In a country that has offered and supported free education to the entirety of its population it is seriously criminal that such a huge number of citizens are functionally illiterate.
Reports state that as many as 50 million adult Americans fit that category, costing businesses and taxpayers over two hundred billion dollars annually in remedial education and losses due to crime, unemployment, welfare, and more. Further, over 60% of all prison inmates and 85% of all juvenile offenders have problems with reading, writing and basic math.
In 1997, the United States Congress requested the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to convene a committee to assess the effectiveness of the various approaches utilized to teach reading skills and to, basically, discover why the country was so illiterate.
The National Reading Panel (NRP), following over two years of exhaustive research, concluded, in The Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read, that there are five key factors that must be present for effective reading instruction.
The first two elements are "phonemic awareness" (the ability to notice, think about and work with the individual sounds in spoken words) and "systematic phonics instruction" (teaching the relationships between the letters of written language and the individual sounds of spoken language).
These two factors had, basically, been taught since at least 1500 BC when the Egyptians and Phoenicians developed their alphabets and was the method exclusively used in America for scores of years but seemed to have all but vanished from most reading curricula during the 20th century, replaced by sight-word teaching, known also under a variety of different names (i.e., sight reading, look-say, whole-word, etc.).
As early as 1927, neurologist Dr. Samuel Orton, under a Rockefeller Foundation grant, concluded that children who had been diagnosed with 'congenital word blindness' (now called dyslexia) were actually severely harmed by the teaching methods (sight-reading) employed. His findings were reported in a scientific paper entitled The 'Sight Reading' Method of Teaching Reading as a Source of Reading Disability.
That methodology, and the results that it produces, are nothing less than child abuse, which is a criminal offense.
Three decades later, in 1955, author and Doctor of English Rudlof Flesch isolated the decline of literacy in America with the replacement of phonics instruction by sight-word when he published his best-selling book, Why Johnny Can’t Read.
So, if it wasn’t broken, why “fix” it?
For a partial answer, one must understand the beginnings of the movement. The below quote is from John Dewey, an educator and psychologist who became one of the main forces behind the change, circa 1898:
"It is almost an unquestioned assumption, of educational theory and practice both, that the first three years of a child's school-life shall be mainly taken up with learning to read and write his own language...It does not follow, however, that because this course was once wise it is so any longer...The plea for the predominance of learning to read in early school life because of the great importance attaching to literature seems to me a perversion."
Literature, a perversion? Is not the ability to read literature the way to obtain knowledge?
Even in today's high-tech environment, the vast majority of content on the web is the written word.
Another strong proponent of eliminating phonics was Edward Lee Thorndike, a psychologist who laid the foundation for educational psychology. In 1906, he had this to say about the mission of a teacher:
"The aim of the teacher is to produce desirable and prevent undesirable changes in human beings by producing and preventing certain responses."
Produce and prevent changes and responses? That sounds more like his own work in animal behavior than in teaching the youth of America.
Perhaps the definition of 'teach,' per Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, is more extensively accurate:
"To instruct; to inform; to communicate to another the knowledge of that of which he was before ignorant."
Teaching has nothing at all to do with behavior modification and everything to do with literature. (Literature, as defined back then was: comprehends a knowledge of ancient languages, denominated classical, history, grammar, rhetoric, logic, geography, as well as of the sciences.)
If one looks at American literacy prior to the theories of people such as Dewey and Thorndike becoming paramount in society it becomes abundantly clear that phonics was not broken and should not have been "fixed," especially with a method that does not, and cannot, produce positive results with all people.
And, in fact, that which was used to replace phonics not only broke, but devastated, a fully functioning and workable education system.
The following link easily proves the point. 1895 8th Grade Final Exam It is the 1895 8th grade final exam from Salina, Kansas.
Since 2005, this blogger has had many people, including those who hold a Ph.D. or Ed.D., attempt to pass the test with better than a 50% score. Even allowing credit for answers unique to that period's lifestyle (such as the question dealing with a bushel of hay), no one has yet accomplished this task.
