I like to remind my educator friends that you can still get a Ph.d in education from Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, and most of the other colleges of education having never taken a class in cognitive science or demonstrated any understanding of neuroplasticity, memory, cognition, or the neurology of reading in your entire time in college. 99.99 percent of classroom teachers do not know what cognitive science has known for decades or how it impacts teaching and learning. How else do you explain the ongoing use of three cueing, a strategy which, by definition, causes minimal brain dysfunction and prevents students from learning to read? The classroom experience is invaluable, but if the tools a teacher uses are defective and they are unaware of it, we get destination disaster, which defines the level of literacy and numeracy in California classrooms. Over half (58%—up from 51%!) of California students read below grade level in 3rd grade, and most never catch up. California 4th graders score lower on the national assessment (NAEP) in reading and math than Mississippi, the poorest state in the union.
This topic strikes me as ironic, given that I, as a teacher, have taught mostly about things I have never actually been a practitioner of, and I’m sure that is true of most of my colleagues as well! As a social studies teacher I have taught history without being a historian, taught anthropology without being an anthropologist, economics without being an economist, etc. So we teachers, of all people, ought to be open to learning about education from anyone - sometimes those outside can see things that those in the inside cannot see as easily, or can study things rigorously and systematically that those of us busy teaching can only experience anecdotally.
There are certain commentators about education who I genuinely wish would become teachers for a year before commenting again. You are not one of those. I think a problem occurs where the outsider tells teachers they are wrong about what happens in schools and that they cannot believe their own experiences. It can be very subjective, but I think teachers know the difference between somebody who is confirming and explaining reality, and those who are denying it.
There's a difference between reporters who interview teachers and those who don't. I did a short piece this spring on CBS talking about teacher shortages--without ever having interviewed teachers. Their so-called experts appeared completely tone deaf and they just preached some cookie-cutter media message.
Of course actual teaching experience *helps*. But a further question: Is what's being written *true*?
Shouldn't all teachers' priority be that students are effectively educated? Once again, education coverage is about the educators' desires and preferences, not the students' educations and futures. All educators need to check their ego at the door and make sure they are effective. Sadly, so many are not.
Teacher here who appreciates that someone is finally saying out loud what needs to be said. Your book and concurrent work has helped me feel less isolated, like I'm not the only one who sees what's going on. Between your work and Emily Handford's Sold a Story, rhetoric is changing and minds are opening. Culture change takes a long time, so keep it up because what you are doing is worthy. Not just anyone is wiling to pick up and read through Ravitch's Left Back or most of E.D. Hirsh's work. You've done a brilliant job bringing it to the mainstream. I am very much looking forward to your new book. And, btw, you've taught me how to better talk about all this with colleagues.
Recently I overheard a man & woman heatedly discussing the topic of abortion. I referred both of them to an informative web site on that topic, namely AbortionProcedures.com, on which a group of former abortionists describe in detail exactly what they used to do. The woman quickly informed me that due to my being a male, I had no right to discuss any aspect of abortion with her. I did not take her preposterous argument to heart; she had been programmed with a defense mechanism designed to thwart the feeble-minded. Similarly, you should dismiss people who claim that you cannot discuss education due to your not having been a teacher; in fact I'd say you're eminently qualified, since most teachers have been indoctrinated with preposterous ideas that do not serve the interests of children or parents.
The only danger I see for your continuing is that you sometimes are in a rut of restating positions that have been thoroughly discussed for decades by others in the school reform movement. Unless you've been part of the education reform movement for years, it's hard to know what's already been covered. My way of dealing with this WRT reading instruction was to create my own web site (MyChildWillRead.org), which contains (on its second page) a discussion of the dismal history of reading instruction in U.S. public schools. By reviewing the material on my site, including several of its other pages, along with things to which my site links, you will get a possibly more comprehensive view of what's already been covered, at least on that topic.
OK, why is everyone so eager to pounce on the education system when they are not educators themselves? Talking to someone about the educator experience is not quite the same as being an educator…you are quite correct, if you are not a doctor or a plumber ( or whatever) you are not positioned to criticize. The art of pedagogy has to be learned and practiced. Politics has no place in education as politicians push their own agendas. Don’t include teachers in the public education system, we are beginning to become pawns in someone else’s game.
Good for you, Ms. Wexler! As a passionate and seasoned educator who specializes in literacy, I applaud your efforts and the results of your research. Let's remember that the definition of the Science of Reading includes many disciplines who have a lot to offer, including Neuroscience, Psychology, Linguistics, and Implementation Science in addition to Educators. Obviously not all of the individuals in these disciplines have teaching experience, yet all contribute to SoR. Your contribution most impacts students' abilities to expand both vocabulary and background knowledge--both of which are key elements in terms of creating a literate brain allowing individuals to develop into proficient, skilled readers and writers. I personally laud your efforts---and let me add that although journalist Emily Hanford does not directly teach students, she has also greatly impacted the field of education. Carry on!
