Transcript No Slide Title
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The Influence of Reading Recovery on Everyday Classroom Practice
A Legacy of Curricular Impact “A View from the Sidelines” “with a decided bias from the US experience” P. David Pearson UC Berkeley
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Talk
available
I’ll make it available to your organization, and they can distribute it however they wish
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Barbara: Too much focus on reading
Reading Recovery Writing Wrenewal Literacy Leg-up Meaning Mending
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I come with a history...
1970s/early 80s: Consumer Knowledge of RR 1985? or so: Visited the year old site at Columbus One year later: Brought RR to U of I, Urbana-Champaign Learned about it up close and personal
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Barbara’s Infinite Regress of Tutoring
Those who can do Those who can’t, teach.
Those who can’t teach, teach teachers how to teach.
Those who can’t teach teachers how to teach, teach teacher educators how to to teach teachers how to teach.
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What this is not a talk about...
Not a talk about the politics of reading in the United States Although I have a lot to say about the political football that reading instruction has become My sense is that this phenomenon is not limited to the US, or to the Northern Hemisphere.
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What this is not a talk about...
Not a talk about the politics of government or foreign policy in the United States Although I have a lot to say about our government and our foreign policy My sense is that this phenomenon is not limited to the US, or to the Northern Hemisphere.
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What this is not a talk about...
Not an evaluation of whether the evaluation research scales tip for or against RR Although… My own reading of the research, even the research of its critics, is that the scales tip toward Reading Recovery See Forbes and Briggs volume (my foreword) for my assessment of the strength of the research
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What this is not a talk about...
Not a talk about what the most recent evaluation studies say about the efficacy of RR Although . . .
I was very impressed, 2 years ago, by disinterested data from Vermont’s state assessment Schools in which RR is fully implemented benefit in terms of increases in test scores, compared to partial implementation schools.
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What this is not a talk about...
Not a testimony to the thousands of kids whose lives have literally been turned around by RR Although… I am impressed by the fact that millions (wow!) of students served by Reading Recovery live lives that would not have been possible without this program.
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This is a talk about HOW Reading Recovery
As a program As an intervention As an intellectual phenomenon Has influenced everyday reading instruction in the USA and perhaps beyond.
The Question: Do we do things differently, or better, because Reading Recovery has been a fact of our professional lives for over 20 years now in the USA and 30 here in New Zealand?
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Some preliminaries--getting my assumptions, biases, and predispositions on the table
I am, as I have been since the 1970s, a member of
the radical middle
in reading instruction policy and practice. This means that...
I am in the middle of most contentious issues I am viewed with suspicion by those who end up on the
child-centered, constructivist
side of these debates and by those who end up on the
curriculum-centered, structuralist, skills
side.
I am radical about my stance
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What does it mean to be in the radical middle? For me…
Extreme views are usually half right CONTEXT!!!!
The whole point of reading instruction is reading Skills are essential parts of learning and instruction Skills —whether about decoding, comprehension, fluency, language, writing, genre, whatever —are nothing more than a means to an end; they are not ends unto themselves Their worth = contributions to reading and writing growth and text understanding.
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So context does not matter?
QuickTime™ and a Video decompressor are needed to see this picture.
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Why do I adopt this stance?
That is where my reading of the research points me That is the position that so many classroom teachers adopt in trying to negotiate these contentious debates A modest view of evidence supports only modest claims
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Caveats
These contributions are NOT solely the work of Reading Recovery They most likely extend beyond the goals of Reading Recovery RR has been careful to say that it is NOT responsible for schoolwide reading programs improving the overall achievement of a school BUT, hey, it is my reading of what I see...
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How would we, could we, evaluate this legacy?
Examine what reading instruction looked like before Reading Recovery arrived on the scene, at least in the USA.
Look at changes in reading instruction, especially early reading instruction, since its arrival (these may hold across the English speaking world?).
Look for plausible connections —change that could conceivably be attributed to Reading Recovery. Evaluate the plausibility of the attribution and utility of those changes.
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Reading Instruction in 1984
Basals still dominated We emphasized skills not skill The idea of a strategic reader was just emerging Whole Language was in its ascendancy--but not yet a household word.
Literature based reading was waiting in the wings
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Dick and Jane were gone, but not the logic that gave birth to them.
1. Go! Go!
1. This is Mike.
2. This is Amy.
2. Go, Dick, Go!
3. This is Mike and Amy.
3. Go! Go!
4. Mike and Amy work.
4. Look! Look!
5. Mike and Amy play.
6. Mike and Amy have fun!
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Phonics was taught aggressively, ...as a set of rules
“George, what happens when two vowels go walking?” “Let’s see, Penelope,… I think the first one does the talking, and the second one just sits there, like a bump on a log!”
