With No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, and Common Core State Standards, some adults have been led to believe that four- and five-year-old children should read by the end of kindergarten. Preschoolers are pushed to be ready for formal reading instruction by the time they enter kindergarten. This is a dangerous idea rooted […]
How NCLB is Still Destroying Reading for Children
NCLB was a bi-partisan bill signed into law in 2002 during the Bush administration’s push for school reform. We now recognize how punitive the bill was, its troubling use of one-size-fits-all standardized testing to demonize and close public schools, the punitive AYP and “highly qualified” teacher credentialing changes, the unrealistic predictions that all children would […]
Pediatricians, Common Core and the Meaning of “Pushing” Early Childhood Literacy
Be careful using the word “push” when it comes to reading. There is always the fear that Common Core State Standards are behind it. A recent Memphis Commercial Appeal had an Op Ed entitled “Pediatricians Push Early Childhood Literacy.” They were referring to the American Association of Pediatricians (AAP) recommendation that pediatricians should remind parents […]
What President Obama Got Right—Warning—It’s Wild and There Was No Drill!
OK. You don’t like Race to the Top or the corporate education agenda that all presidents subscribe to. Me neither. Maybe you don’t like a lot of President Obama’s policies and can’t wait for a new guy…or gal! I get it. But how can you not appreciate the way President Obama has been practicing his […]