Beginning to Read and the Spin Doctors of Science: The Political Campaign to Change America's Mind about How Children Learn to Read.

Beginning to Read and the Spin Doctors of Science: The Political Campaign to Change America's Mind about How Children Learn to Read

In a dramatic narrative account, Denny Taylor exposes the motivation behind the myth that public schools are failing young readers. Released in July 1998 by the National Council of Teachers of English, Taylor's book is already into a third priming and has apparently touched a nerve in the ongoing "reading wars." Taylor's insider account reveals how research studies on early reading instruction are being distorted to perpetuate a massive shift in our national understandings about language, literacy, and learning.

The contention that phonemic awareness must be taught directly and that children need explicit systematic instruction in phonics is less of a scientific "fact" than an exercise in political persuasion. Many educators, including Taylor, don't agree with the stance that reading problems are a major public health threat. And they resist a search for pathology either among the students or the schools. Instead of blindly trusting studies that replicate the dire information reported in previous studies, Taylor demands that tough questions be asked of any research about children and reading: "Is the research responsive to the social, cultural, and intellectual lives of children? How was the research conducted? What are the ethical issues? Were the scientific procedures rigorous? Were the tests and measurements relevant to the stated objectives of the studies? Were the hypotheses properly tested? Were the theories proven? What does the research really indicate? Correlation or causation? Are there alternative explanations for the results? What is the impact of the research in the lives of children and their families?"

Indicting publishers, researchers, even government agencies for grossly misusing key studies to support a mythology that has turned early reading instruction into a massive business of unprecedented commercial worth, Taylor shows how reading research is linked to social and political struggles over the meaning and purpose of education in contemporary American culture. Hers is a disturbing message but a message to which all who are concerned about the politicization or education must attend.

Beginning to Read and the Spin Doctors of Science. Denny Taylor, author. 443 pages, soft cover. ISBN: 0-81410275-1. Price: $26.95, non-NCTE members; $19.95, NCTE members. Audience: K-college teachers and scholars interested in literacy, reading pedagogy, and politics and education. Available from NCTE, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096; 877-369-6283, stock no. 02751-0015. To request a review copy, contact Lori Biancbini 800-369-6283, ext. 3644; [e-mail]