The Decades-Long Travesty That Made Millions of Americans Mistrust Their Schools • Hacker News Board

Re: The Decades-Long Travesty That Made Millions of Americans Mistrust Their Schools

#11

Post by api » Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 1:44 PM UTC

I thought this was going to be about the look-say method, another dubious reading education fad.

My own kids have just gone through Kindergarten and first grade and the impression I get is that they were given some mix of a phonics and look-say approach. They seem to be doing okay.

Re: The Decades-Long Travesty That Made Millions of Americans Mistrust Their Schools

#12

Post by COGlory » Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 1:46 PM UTC

This was a pretty poor article. They never really explained what balanced literacy is, what its key positions are, or how it measured success. Nor do they really explain how their ideas would be better, or adress failings of balanced literacy.

Re: The Decades-Long Travesty That Made Millions of Americans Mistrust Their Schools

#13

Post by giantg2 » Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 1:46 PM UTC

Too much focus on phonics could turn off some kids. It's not a one size fits all. The other half she's referring to could better spend their time reading since they already know how to instead of spending additional time on phonics. I hated how long they taught phonics, which is really saying something considering I don't remember too much else from that early.

How is the political group using the science of reading to undermine public schools?

Re: The Decades-Long Travesty That Made Millions of Americans Mistrust Their Schools

#14

Post by jonahbenton » Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 1:46 PM UTC

Am also a NYC parent, 15 years of deep school involvement. The critiqued curriculum from Columbia TC was supplemental for us and excellent. With all respect to those conducting reading studies of various kinds, and of course to parents whose kids were suffering, many of the broad claims in this piece are bewildering and are far from what I observed directly and indirectly. My views are perhaps colored by my low opinion of current leadership, which hung its hat on this curricular change but in general seems to be making one questionable decision after another, along with the mayor, who is corrupt and incompetent on a nearly criminal level. So it goes.

Re: The Decades-Long Travesty That Made Millions of Americans Mistrust Their Schools

#15

Post by rdtsc » Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 1:48 PM UTC

> the goofy glasses teachers wore for group reading time to make the written word less intimidating; in the assurances to parents that the best way to help children read was to read out loud to them to instill a love of language and literature; in the artfully arranged reading nooks stocked with cushions, mats, and an appealing array of books; in the hours that teachers instructed young children to sit in those nooks with books of their choosing.

I have gone through this with my kids. Out of all the options and educational models, it’s unsurprising they picked the laziest one. They don’t have to struggle and correct kids. Just put goofy goggles on. Or, stick them in front of a tablet and let that babysit them until parents pick them up.

Re: The Decades-Long Travesty That Made Millions of Americans Mistrust Their Schools

#16

Post by failrate » Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 1:48 PM UTC

I find it ridiculous that the author had not already taught their children to read prior to kindergarten.

Re: The Decades-Long Travesty That Made Millions of Americans Mistrust Their Schools

#17

Post by boxed » Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 1:49 PM UTC

English as a language doesn't help, being a disaster for learning to read. My native Swedish is annoying and hard enough for my kids and it's a paragon of logic and consistency compared to English.

Re: The Decades-Long Travesty That Made Millions of Americans Mistrust Their Schools

#18

Post by phkahler » Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 1:49 PM UTC

OMG if teachers don't want to teach, at least park the kids in front of "The Letter Factory" once a week and then "The Word Factory" for a bit. IMHO two videos that teach the basics and are fun for kids.

Re: The Decades-Long Travesty That Made Millions of Americans Mistrust Their Schools

#19

Post by COGlory » Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 1:50 PM UTC

RecycledEle wrote: post #10

I teach for a living. I'm currently at a community college, but I spent most of the last decade teaching high school. I even did a little 4th grade. (Yes, it is unusual for any teacher to teach that range of grades.) Educational administrators are idiots. They can not do basic tasks. Give them a list of industry certifications like the one I will link below, and ask them to figure out which classes currently offered…

>A big chunk of their funding depends on getting their students certified, and they can not make a plan to achieve that.

>I am literally the only teacher in the school who got kids certified (that I know of.)

These two things (as explained by you) cannot be true at the same time, or the school could not exist. Could you explain the nature of the funding? Is it supplememtal? Who is supplying the funds?

Re: The Decades-Long Travesty That Made Millions of Americans Mistrust Their Schools

#20

Post by rdtsc » Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 1:54 PM UTC

jncfhnb wrote: post #2

Huh, wow, yeah I never heard of this but that makes complete sense. I spent a bit of time helping by at an elementary and though it took a bit to click, it was painfully obvious that a lot of the worst behaved kids were doing so as way to hide the fact that they could not read. And yeah, the idea of trying to get kids to read by just making them read does seem like bullshit vs teaching it as a skill.

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