We are now in the dangerous era of FORCE & FLUNK when it comes to children and reading.
Here’s how it works.
FORCE
A frenzy surrounding reading is caused by school reformers and the media, claiming children are not learning to read fast enough.
Kindergarten is the new first grade, automatically making preschool the new kindergarten. If we aren’t careful, obstetricians will show newborns an alphabet chart immediately after babies are born!
We’re told that reading is an emergency, and if it’s not addressed by reading programs produced by individuals, companies, and technology, children won’t learn to read—and they won’t be ready for the global economy.
Thus, there’s an unnatural forcing to make children read before they’re ready.
Instead of the joy and loveliness learning to read is about, reading is made into a chore–something that a child is forced to do, and what they learn to fear.
Yet there’s no indication that children have brains that have evolved to where they can learn to read earlier than before. There’s no proof that they can handle learning to read at an earlier age.
How must children feel about reading?
Let’s pretend we’re kindergartners.
- We miss recess. Reading is an emergency. No breaks allowed.
- We’re tested constantly. There’s nonsense syllables. They make no sense.
- We’re placed into remedial groups. We’re already behind. But we never got to learn in the first place!
- We don’t get art and music. It will take time out from reading instruction.
- There’s no time to socialize with interesting classmates. Little time out from reading.
- We really are confused. We have a problem learning letters. It isn’t our fault, is it?
- Or we already know how to read. We still get tested! We still do boring exercises. We just want to get to the books.
- We see the worried looks on our teacher’s and parents’ faces when there’s talk about reading.
- We are told we will get a reward if we read a book. Why? Isn’t the book fun?
- We know reading is serious, and we are afraid we will fail.
- Most of us, if left alone, would like to get to the books because we love looking at pictures and reading stories!
- We also like acting out stories, telling our own stories, and writing about what we love, even if we don’t write well yet.
- There are certain books we can read in class, and other books that are for children who read better.
This was a taste of what might run through the minds of kindergartners when it comes to reading.
FLUNK
By third grade, if students aren’t already fearful of reading, they will be when they hear what’s coming.
If they aren’t reading well enough, they will have to remain in third grade–so they will do more reading remediation! They will watch as their classmates leave them behind.
At this point, how much do you think children like to read?
The Florida plague, the undeniably ugly and stupid practice of flunking children if they are not reading well by third grade, is now a reform across the country.
States now make third graders prove their reading capability before they are permitted to crossover to 4th grade.
The State of Michigan is the latest to jump on the flunking bandwagon.
[Note: Michigan repealed their retention law since this post was first written.]
Research shows that flunking is like losing a parent.
Yet no legislators or educational administrators ask themselves, “Could we be wrong? Could we be ruining a child’s life?”
Why do adults FLUNK children?
- They don’t know better. They think it is a solution to help children.
- They haven’t done due diligence because they are lazy, uninformed, not very bright, or don’t care.
- They have an underlying, devious, even sadistic motive to want to punish children.
- Down the road, this will lead to school privatization and they will make a nice profit on the failed reforms they have designed on the backs of children.
Psychologist Shane Jimerson and many researchers have thoroughly researched retention and found that it is a failed thing to do.
We know of no legitimate research to indicate that forcing kindergartners to read early and failing them later, when they aren’t proficient at third grade, will be good for learning in the long run.
It will destroy their love for learning and even life itself.
But in the madcap dance to privatize, end the teaching profession, and destroy brick and mortar schools, corporate reformers and legislators, are destroying the joy of reading and the love of learning in one fell swoop.
FORCE & FLUNK—America’s new low in the treatment of children and how they are taught to read. Let’s hope one of these days those who FORCE & FLUNK will see the light.
Past Posts About Reading and Retention
Setting Children Up to Hate Reading February 2, 2014
13 Reasons Why Grade Retention is Terrible and 12 Better Solutions May 30, 2015
For You Michigan! You Are Wrong about Retention! October 17, 2015
What’s Scary to Kids: Having Dyslexia and Being Held Back in Third Grade! October 31, 2015
On the IEP there is a text to speech accommodation. When I spoke to Barbara Cassidy, one of the founders of the Louisiana Key Academy in Baton Rouge about the text to speech accommodation she confirmed that it is used in her school widely. When I taught in Jefferson Parish, I was told text to speech was not allowed in the state of Louisiana. Many schools deny kids this accommodation in violation of the IEP, fail them and send them down the school to prison pipeline. I left Louisiana, which has the highest prison population in the world.
