There is a push for kindergartners to learn to read without focusing on picture books and opportunities to speak and listen naturally, verbalizations critical for this age and development. Instead, vocalizations are now highly scripted with primarily phonics instruction. It’s well understood that speaking and listening are critical skills at this period in a child’s […]
Reading Disabilities: Focus on Public Schools NOT School Choice!
Parents of children with reading disabilities might be led to believe that school choice for a charter or private school is better than an actual public school. Still, there needs to be proof that those schools are better or that children will get accepted into good schools. Students may lose protection under the Individuals with Disabilities […]
Saving Public Schools for ALL Our Children in the New Year
As we approach 2023, let’s make this the year to unite for the common good to reestablish and promote public education for all our children. A public school system relies on a country that values education for all its children no matter family religious beliefs, the color of one’s skin, gender identity, sexual orientation, or […]
Aligning a Child’s Education to Industry: A Long-Time Corporate Goal
Troubling tweets by Education Secretary Cardona focused on aligning education to industry generated concerned replies, including mine. But few should be surprised. Such comments reflect a decades-long corporate drive to reshape public education. It’s the reason for high-stakes standards, test-and-punish schools, data collected on children, and the long-time unproven claim that public education has failed students […]
Teacher Practices and the Value of Heinemann’s Teaching Resources
It’s often the eclectic activities teachers do, how they determine the best teaching practices for individuals and groups of students, that help students learn. One of the problems with the Science of Reading is that those who support a narrow often biased focus on instruction, may ignore or cast aside meaningful resources that have helped […]
Connecting Big Business with The Science of Reading: Replacing Teachers and Public Schools with Tech
A troubling feature of the Science of Reading (SoR) is the connection between those who believe in the power of phonemes (and more) and those who want to privatize public schools. The old NCLB crowd has been rejuvenated and seems onboard with digital instruction replacing public schools and teachers. Understanding this connection is critical for […]
One Educator’s Grateful Remembrance: A Teacher
Most of us remember teachers we liked and those we did not, but sometimes even the teachers who seemed difficult later become the teachers we learned much from. Other times that’s not the case and a difficult teacher is remembered negatively. But fortunately, most teachers make democratic public schools work, and many children move on […]
Anxiety and Depression in the Age of the Super Student
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, a group of doctors, recently recommended screening children as young as eight for major depressive disorder (MDD). How do eight-year-olds wind up depressed? Depression they say could show up with functional impairments in school performance. Could it be in part because this is the age of the super student? […]
What I Believe Emily Hanford Misses About Reading
Emily Hanford has brought attention to reading, including several new podcasts, Sold a Story, claiming children have been harmed for years by reading instruction. She singles out programs she says failed. The stories about children are compelling. But she leaves out some history, and I don’t think she’s ever critical of any of the many […]
The Covid-19 “Leave No Crisis Wasted” School Plan that Failed…for Now
Learning loss complaints and teacher blame for school closures could be because the Covid-19 disaster plan to reimagine schools failed. Technology replacing public schools and teachers appeared to be the “leave no crisis wasted” plan, but it backfired. After Hurricane Katrina, the late privatization guru Milton Friedman coordinated replacing public schools in New Orleans with […]