To go back to "first principles" as they obtained to our species, relatively simply analysis should easily reveal that teaching is something we all do - and all the time. The modern civilized effect of institutional schooling of children is of course a natural extension of parenting, of the natural human function of a village, a community, all human society. And as a simple examination could also reveal, we keep on teaching everyone all around us for our whole lives - by the simple exhibition of our behaviour to any human witness. Thus surely everyone had the natural human requirement of teaching to the very end. And as you are talking about some very fundamental universal principles - of human cognition - which are, of course integral to "education" now, and perennially to all human instruction, the profession called "teaching" is the most open of all for, in that sense, all vital healthy human beings served their own natural interests by such teaching, even if only to witness by their living example.
Keep on doing it: the subject is naturally directly attendant to our most primary concerns and thus has enormous potential of practical benefit. Your work has real human value!
Disruptive and creatively destructive initiatives almost always come from outside the discipline. It's why we have the expression "Can't see the forest for the trees."
Disruptive and creatively desctructive initiatives are almost never welcomed by the incumbent experts either.
While usually educational commentators with little experience would benefit from time spent in the classroom, the fact that your work has been translated successfully and championed by expert teachers across a range of contexts should compel you to keep writing for us without having to get the classroom hours up. Teachers are territorial and if we sensed a charlatan in our midst we wouldn’t use the research. But we do because our students are writing better. Keep it up!
Before I became a teacher, I had no idea what actually went on in the classroom other than my own experiences as a student. Now that I am a teacher, I have learned that many of the ideas I held before were false. That being said, I have found your book and other reading materials to be insightful and inspiring. What I find the most stressful in teaching is the idea that every new fad is the greatest thing ever or it is how it has always been done so therefore I do not want to change. In my humble opinion education will continue to break down until it is understood that smaller classes, more hands on deck and adequate support are critical in changing the outlook.
I like to remind my educator friends that you can still get a Ph.d in education from Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, and most of the other colleges of education having never taken a class in cognitive science or demonstrated any understanding of neuroplasticity, memory, cognition, or the neurology of reading in your entire time in college. 99.99 percent of classroom teachers do not know what cognitive science has known for decades or how it impacts teaching and learning. How else do you explain the ongoing use of three cueing, a strategy which, by definition, causes minimal brain dysfunction and prevents students from learning to read? The classroom experience is invaluable, but if the tools a teacher uses are defective and they are unaware of it, we get destination disaster, which defines the level of literacy and numeracy in California classrooms. Over half (58%—up from 51%!) of California students read below grade level in 3rd grade, and most never catch up. California 4th graders score lower on the national assessment (NAEP) in reading and math than Mississippi, the poorest state in the union.
OMG! If you can’t read well, you probably can’t do other subjects well, either. RIF=Reading Is Fundamental.
This topic strikes me as ironic, given that I, as a teacher, have taught mostly about things I have never actually been a practitioner of, and I’m sure that is true of most of my colleagues as well! As a social studies teacher I have taught history without being a historian, taught anthropology without being an anthropologist, economics without being an economist, etc. So we teachers, of all people, ought to be open to learning about education from anyone - sometimes those outside can see things that those in the inside cannot see as easily, or can study things rigorously and systematically that those of us busy teaching can only experience anecdotally.
There are certain commentators about education who I genuinely wish would become teachers for a year before commenting again. You are not one of those. I think a problem occurs where the outsider tells teachers they are wrong about what happens in schools and that they cannot believe their own experiences. It can be very subjective, but I think teachers know the difference between somebody who is confirming and explaining reality, and those who are denying it.
There's a difference between reporters who interview teachers and those who don't. I did a short piece this spring on CBS talking about teacher shortages--without ever having interviewed teachers. Their so-called experts appeared completely tone deaf and they just preached some cookie-cutter media message.
Of course actual teaching experience *helps*. But a further question: Is what's being written *true*?
If you keep writing, I'll keep reading.
Shouldn't all teachers' priority be that students are effectively educated? Once again, education coverage is about the educators' desires and preferences, not the students' educations and futures. All educators need to check their ego at the door and make sure they are effective. Sadly, so many are not.