The Cassidy school was put on probation in 2016. Betsy DeVos also gave a lot of campaign money to Sen. Cassidy. Not a fan.
Serving children in public schools with dyslexia or learning disabilities has been pushed aside in places trying to get rid of special ed. There should be a renewed effort to serve all children with disabilities. That won’t happen if schools are not well-funded.
I completely dislike Cassidy who was at one time a democrat. The issue with the school is that text to speech is a typical accommodation but school leaders try to say it is not. Without the accommodation many kids fail who could pass.
Thank you for your post. I have not always responded but I got them starting in October 2015. Continue this work!
Thank you for your comments. They are always welcome. I am astonished that school leaders are permitted to distort the meaning of the IEP. But I know quite a few parents who would agree with you.
In most states parents would have to sue the district or get an attorney just to get an accommodation. In Mississippi, I helped a parent file a grievance about the use of text to speech which the district came to the IEP to say that that text to speech is not allowed. The grievance went on favor of the district.
I wish there was more of this. It seems more difficult now for parents to sue. I’ve known parents who have tried but the cost is phenomenal.
How about providing extra help from Preschool and forward tutoring until 3rd grade with summer school, home materials, cross age tutoring etc. This will cost money and actually correct the issue. It is power and control of GOP but will they do it?
Thanks, Jim. I’d rather see an easing up on regimented reading instruction. When did you get formal reading instruction? Many of us learned in first grade and did well.
Introduce something when it is developmentally appropriate to do so. We’re doing more damage then good when we force reading on children before it’s their time. The developmental window is a much wider one than what is being sold these days. The damage that is being done to these kids when they are asked to do something that their brains aren’t ready for! It frustrates me so much. There is so much evidence out there that the kids who learn to read later do so with ease and often quickly surpass their peers that learned to read early. Wise up parents and push to protect your children from these harmful educational practices.
I agree that a child’s development should be first consideration. Thank you, Stephanie.
Force, Flunk and *Ignore Dyslexia.
Threatening dyslexic students because they can’t read soon enough while failing to screen for the most common reading disability should be a national scandal.
Thank you, Rick. The combination of pushing children to read earlier than they are ready, and ramifications surrounding dyslexia are indeed worrisome.
My son has been told since kindergarten that he was not up to par. I had him evaluated at the end of the year and was told that he was exactly where he needed to be developmentally. I was told that what is developmentally appropriate vs what is being demanded by schools were two different things. By second grade he was diagnosed with Adhd and failing a weekly reading test that was 11 pages long and written a full grade level above his current grade. Unfortunately for my son, he always saw that he was failing. Every single week. 11 page tests should not be given to 2nd graders weekly. Now my gods son, who is in 2nd grade has such anxiety about this weekly testing that he gets physically sick. This madness needs to end for these poor kids.
Thank you for sharing, Amy. There are few words that I can say. Our schools should be supportive of children and parents and they have obviously gotten way off the track.
This is the latest research from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in the UK.
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Law_et_al_Early_Language_Development_final.pdf
Pubic Health England (PHE) is a ‘quasi autonomous’ state agency.
There is a lot to read here and I am no expert on early language development, however it is fairly clear that there is no support for the ‘Force and Flunk’ approach rightly condemned by Nancy. There has never been a tradition here in mainstream state education for ‘holding back’ slower developing children.. In UK schools all children remain in their age-determined year groups throughout the school system. Any specialist intervention to support the development of slower or faster learners takes place through specific interventions in normal lessons or small group withdrawals from particular lessons.
However, the ideologically-driven really bad ideas that originate in the US are increasingly finding their way here (eg your Charter Schools/our Academies and Free Schools). This results in much EEF research into effective approaches to learning being ignored by our government because it does not conform to the ideology of the Global Education Reform movement (GERM) that is the source of the degradation of your school system that Nancy writes about.
https://rogertitcombelearningmatters.wordpress.com/2016/02/13/educational-lysenkoism-is-blighting-the-english-education-system/
I write about how our government ignores EEF research findings (which it funds!) here
https://rogertitcombelearningmatters.wordpress.com/2017/07/10/is-the-eef-failing-to-see-the-wood-for-the-trees/
Thanks for sharing a little good news. I’m happy to hear the UK is not pushing children to learn to read before they’re ready. I look forward to reading your other two articles, Roger. Thank you for noting GERM. You nailed it.
