LETTERS.Painful But Appropriate AASA AASA American Association of School Administrators AASA Asian American Student Association AASA Association of Academies of Sciences in Asia AASA Aging and Adult Services Administration AASA Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army President Karl Hertz reminds us of some painful facts about the state of American childhood in his President's Corner column ("A Great Squirming Away From Our Responsibility") in the October issue. As our economy booms and many of us prosper beyond expectations, it is proper and encouraging for the president of our organization to bring the condition of so many of this nation's children into our focus. If indeed the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, this country is looking at serious trouble in the future. DICK SWANTZ Superintendent, School District of LaCrosse lacrosse (ləkrôs`), ball and goal game usually played outdoors by two teams of 10 players each on a field 60 to 70 yd (54.86 to 64.01 m) wide by 110 yd (100.58 m) long. Two goals face each other 80 yd (73. , LaCrosse, Wis. Commending Class Size Thank you for the article on class size by Charles Achilles ("Small Classes, Big Possibilities," October 1997). It is a long-awaited clarion call clarion call Noun strong encouragement to do something . He cites a remarkable data curve on learning as a function of class size, published by Glass and Smith in the 1970s. Policy papers continued to assert that "class size makes no difference." That was true when one considered only the interval on the data curve above 25 students per class. We must fund smaller classes and well-planned evaluation research on their benefits and their cost-effectiveness. RICK SPRAGUE Executive Director, CHARMSS Collaborative, Randolph, Mass. Where's the Documented Support? I grow weary of respected scholars, like Bill Honig ("Reading the Right Way," September 1997), who write articles that contrast whole language and phonics phonics Method of reading instruction that breaks language down into its simplest components. Children learn the sounds of individual letters first, then the sounds of letters in combination and in simple words. when there is no dichotomy there. These authors are less well-informed than they should be and they do literacy education a disservice dis·ser·vice n. A harmful action; an injury. disservice Noun a harmful action Noun 1. , especially when their views are published in magazines for school system leaders. I counted over 10 research references that never were identified. Perhaps you should ask Honig to read the excellent article ("Whose Claims Are Valid?") by Richard Allington in the same issue. Ignorance coupled with lack of evidence is the greatest enemy of public education. JUDITH N. THELEN Post-President, International Reading Association President, Allegany County Allegany County is the name of two counties in the United States of America:
Cumberland, Md. Bill Honig responds: The magazine's editors requested that I keep the citations to a minimum, but the documentation for the points I made is voluminous and overwhelming. Most of it is cited in my book, How to Teach Our Children to Read. Every point in the article stems from extensively researched studies by leading researchers. Judith Thelan was president of the International Reading Association, which has been one of the strongest voices in the country trying to keep this research from practitioners often by the use of ridicule, name-calling or intentional mis-citation. The main points of my article still stand: (1) many children need specific, direct and linguistically organized instruction in phonemic awareness Phonemic Awareness is a subset of phonological awareness in which listeners are able to distinguish phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning. For example, a listener with phonemic awareness can break the word "Cat" into three separate phonemes: /k/, /a/, , phonics, sounding out words and decoding de·code tr.v. de·cod·ed, de·cod·ing, de·codes 1. To convert from code into plain text. 2. To convert from a scrambled electronic signal into an interpretable one. 3. to learn to read; (2) most children's reading performance will be enhanced if they are checked out on our alphabetic system; and (3) few classrooms offer the comprehensive reading program I have described. A Fair View of Reading Recovery I basically was pleased with the objectivity of Richard Colvin in his comprehensive article, "Reading Recovery Revisited," in September. He examined the subject from various perspectives. As a former teacher, principal, assistant superintendent Assistant Superintendent, or Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), was a rank used by police forces in the British Empire. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held by a European officer, most of whom joined the police at this rank. and university professor for 32 years, I would like to address some of the points he makes. The significant costs incurred by school districts that implement Reading Recovery relate to the professional development of Reading Recovery teachers, which includes the initial year-long training and subsequent periodic professional development experiences. The costs of books for struggling young readers (purchased from various publishers) are a one-time investment, and they can be used by all children for many years. Reading Recovery was developed as an early intervention ear·ly intervention n. Abbr. EI A process of assessment and therapy provided to children, especially those younger than age 6, to facilitate normal cognitive and emotional development and to prevent developmental disability or delay. for first-grade children at risk of failing to learn to read, usually the children in the lowest quartile Quartile A statistical term describing a division of observations into four defined intervals based upon the values of the data and how they compare to the entire set of observations. Notes: Each quartile contains 25% of the total observations. of achievement. Reading Recovery is not intended for the rest of the school population. Research is replete re·plete adj. 1. Abundantly supplied; abounding: a stream replete with trout; an apartment replete with Empire furniture. 2. Filled to satiation; gorged. 3. with studies that show that the most successful educational programs target children at the earliest possible ages. It is patently invalid to compare Reading Recovery with whole-school programs. Reading Recovery is not intended for children who have excessive neurological neurological, neurologic pertaining to or emanating from the nervous system or from neurology. neurological assessment evaluation of the health status of a patient with a nervous system disorder or dysfunction. or psychological disorders. It is not a cure-all for all children or for education's ills. Children who are disadvantaged only because of lack of literacy experiences can learn to read and write with the co-constructive assistance of Reading Recovery teachers. V. ANNE ALLEN Allen and Allen Educational Consultants, Little Rock, Ark. Appreciated the Discount Tip As the administrator of a 500-student district in rural northeastern Colorado, I wish to thank Kari Arfstrom for her Federal Dateline ("Plan Now for E-Rate Discounts This Winter") in the October issue. We are interested in applying for the discount because of our T-1 lines to the local community college. The savings would allow us to do more for our children. I'm afraid many people are not aware of this great opportunity. CHARLES G. JOHNSON Charles Gus Johnson (October 12, 1880-October 14, 1957) served as California State Treasurer, 1923-1956. He was the longest-serving state treasurer. He was forced to resign in 1956 after stories began to emerge over him funneling state funds into personal loans. Superintendent, Akron School District R-1, Akron, Colo. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion