It’s hard to believe that some teachers would resist methods that have hard science backing. But then, they may have been teaching for years with a “balanced” system that they believe shows apparent success. But consider that they are only observing kids reading at the lowest level—the earliest elementary levels. Yet, many reading problems only become evident as children advance beyond picture books–as one of my readers mentioned a couple of weeks ago. So how can we fight objections from elementary school teachers to the science of reading?
My reader seemed to be supporting a belief that kids who aren’t ready for high school-level texts may be suffering from cultural bias in materials, including testing materials. I can’t argue that cultural bias does not exist in materials. Nevertheless, I have to agree with Natalie Wexler, that this bias is not the reason for kids’ lack of reading proficiently. What exactly does she mean by this?
The Real Gap in Literacy Instruction
She explains that elementary teachers who focus on skills instruction–taught in isolation from solid content like history, literature, and science topics–
“may not foresee the knowledge gaps that become painfully apparent down the line. Because elementary-level texts don’t assume much knowledge, it may look like the skills-focused approach is working. Even those who have studied the K-through-12 system as a whole have failed to notice that what seems like success in elementary school is only planting the seeds of failure in high school. …In fact, education reformers have generally seen elementary school as the bright spot in the system. High school is where things seem to fall apart…The graduation rate scandal in D.C. has led to state and federal investigations, the removal of various administrators, and anguished soul-searching on the part of reformers across the country. As of this writing, however, no one has blamed an approach to reading instruction that leaves so many students unprepared to tackle high-school-level work. What the vast majority of educators, reformers, commentators, and government officials still haven’t realized is that elementary school is where the real problem has been hiding, in plain sight.”
From The Knowledge Gap, by Natalie Wexler. Chapter 2, “A Problem Hiding in Plain Sight.”
Friends, the problem isn’t in high school. It’s in elementary school.
Fight Objections with Simple Answers
CLAIM: Poverty is the main contributor to students’ lack of proficiency in reading. In an April 2022 article in The Reading Professor, author Watts outlined the affect that poverty has on student academic success, including reading scores.1
OUR RESPONSE:
- In Bethlehem, PA in 2106, about one third of students with poor reading skills were from college-educated homes.2 Poverty was not a factor in their lack of progress. In fact, low reading scores can be found across all socio-economic groups.
- Poverty certainly does affect a child’s readiness to learn. Yet it is important to note that according to science-based evidence, students across all cultures and socio-economic groups respond positively to evidence-based literacy instruction methods.
- Example: Until 1989, France had a required national curriculum that was heavily based on learning content. Even students from poorer homes, who started their children at free pre-schools at the age of 2 were caught up to students from wealthier families who had enrolled their children at age 4. Then, in the 1990’s the French government passed a law that required schools to follow an American approach: i.e., teach thinking skills separate from content. By 2007, “achievement levels decreased sharply. The drop was greatest among the neediest students.”3
CLAIM: Learning skills in isolation is best because…Students don’t need to memorize facts—or learn “tons of stuff,” when they can just look up whatever they need to know.
OUR RESPONSE:
- “…skipping the step of building knowledge doesn’t work. The ability to think critically—like the ability to understand what you read—can’t be taught directly and in the abstract. It’s inextricably linked to how much knowledge you have about the situation at hand.” (Wexler, Chapter 2).
- In the Simple View of Reading (SVR), since Listening Comprehension is based on language comprehension, teachers must provide multiple opportunities for children to gain knowledge.4 All subject areas are important, and none can wait until students are in high school.
- The Simple View of Reading: Word Reading X Listening Comprehension (AKA Language Comprehension) = Reading Comprehension
CLAIM: Teaching phonics is a throwback to old “kill and drill” teaching that kills students’ interest in reading. It’s more important to just make reading fun.
OUR RESPONSE:
- Literacy teachers tend to teach students to lean heavily on picture cues to figure out word meaning. However, picture cues disappear from books as children get older, leaving children without the fundamental instruction–that the print itself must be decoded.
- Reading will be fun when students can actually do it!
- Brain science has proven that links between sound and symbol are the fundamental building blocks of reading. Just reading fun stories to students simply won’t convince them to pick up a book that is intimidating because they don’t have the skills to tackle unfamiliar words.
CLAIM: Learning to read is a natural process, blossoming in a print-rich environment.
OUR RESPONSE:
- “There are thousands of studies,” said Louisa Moats, an education consultant and researcher who has been teaching and studying reading since the 1970s. “This the most studied aspect of human learning.” And the findings state unequivocally that “The human brain isn’t wired to read.”
- Only explicit and systematic teaching of sounds and letter correspondence start children on the journey to proficient reading.5
Fighting Objections without Harsh Words
Of course, there are many other facets to the science of reading. Encoding both through spelling and regular writing instruction; the development of knowledge; oral conversation between adults and children; handwriting instruction, and so on. We can discuss each of these in upcoming posts.
For now, let’s practice a few responses and learn to fight objections in a calm, professional manner. Let’s get comfortable talking the talk. Most importantly, though the need is urgent, let’s have compassion on our colleagues who have not been taught how to teach reading.
- https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2018/09/10/hard-words-why-american-kids-arent-being-taught-to-read See paragraphs 3 and 13. ↩︎ ↩︎
- Watts, Claudia T. “The Correlation Between Poverty and Reading Success in Children’s Early Years.” The Reading Professor. https://scholar.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1151&context=thereadingprofessor ↩︎
- Wexler, Natalie. The Knowledge Gap. Chapter 2. ↩︎
- Burkins, Jan and Kari Yates. Shifting the Balance. Pages 18 and 19. ↩︎
- https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2018/09/10/hard-words-why-american-kids-arent-being-taught-to-read See paragraphs 7 and 8. ↩︎
A Penny for Your Thoughts?