Also, wondering about social impact bonds “Pay for Success” and whether you see this in UK schools.
If only, Nancy. Our GERM inspired government ignores research and forces schools to do bad things in early learning. Our Janet Downs writes about this extensively. See
http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2017/09/success-in-phonics-test-doesnt-equal-success-in-reading-dfe-data-shows
Oh no! Roger it looks like “force and flunk” is right around the corner for the UK.
What I don’t think people are realizing is that “force and flunk” is very likely tied to creating an environment for early literacy social impact bonds. The Chicago pre-k SIB had a read by third grade component. We are seeing a huge push for read by three in Philadelphia. Knowing how things operate I’m sure this is the case. Hence the need for all the testing, data dashboards, etc. The other concern is that these punitive outcomes will also hasten the transition to standards-based education separate from grades. Can’t you see it? Well Suzy isn’t meeting the third grade standards in ELA, but she is quite the whiz in Math. Why should we even have age-based grade cohorts? Everyone should just move along at their own pace. No shame in being behind in some things and ahead in others. We’ll just do away with grades (meaning age-based classrooms), report cards, even school buildings altogether and everyone can just be educated by their personalized AI learning sherpa on their own data-collecting device.
Can see this, Alison. “Read by Three” programs are all over the place. I’m a little confused with the connection to SIB but it makes a lot of sense. I need to read more about it and others do too. Endgame!
Information about Chicago. Thank you, Alison. http://chicagoreporter.com/investors-earn-max-initial-payment-from-chicagos-social-impact-bond/
Tim Scott’s Dissident Voice…https://dissidentvoice.org/2017/02/impact-investing-and-venture-philanthropys-role-in-sowing-the-seeds-of-financial-opportunity/
And for a general overview: Wrench in the Gears…Here https://wrenchinthegears.com/
I absolutely agree with the author. My younger daughter came into 2nd grade with such a great love for books. She was a passionate reader, often surrounding herself with a pile of books, looking through pictures, imagining things, then drawing and writing about it. All on her own. The school reading test placed her at a 5th grade level. Awesome! Great! Well, not with the teacher she had that year. The teacher literally made her read on her level only, most often not allowing her to read anything below level. The poor child got a C for her Accelerated Reader grade. It was our nightmare school year for reading. When I asked the teacher: “What are you doing?”, she merely replied: “The District requires us to show progress, so she needs to show improvement.” Really?? A second grader already reading on 5th grade level needs to still show progress? What a dumb philosophy. And yes, this approach totally killed her love of reading. She is a 5th grader now and often says how much she hates reading. It took one person, who like she said “was just doing her job” to do so much harm.
All I needed to see was Accelerated Reader and “must make progress” and I knew your daughter was in trouble.
I know you won’t give up on her reading. Slip her Anne of Green Gables and watch the movie if she needs some coaxing. The whole series of books are wonderful! Just a suggestion.
Thank you!
Nancy Bailey what a great suggestion! I was trying to think of a solution to this problem as I read it and then I saw your reply! The Chronicles of Narnia are a great series too. I remember reading The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe in sixth grade. The new Disney movies are an awesome adaptation too!
Yes! C.S. Lewis, great series too. You’re right!
There are individual books as well. Two of my favorites are The Education of Little Tree and The Secret Garden. The Secret Garden has several movie adaptations.
Any popular children’s book most likely has a film. It’s easy to check online. Try to read at the same time.
Also, Mary Poppins is a great movie, but the series is lot of fun too. I could go on writing about this. Lots of fun.. Just make sure some reading gets done.
Books are often a bit different and better than the movies.
I adore children’s literature.
I teach with a former student who is a brilliant fellow and a unique personality. He was reading like a fiend and bumped into accelerated reader. He says it ruined him for reading.
Last year, my daughter, who reads voraciously, got a teacher who wanted her to do the AR thing. It took a little prodding to get her to take the tests, but she did not let it deter her. She keeps on reading.
It strikes me that we are victims of a tendency to reward almost all behaviors and agonize over normal behavior. A good example is good behavior programs that are meant to give positive rewards for good behavior. Soon children begin to look at such rewards as perfunctory and trite. Meanwhile, their parents are all talking about how quickly their child is coming into his own. To hear them talk, junior is reading particle physics at four years old. I think we need a break.
I agree, Roy. Thank you for sharing these examples. Glad your daughter keeps on reading and hope she enjoys it. Your point is well-taken.
