Today the Washington Post reported on the state of “No Child Left Behind” and its impact on reading scores since it was signed in 2002. The article focused on the results of a report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress which illustrated that “No Child Left Behind” has not impacted reading scores as positively as it was intended to. Few states have showed progress and the states that have progressed, haven’t progressed significantly. With these results many of the administrators expressed frustration:
"We've had a real focus on reading, and we're stuck… The report points to an issue, and we've got to as practitioners figure what's going on. I think students aren't reading enough. And I think they aren't reading enough of the good stuff. That's true in grade 4, and that's true in grade 8, on up." -Susan Pimentel, member of the National Assessment Governing Board
"Today's results once again show that the achievement of American students isn't growing fast enough... The reading scores demonstrate that students aren't making the progress necessary to compete in the global economy. We shouldn't be satisfied with these results. By this and many other measures, our students aren't on a path to graduate high school ready to succeed in college and the workplace." -Education Secretary Arne Duncan
The Washington Post writer highlighted the problem in these two statements from the article (click on the “Washington Post” link to view the article):
The government spent billions of dollars to improve instruction and required schools to monitor student progress every year toward an ambitious goal of eliminating achievement gaps.
Taken together, the reading and math results are likely to be seized on by would-be reformers as evidence that a new approach should be taken. But what that should be remains an open question.
The report on this same issue in USA Today offered a solution to this problem:
"There's no magic bullet in all of this, I don't think any project or program is going to create improved performance. I think it's back to the basics. I think it's good teaching and good leadership in schools which produces improved student performance.” -David Gordon, Superintendent of Sacramento County Schools
The NY Times also picked this story up and compared the Math and Reading Scores in the US:
“The nation has done a really good job improving math skills. In contrast, we have made only marginal improvements in reading skills.” -Mark Schneider, Vice President at the American Institutes for Research
I love reading articles like this. Not because I take delight in this problem, but I am glad to see that this problem is being brought into focus- because it truly does exist. Students need to improve their literacy skills. I know that many of these students would be helped by receiving the proper reading instruction from the start. Having a proper understanding of the fundamentals of reading (taught in Reading Horizons program) and language would help them build upon their reading and literacy skills in the future. I’ve recently been thinking about how complicated the English language is to understand and it has helped me see another benefit to Reading Horizons reading program: it takes a very complicated concept (learning to read English) and strives to teach students this complicated process in a simple and logical way.
For more information on Reading Horizons program and how it can help with the literacy problems facing the United States, as well as on a International level visit: www.ReadingHorizons.com
Comment and share your thoughts on this issue!