Reading, and Mississippi Knows It
The state’s reliance on cognitive science explains why.
“Thank God for Mississippi.”
That’s a phrase people would use when national education rankings came out because no matter how poorly your state performed, you could be sure things were worse in Mississippi.
Not anymore. New results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a standardized test given every two years to measure fourth- and eighth-grade achievement in reading and math, show that Mississippi made more progress than any other state.
Education Week
Special Report: Getting Reading Right
What Teachers and Ed. Professors Know About Early Literacy
Learning to read is arguably the most important academic experience students will have during their school years. But it’s not a given.
The “nation’s report card” shows that just 35 percent of 4th graders are proficient readers. That’s despite decades of cognitive research clarifying exactly which skills students need to be taught to read fluently.
Education Week
A Look Inside One Classroom's Reading Overhaul
Wary teachers say they're now seeing gains with structured programs
Kim Kohlrus' 2nd grade classroom is alive with wiggling, chanting children. They're on their feet, swaying and twisting as their teacher leads them in a call-and-response of letter combinations.
"I-n-k, pink, ink," they chime in a bouncy rhythm, "o-n-g, song, ong." It's a phonics warmup, to help them remember vowel-consonant groupings. Then they dive into a lesson on multisyllabic words, tackling the new challenge in various ways.
Education Week
The Most Popular Reading Programs Aren't Backed by Science
There's a settled body of research on how best to teach early reading. But when it comes to the multitude of curriculum choices that schools have, it's often hard to parse whether well-marketed programs abide by the evidence.
And making matters more complicated, there's no good way to peek into every elementary reading classroom to see what materials teachers are using.
USA Today
Two Students with the same disability tried to get help. The rich kid got it quickly. The poor student did not.
… By the end of that seminal school year, both of their parents knew that something was wrong. In second grade, each boy was diagnosed with an unspecified learning disability and started receiving special education services at their public schools. “The teachers had no clue how to teach him,” said Debbie Meyer, Isaac’s mother.
Both families ultimately realized their sons needed support the public schools could not provide, particularly when it came to the all-important task of teaching them to read.
American Public Media Reports by Emily Hanford
(They are all must reads!)
Experts say widely used reading curriculum is failing kids - A first of its kind review finds Lucy Calkins' materials don't align with the science of reading.
National assessment shows more K-12 students struggling to read - Correspondent Emily Hanford talks about the latest NAEP results and what they say about the state of reading instruction in the U.S.
A conversation with Emily Hanford on reading instruction in the U.S. - Hanford talks about her reporting on what's wrong with how schools teach reading.
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers - For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't know there's anything wrong with it.
What to do if your child's school isn't teaching reading right?- After our recent examination of why American kids aren't being taught to read well, we received a ton of questions, mostly from parents. So we went to the experts to get answers.
Why aren't kids being taught to read?- Scientific research has shown how children learn to read and how they should be taught. But many educators don't know the science and, in some cases, actively resist it. As a result, millions of kids are being set up to fail.
States' laws to support dyslexic children mostly lack funding, accountability, training mandates - A recent APM Reports documentary showed how schools aren't adequately complying with a decades-old federal law but new state laws are failing to help struggling readers, too.
How American schools fail kids with dyslexia - Public schools are denying children proper treatment and often failing to identify them with dyslexia.
What is dyslexia? An interview with neuroscientist Guinevere Eden - The director of the Center for the Study of Learning at Georgetown University Medical Center explains what scientists are learning about what happens in the brain when a child learns to read — and what's different in the brain of someone with dyslexia.
In Ohio, parents demand change for dyslexic kids - The school district needed a new approach. The teachers needed training.
The 7 Deadly Errors of Teaching Reading
(Click through for a tremendous blog post from The Learning Spark that details the most popular, and unfortunately very WRONG, ways to teach reading)
“… There’s a wrong way to teach reading and, unfortunately, it’s also the most popular way. So, if you’ve ever committed these teaching errors, don’t worry, you’re not alone. I’ve been there, too. I was shocked when I realized that many teacher prep courses and even professional development classes are teaching reading methods not supported by science. If you’re reading this blog and find yourself surprised or even defensive at these “errors,” please take a moment to step back, take a deep breath, and use it as a springboard to start your journey into learning more about the science of reading. Instead of feeling denial, guilt, or anger…I encourage you to simply learn more and do better.
Deadly Error #1: 3-Cueing Strategies (aka the Beanie Baby Reading Strategies)…”