There have been two significant national literacy reform initiatives in the past twenty-five years. Education's Faulty Foundation explores these efforts in depth, highlighting the challenges that have limited their effectiveness.
National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read
In 1997, Congress directed the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to assemble a national panel to evaluate the effectiveness of different approaches to teaching children to read. Their findings, published in 2000, aimed to provide evidence-based insights for educators. You can check this out for more information on this topic.
The National Reading Panel’s analysis underscored the importance of phonological awareness (PA) instruction, showing it was more effective than alternative training methods in helping students grasp phonemic awareness for reading and spelling. However, many valuable insights from the report, such as teaching PA skills within specific reading tasks, are often underemphasized in educational practices.
Key Takeaways from the National Reading Panel’s Findings on Phonemic Awareness
Role of Phonemic Awareness: The NRP highlighted that phonemic awareness is essential for reading and writing, recommending that letters be included when teaching children phoneme manipulation.
Individualized Instruction: Recognizing that children differ in PA levels, the panel suggested that instruction be tailored to students' needs, especially in early grades.
Need for Further Research: The panel emphasized further study on teacher competencies in PA instruction and on integrating PA into reading curricula, which unfortunately appears to have been largely neglected.
Phonics Instruction and the Importance of Teacher Knowledge
The NRP also reviewed phonics instruction and raised concerns about its classroom implementation. They cautioned that phonics programs must emphasize applying letter-sound knowledge to real reading and writing tasks, rather than rote memorization of phonics rules. Furthermore, they emphasized that teachers need a deep understanding of phonics programs to effectively evaluate and adapt them based on student needs.
The panel also warned about the potential downsides of standardized phonics programs, which may not meet diverse students' needs. This warning remains relevant, as many educators today still grapple with finding the balance between consistency and flexibility in phonics instruction.
Publishers and the Five Essential Components of Effective Reading Instruction
Dr. Louisa Moats, in her 2007 article funded by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, discussed the limitations of the "five-part checklist" approach in reading programs. She noted that the five essential components—Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension—are often included superficially in programs without fully understanding their roles.
For example, when the Clark County School District in Nevada implemented the Starfall Pre-K curriculum, they encountered challenges in teaching phonological awareness due to a lack of curriculum alignment with research-based benchmarks. This underscores the need for a closer alignment between published reading programs and genuine scientific research, as highlighted in Education's Faulty Foundation’s investigation.
Every Student Succeeds Act and Teacher Preparation
Signed into law in December 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) allocated significant funds to strengthen teacher preparation. About our foundation found that, despite the federal funding, accountability mechanisms for teacher preparation programs in some states, like Louisiana, were insufficiently transparent.
Louisiana invested over $4 million in teacher residency programs to give candidates hands-on experience with mentor teachers. While mentorship is essential for developing strong educators, details on mentor teacher training and qualifications remain unclear. Additionally, Louisiana's ESSA plan does not disclose specifics about teacher leader roles, making it difficult to assess their impact on student outcomes.
Although ESSA aimed to prevent students from failing by strengthening the teaching profession, there is limited publicly available data on the effectiveness of these reforms or how grant funds were specifically utilized to achieve these goals.
Critical Insights for Effective Literacy Reform
The reform efforts from the National Reading Panel and the Every Student Succeeds Act offer valuable insights and underscore the need for individualized instruction, rigorous teacher preparation, and transparent program evaluation. To learn more about these findings and how they impact education today, visit Education’s Faulty Foundation. Â
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