Fill in the bubble under the picture that starts with the same sound as the picture on the left Matthew Story
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1. Is a black and white kitten white and black?
YES NO 2. After you cross the street, are you on the other side?
YES NO 3. Do cows buy their milk at stores?
YES NO 4. Do a coat and a fire both keep you warm?
YES NO
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Writing was just starting to make its way into the curriculum
The influence of Graves and Caulkins Prior to that time, we thought that teaching writing too early might interfere with learning to read We were just beginning to learn that writing helps kids learn to focus on meaning, both when they write and when they read.
to fine tune their phonics repertoire to enhance their phonemic awareness
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So, when RR hit the US reading scene in the early-mid 1980s, what did it bring?
What are its lasting contributions?
I am interested in knowing whether similar contributions exist in other countries.
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A completely different model of remediation
Acceleration, not remediation Provided by the most skilled, not the least skilled, among us.
Instead of fixing kids up, we were gearing them up What was
compensatory
and differential was OPPORTUNITY and ASSISTANCE, not a set of materials or a special approach We were preparing kids for success in everyday reading instructional settings We were holding standards and expectations constant and allowing scaffolding to vary.
In the year 2004, we have at least a dozen pretenders to the RR throne- tutoring or small group approaches that aspire to the same goals as RR- to provide opportunity and assistance to those targeted for failure so that they gain access to the secrets of reading success- to use all the resources one can muster in monitoring and making sense of the printed word. Note: erosion since 1998: Scripted programs
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An apprenticeship model of instruction
While the notion of cognitive apprenticeships had been with us As well as the idea that what teachers do is to gradually release responsibility for reading and sense making to students Reading Recovery showed us how it looked in action...
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The Legacy in 2004
We have learned to think of reading as an emergent process that improves with opportunity and the assistance of a mentor--a journeyman reader rather than a set of separable skills to be mastered Coaching kids during reading on how to use phonics and context to unlock words Note: erosion since 1998: Single skill mastery comeback
RR Gradual Release of Responsibility 100 With any luck, we move this way (----->) over time.
0 0 Student Responsibility 100
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Changing Teacher Roles
High Teacher Low Student Low Teacher High Student Explicit Instruction Modeling Au and Raphael Scaffolding Facilitating Participating
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A new model of teacher support during text reading
We had the tradition of the DRTA We had read-alouds We had independent reading What we did not have was a model of how you sequence support Read-alouds-->shared reading- >guided reading-->independent reading
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Read Aloud
Gradual Release of Responsibility 100
Shared Reading Guided Reading Independent Reading
0 0 Student Responsibility 100
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The Legacy in 2004
While there are clearly other influences involved here (including certain leaders in the RR movement) I do not think that the model would be so compelling today without the crystal clear modeling of RR teachers on how to provide (and withdraw) that scaffolding.
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A new theory of text difficulty
Prior to Reading Recovery, we had readability formulas to predict difficulty When basals gave way to literature-based reading, readability died, and we lived without any theory of text difficulty for a few years.
Reading Recovery helped us rebuild a theory of what made books for young readers more or less accessible.
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The legacy in 2004
While it is not fully complete, we now have a sense that all of these factors contribute to readability: Familiarity of the topic Predictability of the language Interestingness Non print contributions Decodability of the words • The work of Hoffman and Hiebert on text access
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A fundamental shift in early literacy assessment
My own research--1990 Lots of Skills, especially phonics Multiple Choice: the dominant response format The bubble machine!
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The Legacy in 2001
The dominant tools Reading text Running Records--accuracy and fluency Performance tasks (ala Concepts of Print) Authenticity prevails Note: erosion since 1998
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The Assessment Legacy in 2004
The impact in the US of Reading First has prompted a retreat from performance-based and classroom based assessment to more “standardized” measures, especially those that substitute speed for accuracy DIBELS
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The perils of performance assessment: or maybe those multiple choice assessments aren’t so bad after all…….
The four seasons are salt, pepper, mustard, and vinegar. Thunder is a rich source of loudness To keep milk from turning sour, keep it in the cow.
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watch out for those open-ended questions:
"Nitrogen is not found in Ireland because it is not found in a free state” "The alimentary canal is located in the northern part of Indiana."
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The perils of performance assessment
"The tides are a fight between the Earth and moon. All water tends towards the moon, because there is no water in the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight."
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The perils of performance assessment
"Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water." Genetics explains why you look like your father, and if you don't, why you should.
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The perils of performance assessment
"Germinate: To become a naturalized German." "Vacumm: A large, empty space where the pope lives.” “Monsoon: A French gentleman”
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The perils of performance assessment
You can listen to thunder and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it, you got hit, so never mind.
