[ Date Prev][ Date Next][ Thread Prev][ Thread Next][ Date Index][ Thread Index]
Re: [arn-1] Teaching Reading & NCLB
- To: arn-l@interversity.org
- Subject: Re: [arn-1] Teaching Reading & NCLB
- From: "Pikku Myy" <lillamyy@hotmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 04 May 2003 01:34:39 -0600
True. Someone might publish something like this:
http://www.policyreview.org/OCT02/hirsch.html
which wouldn't be nice at all, and might hurt some feelings.
?We really ought to look into theories that don?t work, and science that
isn?t science. I think the educational . . . studies I mentioned are
examples of what I would like to call cargo cult science. In the South Seas
there is a cargo cult of people. During the war they saw airplanes with lots
of good materials, and they want the same thing to happen now. So they?ve
arranged to make things like runways, to put fires along the sides of the
runways, to make a wooden hut for a man to sit in, with two wooden pieces on
his head for headphones and bars of bamboo sticking out like antennas ? he?s
the controller ? and they wait for the airplanes to land. They?re doing
everything right. The form is perfect. It looks exactly the way it looked
before. But it doesn?t work. No airplanes land. So I call these things cargo
cult science, because they follow all the apparent precepts and forms of
scientific investigation, but they?re missing something essential, because
the planes don?t land.?
? Richard P. Feynman, ?Cargo Cult Science,? Surely You?re Joking, Mr
Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
From: "Karen Canty" <kvscanty@pacbell.net>
Reply-To: arn-l@interversity.org
To: <arn-l@interversity.org>
Subject: Re: [arn-l] [arn-1] Teaching Reading & NCLB
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 20:58:53 -0700
George,
Please, we have already had enough discussion about what constitutes
research - and it seems to me that "research' has come to mean "find
something that agrees with my bias and I'll call it 'research'". Is
there really any research done in education that can tell us anything?
Of course, if all you do is teach to the test and test scores rise, then
obviously the "research" will "say" that you're doing a good job...what
about all the other stuff that kids are supposed to learn in school?
It's kind of like Bill Bennett's determination of what "moral behavior"
is; just don't include gambling when you're talking about it!
Karen
-----Original Message-----
From: arn-l-owner@interversity.org [mailto:arn-l-owner@interversity.org]
On Behalf Of George K Cunningham
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 3:29 PM
To: arn-l@interversity.org
Subject: Re: [arn-l] [arn-1] Teaching Reading & NCLB
I am shocked that the Bush administation is promoting scientifically
based teaching method. This is terrible. Aaren't there laws against
such abuse. How could anyone think that science could be applied to
education?
George K. Cunningham
University of Louisville
>>> hberlak@sbcglobal.net 05/03/03 03:50PM >>>
EDUCATION POLICY STUDIES LABORATORY
Education Policy Research Unit
****NEWS RELEASE****
from the Education Policy Research Unit (EPRU)
of the Education Policy Studies Laboratory (EPSL)
at Arizona State University
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 2, 2003
CONTACT:
Dr. Harold Berlak
Applied Research Center
510.530.7592
hberlak@sbcglobal.net
Professor Alex Molnar, Director
Education Policy Studies Laboratory
(480) 965-1886
epsl@asu.edu
http://edpolicylab.org
Find this document on the web at:
http://www.asu.edu/educ/epsl/EPRU/documents/EPRU-0304-20-RW.doc
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT PUSHES EDUCATORS TO USE HIGHLY
PRESCRIPTIVE AND INFLEXIBLE COMMERCIAL PHONICS PROGRAMS
TEMPE, Ariz.- A policy brief released today by the Education Policy
Research Unit (EPRU) argues that the Bush administration's
interpretation of a National Reading Panel (NRP) report on teaching
reading has led to an emphasis on "scientifically based" teaching
methods. Researcher Harold Berlak with the Applied Research Center
(ARC)
asserts this emphasis drives teachers to rely on highly prescriptive,
commercial phonics programs in order to meet the No Child Left Behind
act's (NCLB) requirements for "Adequate Yearly Progress."
Interpreting the National Reading Panel
Berlak argues that although government sources repeatedly cite the
superiority of a phonics emphasis as beyond question, a reading of the
full NRP report indicates this conclusion is false or at best
misleading. The report states, Berlak reports, "Teachers must
understand
that systematic phonics instruction is only one component - albeit a
necessary component - of a total reading program . . ." The full
report,
Berlak emphasizes, is filled with numerous caveats against
heavy-handed
emphasis on phonics drills, urging educators to make available to
early
readers real books and quality literature.
Berlak maintains that the most striking limitation of using the NRP
report as a guide to policy is that the panel ignored a large body of
research on reading and language that does not fit their criteria for
what is considered "scientific," eliminating studies of teaching of
reading as it occurs in a natural setting.
How NCLB's Provisions Influence Teaching Reading
Berlak argues that two of the NCLB's provisions have a direct and
immediate influence on how schools will teach reading: those governing
testing and the "Reading First" program. The most obvious consequence
of
NCLB testing provisions, asserts Berlak, is the loss of flexibility on
the part of districts, schools, and classroom teachers to modify
pedagogy based on individual learning differences and differing
cultural
and linguistic histories.
Relying on what the Bush administration asserts are the conclusions of
the NRP report, Berlak argues that the "Reading First" program only
provides grants to improve reading instruction if the methods used are
scientifically based, including all teaching materials, books, and
assessments. Berlak maintains that these restrictions require teachers
to use highly prescriptive phonics programs such as Open Court,
Reading
Mastery, and other highly scripted programs that focus almost entirely
on teaching children to read through a structured and intense focus on
phonics.
Concerns about Highly Prescriptive Phonics Programs
The most obvious consequence of using highly scripted reading
packages,
argues Berlak, is the loss of flexibility, which limits the ability of
classroom teachers and schools to use their own judgment in selecting
teaching materials and methods that respond to children's learning
differences as well as to differences in culture and language.
Berlak also documents that while the negative consequences of current
NCLB policies impact all children, those disproportionately affected
are
poor children and children of color, which manifests as a form of
institutional racism. Berlak concludes with questions that parents,
the
public, the press, and researchers should raise about the quality of
reading instruction offered in public schools.
*************
The Education Policy Research Unit (EPRU) conducts original research,
provides independent analyses of research and policy documents, and
facilitates educational innovation. EPRU facilitates the work of
leading academic experts in a variety of disciplines to help inform
the
public debate about education policy issues.
Visit the EPRU website at http://www.educationanalysis.org
The Education Policy Studies Laboratory (EPSL) at Arizona State
University offers high quality analyses of national education policy
issues and provides an analytical resource for educators, journalists,
and citizens. It includes the Commercialism in Education Research Unit
(CERU), the Education Policy Analysis Archives (EPAA), the Education
Policy Reports Project (EPRP), the Education Policy Research Unit
(EPRU), and the Language Policy Research Unit (LPRU). The EPSL is
directed by ASU Professor Alex Molnar.
Visit the EPSL website at http://edpolicylab.org
------------------------------------------------
Direct list questions to listmom@interversity.net
-------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe ARN-L:
http://interversity.org/lists/arn-l/subscribe.html
_________________________________________________________________
Charla con tus amigos en línea mediante MSN Messenger:
http://messenger.yupimsn.com/
Post a Message to arn-l:
|