Teacher here who appreciates that someone is finally saying out loud what needs to be said. Your book and concurrent work has helped me feel less isolated, like I'm not the only one who sees what's going on. Between your work and Emily Handford's Sold a Story, rhetoric is changing and minds are opening. Culture change takes a long time, so keep it up because what you are doing is worthy. Not just anyone is wiling to pick up and read through Ravitch's Left Back or most of E.D. Hirsh's work. You've done a brilliant job bringing it to the mainstream. I am very much looking forward to your new book. And, btw, you've taught me how to better talk about all this with colleagues.
I love reading your work as a k12 teacher. I find your perspective informative.
keep writing. The world needs your perspective.
Recently I overheard a man & woman heatedly discussing the topic of abortion. I referred both of them to an informative web site on that topic, namely AbortionProcedures.com, on which a group of former abortionists describe in detail exactly what they used to do. The woman quickly informed me that due to my being a male, I had no right to discuss any aspect of abortion with her. I did not take her preposterous argument to heart; she had been programmed with a defense mechanism designed to thwart the feeble-minded. Similarly, you should dismiss people who claim that you cannot discuss education due to your not having been a teacher; in fact I'd say you're eminently qualified, since most teachers have been indoctrinated with preposterous ideas that do not serve the interests of children or parents.
The only danger I see for your continuing is that you sometimes are in a rut of restating positions that have been thoroughly discussed for decades by others in the school reform movement. Unless you've been part of the education reform movement for years, it's hard to know what's already been covered. My way of dealing with this WRT reading instruction was to create my own web site (MyChildWillRead.org), which contains (on its second page) a discussion of the dismal history of reading instruction in U.S. public schools. By reviewing the material on my site, including several of its other pages, along with things to which my site links, you will get a possibly more comprehensive view of what's already been covered, at least on that topic.
Keep writing!
OK, why is everyone so eager to pounce on the education system when they are not educators themselves? Talking to someone about the educator experience is not quite the same as being an educator…you are quite correct, if you are not a doctor or a plumber ( or whatever) you are not positioned to criticize. The art of pedagogy has to be learned and practiced. Politics has no place in education as politicians push their own agendas. Don’t include teachers in the public education system, we are beginning to become pawns in someone else’s game.
Good for you, Ms. Wexler! As a passionate and seasoned educator who specializes in literacy, I applaud your efforts and the results of your research. Let's remember that the definition of the Science of Reading includes many disciplines who have a lot to offer, including Neuroscience, Psychology, Linguistics, and Implementation Science in addition to Educators. Obviously not all of the individuals in these disciplines have teaching experience, yet all contribute to SoR. Your contribution most impacts students' abilities to expand both vocabulary and background knowledge--both of which are key elements in terms of creating a literate brain allowing individuals to develop into proficient, skilled readers and writers. I personally laud your efforts---and let me add that although journalist Emily Hanford does not directly teach students, she has also greatly impacted the field of education. Carry on!
To go back to "first principles" as they obtained to our species, relatively simply analysis should easily reveal that teaching is something we all do - and all the time. The modern civilized effect of institutional schooling of children is of course a natural extension of parenting, of the natural human function of a village, a community, all human society. And as a simple examination could also reveal, we keep on teaching everyone all around us for our whole lives - by the simple exhibition of our behaviour to any human witness. Thus surely everyone had the natural human requirement of teaching to the very end. And as you are talking about some very fundamental universal principles - of human cognition - which are, of course integral to "education" now, and perennially to all human instruction, the profession called "teaching" is the most open of all for, in that sense, all vital healthy human beings served their own natural interests by such teaching, even if only to witness by their living example.
Keep on doing it: the subject is naturally directly attendant to our most primary concerns and thus has enormous potential of practical benefit. Your work has real human value!
Disruptive and creatively destructive initiatives almost always come from outside the discipline. It's why we have the expression "Can't see the forest for the trees."
Disruptive and creatively desctructive initiatives are almost never welcomed by the incumbent experts either.
While usually educational commentators with little experience would benefit from time spent in the classroom, the fact that your work has been translated successfully and championed by expert teachers across a range of contexts should compel you to keep writing for us without having to get the classroom hours up. Teachers are territorial and if we sensed a charlatan in our midst we wouldn’t use the research. But we do because our students are writing better. Keep it up!
Before I became a teacher, I had no idea what actually went on in the classroom other than my own experiences as a student. Now that I am a teacher, I have learned that many of the ideas I held before were false. That being said, I have found your book and other reading materials to be insightful and inspiring. What I find the most stressful in teaching is the idea that every new fad is the greatest thing ever or it is how it has always been done so therefore I do not want to change. In my humble opinion education will continue to break down until it is understood that smaller classes, more hands on deck and adequate support are critical in changing the outlook.