“Millions of kids are being set up to fail,” because their teachers haven’t been taught the science of reading instruction, writes Emily Hanford of APM Reports.
The basic assumption that underlies typical reading instruction in many schools is that learning to read is a natural process, much like learning to talk. But decades of scientific research has revealed that reading doesn’t come naturally. The human brain isn’t wired to read. Kids must be explicitly taught how to connect sounds with letters — Phonics.
In 2000, the National Reading Panel issued a report that was supposed to end the “reading wars” between advocates of teaching phonics and supporters of whole language, a philosophy that argued children learn reading naturally if surrounded by books. The panel concluded that teaching phonics, explicitly and systematically, is a critical part of teaching reading. While some students learn without being taught, most do not.
After the report’s endorsement of phonics, whole language proponents “repackaged” their reading programs as “balanced literacy,” writes Hanford. “In balanced literacy, phonics is treated a bit like salt on a meal: a little here and there, but not too much, because it could be bad for you.”
“Balanced literacy was a way to defuse the wars over reading,” said Mark Seidenberg, a cognitive neuroscientist and author of the book Language at the Speed of Sight. “It succeeded in keeping the science at bay, and it allowed things to continue as before.”
I remember the rise of “balanced literacy.” It conceded that kids need to learn phonics, but not that teachers should teach sound-letter relationships explicitly and systematically.
These days, Education Professors often tell future teachers there are many, equally valid approaches to reading, says Seidenberg. “They’re encouraged to pick the one that will fit their personal teaching style best.”
Mississippi now tests prospective teachers on reading science, writes Hanford. Education professors are encouraged to go to literacy training sessions. But the true believers in whole language don’t show up.
Mary Ariail, former chair of the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education at the University of Southern Mississippi, believes learning to read is as easy and natural as learning to talk. “One of the bones of contention is that the phonics-based approach is the scientific approach,” Ariail said. “It’s their science.”
Less than 40 percent of fourth- and eighth-grade students are proficient in reading, according to the National Assessment of Education Progress.
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