Another point of proof is Webster's Elementary Spelling Book (commonly called the Blue-Backed Speller and also published under different titles, such as The American Spelling Book), first published in 1783, and used by luminaries such as Benjamin Franklin who home-schooled his daughter using the book. It includes words required to be known by students at the time and is especially significant considering the fact that most people only attended school until about the 8th grade level.
There is also this simple fact: there was no such thing as "remedial reading" prior to 1925, the date at which public schools were universally "teaching" reading using the whole word method. And, what is used for remediation: phonics!
All the propaganda in the world cannot cover up the fact that what Dr. Seuss said so succinctly in 1981 was correct, "I think killing phonics was one of the greatest causes of illiteracy in the country."
He is in excellent company.
To all those who fight the good fight, to use phonics instruction to teach or remediate reading skills, keep up the fight.
The "reading wars" are not over and will not be over until our country is 100% back to pure phonics reading instruction, providing access to all information and knowledge that is available to every citizen of the United States.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Showing posts with label illiteracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illiteracy. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Illiteracy and Crime
Austin, Texas, Police Chief, Art Acevedo, discusses the link he sees between illiteracy and crime in this short video clip.
What he states in the video is very true.
There have been an ample number of studies over the past couple of decades supporting what he has observed first-hand in his 24 years of law enforcement.
However, students in Main Street USA schools continue to struggle with not only reading but also basic math.
What is missing in education today is an emphasis on the basics -- reading, writing and arithmetic -- and ensuring that students have mastered these skills.
A review of reports generated by the National Center for Education Statistics reveals that this issue remains a problem needing to be properly addressed.
Some have proposed longer school days, or shortening summer vacation, however these do not address the real crisis being faced. Learning to read. Learning to perform basic math functions.
Until those in charge are able to wrap their wits around the most fundamental steps involved in educating youth, America will continue to spend untold billions of dollars in both public (i.e., taxpayer) and private funds in remediation activities and the outcome of an illiterate society (i.e., crime, violence, lost job production, etc., etc.).
Wake Up America!
Over For Now.
Main Street One
What he states in the video is very true.
There have been an ample number of studies over the past couple of decades supporting what he has observed first-hand in his 24 years of law enforcement.
However, students in Main Street USA schools continue to struggle with not only reading but also basic math.
What is missing in education today is an emphasis on the basics -- reading, writing and arithmetic -- and ensuring that students have mastered these skills.
A review of reports generated by the National Center for Education Statistics reveals that this issue remains a problem needing to be properly addressed.
Some have proposed longer school days, or shortening summer vacation, however these do not address the real crisis being faced. Learning to read. Learning to perform basic math functions.
Until those in charge are able to wrap their wits around the most fundamental steps involved in educating youth, America will continue to spend untold billions of dollars in both public (i.e., taxpayer) and private funds in remediation activities and the outcome of an illiterate society (i.e., crime, violence, lost job production, etc., etc.).
Wake Up America!
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Friday, October 30, 2009
Education Standards 101
In the recent report noted by AP (Oct 29, 2009 - Report: States set low bar for student achievement) there are no earth-shattering revelations.
It has been known for some time that education standards set by each state vary widely.
However, this information is probably not something about which most Main Street USAers are particularly aware.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), part of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), produces "The Nation’s Report Card" outlining findings of annual student assessment. State standards were compared to the NAEP standards in determining the differences.
Here are a few facts reported by AP:
• Thirty-one states deemed fourth-graders proficient in reading when they would have rated below basic on NAEP. Mississippi's standards were lowest, and Massachusetts' were highest.
• Seventeen states deemed eighth-graders proficient at reading when they would have rated below basic on NAEP. Tennessee's standards were lowest, and South Carolina's were highest.
• Ten states deemed fourth- and eighth-graders proficient at math when they would have rated below basic on NAEP. Tennessee's standards were lowest; Massachusetts had the highest fourth-grade math standards, and South Carolina had the highest eighth-grade standards
The standards (from highest to lowest) are: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Below Basic.
Thus, when states are reporting students as Proficient, when in fact they are Below Basic, there is definite cause for concern.
