Reading First: Another Cookie Cutter Curriculum

It is my understanding that congress has recently voted to decrease the President’s budget request for Reading First and that subcommittees in both the House and Senate have voted to cut the program altogether.

As a teacher and a parent I’m frustrated and disgusted with what No Child Left Behind and its programs like Reading First are doing to education, which is especially repugnant in light of a recent investigation that has shown financial links between certain publishers and Reading First officials. Reading First makes a mockery of teaching and learning by putting real reading last instead of balancing comprehension with decoding. If anything, the scales should tip in favor of comprehension--I have never heard someone finish a good book and say, “You’ve got to read this book—you’ll just love sounding out the words!”

Sarcasm aside, I believe that measurable standards of excellence and accountability are needed, but cookie cutter curriculums and high stakes testing are not the answer. I’ve seen studies that show the greatest achievement gap in literacy is found among adult members of poverty, and if we are to improve literacy rates, we need to start now, by improving the lives of poor children, taking care of their schools, hiring first-rate teachers to teach them, and putting books they love to read in their hands, their schools, and their libraries.

If you agree with me on this issue, please speak out. If you don't agree with me, I hope you'll reconsider your position, and in the meantime, I’ll see about starting up some bake sales to raise money for books for kids.

Any blisters I get from cookie cutters will be apropos.