Reading Wars

Articles

• Reasons Children Have Reading Problems that Corporate Reformers Don’t Talk About
  • We know of many variables that help children learn to read. But well-designed peer-reviewed research continues to be ignored when it comes to these variables. At the same time, states and school districts continue to promote destructive school policies. We know such policies fail. So, why are they still being used?

• States Are Learning the Wrong Lesson From the ‘Mississippi Miracle’ | The Atlantic
  • A phonics-based curriculum is only one part of how Mississippi went from worst to first in education. The other part is much harder to pull off.

• Inside the Mississippi Marathon | Progressive Policy Institute
  • Much of that media coverage has focused solely on Mississippi’s “science of reading” reforms, which implemented structured literacy programs. Many policymakers seem to have taken away the message that the science of reading, and particularly phonics, is the one silver bullet that all states should implement. To date, 40 states have adopted policies aimed at changing classroom instruction to align with these proven practices.
  • But this narrow understanding of Mississippi’s story is wrong, or at least very incomplete. No one policy, and no one person, is responsible for our educational turnaround. It also didn’t happen overnight, or in a few years. Mississippi’s progress is neither a miracle nor a myth, as some skeptics have insisted; it’s been a two-decade marathon.

• The Haunted Third Grade Classrooms Children Fear: Enter and… Stay Forever! | Nancy Bailey.com
  • Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is a powerful corporate school reformer who made third grade retention one of his signature reform measures, even though retention has been around for years. There’s nothing innovative about failing third graders due to a test score. It’s punitive. Bush continues to push for third grade retention across the nation, ignoring the harm it can do to children.

• Some researchers, likely supporters of Bush’s school reform, have tried to put a positive spin on retention. They claim it leads to short-term gains, and some students might do better in high school. But they also end their report by saying that the research doesn’t find that students were clearly better off as a result of retention.

• The Reading Instruction Show’s Substack
  • Science of Reading” and the Educational Reform Movement: Actors, Networks, and Agendas

• Elena (Helen) Aydarova
  • Aydarova, E. (2023). “Whatever you want to call it”: Science of reading mythologies in the educational reform movement. Harvard Educational Review, 93(4): 556–581. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-93.4.556

• Examining Third-Grade Retention Laws: High-Stakes Testing and Mental Health | Tennessee Technological University
  • Examining third-grade retention laws reveals their implications for students’ mental health and well-being. The focus is on the effectiveness of high-stakes testing as the basis for retention and the potential negative consequences of retention policies. Historically, grade retention has been ineffective, and alternative interventions are needed to support struggling students. Retention can have a negative socio-emotional impact, including increased behavioral and emotional challenges, decreased self-esteem, and higher rates of externalizing problems. These adverse effects are more pronounced in disadvantaged students.

Legislation

Federal

• Representative John W. Mannion’s (NY-22) Legislation to Improve Reading Outcomes in Elementary and Secondary Schools Passes Out of Committee with Bipartisan Support

State

ALEC Legislation

• The Science of Reading Act
• Which States Have Passed ‘Science of Reading’ Laws? What’s in Them?