Before continuing, please be advised that Basic does not necessarily mean that a student knows their "basics." That word is misleading. Students testing at Basic are not at their grade level. More than likely they are one to two grades below, possibly more for older students.
What is amazing is that 60% of the states report students in 4th grade as being Proficient when they are actually Below Basic, or substantially below their grade level.
To revert this President Obama, Secretary of Education Duncan and a host of others are calling for Educational Reform. A much vocalized part of this reform are things like longer school days and perhaps no or much shorter summer vacation.
Main Streeters, it is NOT reform (i.e., to change to a better state, form, etc.; improve by alteration, substitution, abolition, etc) that is needed.
It needs to be reiterated that what is needed to halt the decline in our educational prowess is, quite simply and remarkably, to return to the basics: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, formerly known as the 3 R’s: reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic.
The National Institute of Justice claims that 85% of juvenile offenders have problems with reading, writing and basic math and that well over 65% of adults in prison are functionally or marginally illiterate.
The 3 R’s must be slammed back in with a vengeance.
Get rid of philosophical beliefs that a child’s self esteem is hurt if they are told that they have failed, so pass them to the next grade and make them feel good.
Yeah, they’ll feel “good.”
But they cannot read.
How irresponsible is it to not provide the best education possible and, instead, point fingers at teachers, at parents, at administrators, etc., to avert the blame.
Wake Up Everybody!
We are ALL to blame. We ALL allowed this slow transition to mediocrity.
And we are paying for it. Every day, in every way.
Campaign to get the 3 R’s back in our schools. Accept nothing less. Vote out anyone who opposes the idea. And have them take the 1895 8th Grade Final Exam from Salina, KS, and watch as they score below 50%, probably between 30-40%. http://www.barefootsworld.net/1895finalexam.html
Tell them that back in 1895 we taught the 3 R’s, had summer vacations and that Main Street USA enjoyed a very high level of educational competence.
Over For Now,
Main Street One
It has been known for some time that education standards set by each state vary widely.
However, this information is probably not something about which most Main Street USAers are particularly aware.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), part of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), produces "The Nation’s Report Card" outlining findings of annual student assessment. State standards were compared to the NAEP standards in determining the differences.
Here are a few facts reported by AP:
• Thirty-one states deemed fourth-graders proficient in reading when they would have rated below basic on NAEP. Mississippi's standards were lowest, and Massachusetts' were highest.
• Seventeen states deemed eighth-graders proficient at reading when they would have rated below basic on NAEP. Tennessee's standards were lowest, and South Carolina's were highest.
• Ten states deemed fourth- and eighth-graders proficient at math when they would have rated below basic on NAEP. Tennessee's standards were lowest; Massachusetts had the highest fourth-grade math standards, and South Carolina had the highest eighth-grade standards
The standards (from highest to lowest) are: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Below Basic.
Thus, when states are reporting students as Proficient, when in fact they are Below Basic, there is definite cause for concern.
Before continuing, please be advised that Basic does not necessarily mean that a student knows their "basics." That word is misleading. Students testing at Basic are not at their grade level. More than likely they are one to two grades below, possibly more for older students.
What is amazing is that 60% of the states report students in 4th grade as being Proficient when they are actually Below Basic, or substantially below their grade level.
To revert this President Obama, Secretary of Education Duncan and a host of others are calling for Educational Reform. A much vocalized part of this reform are things like longer school days and perhaps no or much shorter summer vacation.
Main Streeters, it is NOT reform (i.e., to change to a better state, form, etc.; improve by alteration, substitution, abolition, etc) that is needed.
It needs to be reiterated that what is needed to halt the decline in our educational prowess is, quite simply and remarkably, to return to the basics: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, formerly known as the 3 R’s: reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic.
The National Institute of Justice claims that 85% of juvenile offenders have problems with reading, writing and basic math and that well over 65% of adults in prison are functionally or marginally illiterate.
The 3 R’s must be slammed back in with a vengeance.
Get rid of philosophical beliefs that a child’s self esteem is hurt if they are told that they have failed, so pass them to the next grade and make them feel good.