This is SO sad! One thing you might do to rekindle her enjoyment of reading is to read chapter books together aloud before bed. Leave off occasionally at a particularly intense moment. Leave the book on her nightstand and the lamp on. :). Or pick a really good audio book to listen to in your vehicle. Keep the printed text lying around so that when you get home from school or sports practice in the middle of the good part and shut the vehicle off, the printed book is there waiting for her. My 2nd-5th grade aged children have loved listening to the Land of Stories series and the Shiloh trilogy. And my 5th grader has begged me to check them out from the library so that he can read ahead. And of course, you can’t go wrong with Narnia either. 🙂 Harry Potter books would also be good for listening. Though the size of the printed books might be intimidating for a child who says she hates reading. (Listening to good audio books also solves the problem of whining and sibling arguments in the van. No one wants to miss hearing the story! Car rides are so peaceful when we’re listening to a book that everyone loves.) Just some thoughts. As a mother and a high school literature teacher, it breaks my heart to see a child’s love for reading completely destroyed like this.
Force or flunk is profit motivated. Testing companies are laughing to the bank.
You are absolutely correct. And now here comes the 24/7 tech…and destruction of brick and mortar schools.
My child’s SE Michigan elementary school gives out small reward slips for students going above and beyond with good behavior. “good effort on the rock wall”, “staying quiet during a fire drill” that sort of thing. There are about 6 a week and are announced over the PA on Friday mornings. Last week I was in the building and heard a Kindergarten child receive one for “doing iReady reading lessons at home”. My heart broke.
I’m sorry. I think children doing iReady-like lessons at home full-time is what ed. reformers want in the long run. Thanks for commenting, Michelle. It always helps to know what is happening in individual schools.
You’re article is spot on. In addition to established evidence and what we, as teachers, readily know and understand, I can offer the following personal, anecdotal piece of evidence. – I recently enrolled my youngest in a local public school where I have vocally and clearly used my rights as a parent to opt my son out of IReady and other computerized programs. While the other students are on the computers, my son is reads a book. He has always enjoyed reading. But now, it seems that he has become quite the voracious reader. He really enjoys his time in school reading and it extends to the home. He reads in the car and every place imaginable. He often needs to be commanded to put whatever book it he is reading down to join in on other activities etc. Not that I was worried, but I can now say say with confidence that I made the right decision by opting him out.
How wonderful! Good for you, Diane! It will serve him well in the future too! Thanks for sharing. It is so good to hear positive news.
I am 80. I finally learned to read in the 4h grade when I got glasses. Ended up majoring in English in college and have a degree. I was not read to in a family setting. Text to speech sounds wonderful to me. My mother could not understand why I wanted to read. Often interrupting me to do some task. Perhaps I should have taken the first, second, or third again, but that really wasn’t done way back then. At some point in my fifties, I was diagnosed with ADD. No one had heard of that or dyslexia in the 1947/8. I can remember that the letters danced around on the page. The ultimate story is that I listen to books whenever I am doing something. I often have a hardback book which I am reading and a book on going on my Kindle as well. Children should be taught to read with any method that works. There are any number of instances that might delay in reading. Just being sick or having a sick parent could set a child back. Also, being held back from your friends might have delay in reading progress. Just my two cents worth on this subject.
Thank you, Orinda. That’s interesting and I appreciate your sharing your experience. I also agree with you. I have also known children who have had a lot of colds and illnesses when they are young who fall behind in school. That’s a great point. I’m glad everything turned out pretty well for you when it comes to reading, and that you enjoy reading today!
Back in the early 1960’s I failed the third grade. I was not able to keep up with my other classmates. I loved to read but I was dissociative. You see, due to intense child sexual, physical, psychological and emotion abuse and torture, I was not able to mentally be present at school. I was more worried about survival. In those days, the teachers and principal did not believe the child, they believed the mother. Needless to say it had a devastating impact on me. Because I dissociated, by the fifth grade I was studying 7th grade math with a few other students. Not only did I graduate from college with an undergraduate degree, I went on to complete a master’s degree and attend three more graduate schools at the University of Maryland, the Catholic University of America and Georgetown University. Later, I paid a dear price with 15 years of my life in psychotherapy to heal the traumas I had faced. This was done in conjunction with the National Institute of Mental Health at the NIH. If I could see one difference in schools it would be to place Clinical Psychologists (one for males and one for females) to screen for children who are in danger from abuse at home. The ramifications are too great not to consider this step.