Yeah, they’ll feel “good.”
But they cannot read.
They cannot write.
They cannot perform basic math problems.How irresponsible is it to not provide the best education possible and, instead, point fingers at teachers, at parents, at administrators, etc., to avert the blame.
Wake Up Everybody!
We are ALL to blame. We ALL allowed this slow transition to mediocrity.
And we are paying for it. Every day, in every way.
Campaign to get the 3 R’s back in our schools. Accept nothing less. Vote out anyone who opposes the idea. And have them take the 1895 8th Grade Final Exam from Salina, KS, and watch as they score below 50%, probably between 30-40%. http://www.barefootsworld.net/1895finalexam.html
Tell them that back in 1895 we taught the 3 R’s, had summer vacations and that Main Street USA enjoyed a very high level of educational competence.
Over For Now,
Main Street One
Monday, July 13, 2009
Education: Pre-K through Higher Ed
"President Obama soon will be announcing a plan to substantially boost funding for the nation's community colleges, with an aim of helping more workers get the job-training they need in the coming decade," the Chicago Tribune reported on June 17, 2009.
Then President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers announced that jobs in both the healthcare industry and the environmental field have been growing at rates faster than others in the economy and reform would be necessary to ensure workers have the skills needed for these jobs.
While funding to better our community colleges may be warranted, there is still the underlying issue of current (and historical) student literacy and dropout rates.
A 2006 report by Civic Enterprises in association with Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation states that the high school drop out rate is nearly 33% and closer to 50% for African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans. There are similar studies with nearly identical figures, including that of Time magazine, which ran a front cover proclaiming that the US is “Drop-Out Nation.”
In some areas, it is even far worse. The Manhattan Institute calculated that the drop out rate in Milwaukee was 66% while the Cleveland City School District hit an astonishing 71%.
Studies typically find that illiteracy and the inability to calculate basic math are primary reasons why students drop out of school.
There is also mention of increased funding for Early Head Start which, I believe, is much more needed than funding for higher education, at least proportionately, due to the fact that a) there are such high dropout rates and b) many students who do graduate still need remediation in order to do their college assignments.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy states that the national cost for remedial education is approximately $16.6 Billion annually. It would certainly be nice to put that money to use in another area of education (or save it).
So, while I agree that each of the various areas of education need to be addressed, it seems that Main Street USA must be primarily focused on students currently in K-12 and working to ensure that these students possess the reading and math skills needed for college, then setting sights on Early Head Start and community college reform.
Over For Now,
Main Street One
Then President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers announced that jobs in both the healthcare industry and the environmental field have been growing at rates faster than others in the economy and reform would be necessary to ensure workers have the skills needed for these jobs.
While funding to better our community colleges may be warranted, there is still the underlying issue of current (and historical) student literacy and dropout rates.
A 2006 report by Civic Enterprises in association with Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation states that the high school drop out rate is nearly 33% and closer to 50% for African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans. There are similar studies with nearly identical figures, including that of Time magazine, which ran a front cover proclaiming that the US is “Drop-Out Nation.”
In some areas, it is even far worse. The Manhattan Institute calculated that the drop out rate in Milwaukee was 66% while the Cleveland City School District hit an astonishing 71%.
Studies typically find that illiteracy and the inability to calculate basic math are primary reasons why students drop out of school.
There is also mention of increased funding for Early Head Start which, I believe, is much more needed than funding for higher education, at least proportionately, due to the fact that a) there are such high dropout rates and b) many students who do graduate still need remediation in order to do their college assignments.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy states that the national cost for remedial education is approximately $16.6 Billion annually. It would certainly be nice to put that money to use in another area of education (or save it).
So, while I agree that each of the various areas of education need to be addressed, it seems that Main Street USA must be primarily focused on students currently in K-12 and working to ensure that these students possess the reading and math skills needed for college, then setting sights on Early Head Start and community college reform.
Over For Now,
Main Street One
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Are You As Smart As . . .
One of the things that I do is to provide after-school tutoring for students not doing well in reading and mathematics. It is extremely disheartening to see high school students reading and spelling and performing math at low elementary grade levels. However, it is also encouraging to know that virtually any student can be assisted with proper remediation education.
As I am a researcher I enjoy surfing the web to discover new and old facts, ideas, opinions, etc. In the area of education, I ran across something several years ago that I think will amaze anyone. It is the final exam for 8th grade students in Salina Kansas – from 1895.
Believe me, I was not prepared for the questions on this exam.
Here is one example, the first question in the one-hour Grammar portion:
Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
A question from the 45 minute section on U.S. History:
Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
That one is slightly easier but many people cannot correctly identify each of the individuals named.
How about one more from the one-hour Geography section:
What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
How did you do with these three 1895 8th grade questions?
Would you like to attempt the full five-plus hour exam. Here is a link to one site that has the questions and also, on another page, provides the answers. http://www.barefootsworld.net/1895finalexam.html
I have given this exam to individuals with doctorates in education, masters degrees in business, attorneys, medical doctors, politicians, and others and no one has scored much higher than 50% correct, if that (even taking into account a few obviously outdated questions). Some even gave up!
So, why am I posting this you may be wondering…
Well, we, as a Nation, are becoming less smart. It has been happening over the last century very gradually.
Is that a problem?
Yes, in many ways. One of the most prominent is that illiteracy, for one, drastically affects us economically.
The American Library Association estimates that illiteracy costs America over $225 Billion annually in crime, welfare payments, lost taxes, job incompetence and remedial education. A study by the National Institute of Justice strongly suggests that illiteracy is a primary cause of crime, with estimates that well over 65% of adults in prison are functionally or marginally illiterate and that 85% of juvenile offenders have problems with reading, writing and basic math.
In future blogs, I will take up the history of reading and how, from the research I have done, it appears we ended up in this mess. And, yes it is a mess. We keep throwing billions upon billions of dollars trying to fix the problem when what we really need to do is get early education back to basics.
A final note: Taking that 1895 8th grade final exam from Salina, KS, gave new meaning to the expression, “My grandparents only had an 8th grade education.”
Over for now,
Main Street One
As I am a researcher I enjoy surfing the web to discover new and old facts, ideas, opinions, etc. In the area of education, I ran across something several years ago that I think will amaze anyone. It is the final exam for 8th grade students in Salina Kansas – from 1895.
Believe me, I was not prepared for the questions on this exam.
Here is one example, the first question in the one-hour Grammar portion:
Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
A question from the 45 minute section on U.S. History:
Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
That one is slightly easier but many people cannot correctly identify each of the individuals named.
How about one more from the one-hour Geography section:
What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
How did you do with these three 1895 8th grade questions?
Would you like to attempt the full five-plus hour exam. Here is a link to one site that has the questions and also, on another page, provides the answers. http://www.barefootsworld.net/1895finalexam.html
I have given this exam to individuals with doctorates in education, masters degrees in business, attorneys, medical doctors, politicians, and others and no one has scored much higher than 50% correct, if that (even taking into account a few obviously outdated questions). Some even gave up!
So, why am I posting this you may be wondering…
Well, we, as a Nation, are becoming less smart. It has been happening over the last century very gradually.
Is that a problem?
Yes, in many ways. One of the most prominent is that illiteracy, for one, drastically affects us economically.
The American Library Association estimates that illiteracy costs America over $225 Billion annually in crime, welfare payments, lost taxes, job incompetence and remedial education. A study by the National Institute of Justice strongly suggests that illiteracy is a primary cause of crime, with estimates that well over 65% of adults in prison are functionally or marginally illiterate and that 85% of juvenile offenders have problems with reading, writing and basic math.
In future blogs, I will take up the history of reading and how, from the research I have done, it appears we ended up in this mess. And, yes it is a mess. We keep throwing billions upon billions of dollars trying to fix the problem when what we really need to do is get early education back to basics.
A final note: Taking that 1895 8th grade final exam from Salina, KS, gave new meaning to the expression, “My grandparents only had an 8th grade education.”
Over for now,
Main Street One
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