"When you breath, you inspire. When you do not breath, you expire."
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Rediscovery of the importance of fluency
There was a time, 40 years ago, when reading fluently, so that reading sounded like speech, was an important curricular goal.
In the skills management movement of the 1970s, it had no place (could not measure it on a paper and pencil test).
Did not fit the zeitgeist of Whole Language either; seemed to distant from meaning?
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The Legacy in 2004
Reading Recovery, by showing us the importance of lots of opportunity to read and reread texts that are well under control, has reminded us that daily reading of easy material is one key to fluency.
The research is clear on this point, daily easy reading, coupled with guided reading of more challenging text, is the right recipe for progress in early reading. Why?...
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The Legacy of Easy Reading, continued
Daily easy reading consolidation of skills and processes and new vocabulary Confidence Fluency Daily guided reading of challenging books Allows us to stretch our skills to the max Brings us new ideas to use in tomorrow’s easy reading- Today’s new knowledge is tomorrow’s prior knowledge Note: erosion recently toward speed not flow
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Helped us understand why and how spelling aids reading
Spelling is worth teaching in its own right BUT… Spelling is the place where phonemic awareness gets practiced authentically Spelling reinforces the letter-sound correspondences in reading through sound-letter practice
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The Legacy in 2004: sound based spelling
Interesting that we have convergence from so many camps on this one Reading Recovery What is left of whole Language New Phonics Sound-based spelling is not inconsistent with the goals of conventional spelling Stopping points along the path to conventionality
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The central role of monitoring for sense
Not a new idea Part and parcel of any and all contextual views of reading BUT… Reading Recovery showed us how to operationalize monitoring for making sense Through teacher modeling and Scaffolding kids through some tough sledding
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The Legacy in 2004
Monitoring is The hallmark of the expert reader: Better to be ready to fix up one’s understanding than to exhibit errorless oral reading The place where reader, text, and task connect: Cross the New to Known bridge The point where cueing systems--phonics, sight words, and context--work in synergy Comprehension in action
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Monitoring in Action
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Individual accountability
In the 80s and early 90s, when classroom teaching became so focused on whole group instruction (don’t ask why!!!) Many kids could ONLY “get” the story by listening to a read aloud They got pulled along at their frustration level for the sake of holding a common conversation
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The legacy in 2004
The cost of a rich diet of literature that is read aloud cannot be that kids are not expected to read it on their own.
The truth is that instruction MUST be offered at an instructional level--where a student can take advantage of the scaffolding provided by a sensitive teacher--so that she to reach just beyond her grasp.
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Reading Recovery has served as a mirror for reflection
Illuminated the weaknesses in the skills management mentality of the 70s and 80s Too many parts, not enough whole Lack of authenticity of text and task Pointed to the soft spots in whole language- lack of attention to systematicity excessive reliance on immersion
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The legacy in 2004
Must help the rest of us arrest the rush to phonics as the savior of reading instruction Remind us all that learning to read is a complex process requiring orchestration of many sources of knowledge and skill Help us respect the role of context in monitoring, word identification, and comprehension
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: Reading Recovery has provided a new model of professional development
The ultimate apprenticeship Takes teaching out of the closet (you can’t improve by pretending everything is all rosy) Share our practices, blemishes and all, en route to improvement Make practice a matter of professional discourse Get over the personal investment in cosmetic appearance
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The PD legacy in 2004
Illustrates that the apprenticeship model of learning that works for kids also works for adults Shows that we have much to learn from one another Makes the construct of a community of learners very real
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The PD legacy in 2004
Has spawned some kissin’ cousins Video sharing Lesson study
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The PD legacy in 2004
Has reminded us of a central lesson in reform Until and unless we confront the moment by moment interaction of teachers and students, we will not achieve genuine reform.
We will skirt around the edges talking about Curriculum Assessment Student readiness, motivation and background
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My Reading Recovery Wish List
I know that Reading Recovery cannot be expected to solve ALL the ills of international reading instruction, but… That is not going to stop me from telling you what I wish RR would consider...
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The Comprehension Dilemma
The facts Reading Recovery accepts the goal of returning kids to classrooms where they can benefit from ordinary instruction Reading Recovery is great at promoting accuracy, fluency, and monitoring BUT…in order to benefit from ordinary instruction, kids must be able to participate in interrogations of text--discussions learn vicariously, while sharing the limelight
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The Comprehension Dilemma
How and where can we help kids acquire the “discourses of classroom conversation” so that they CAN benefit from participation in ordinary classrooms Why I wish there were a more systematic attempt to incorporate ordinary comprehension activity--of the ilk we see played out daily in story discussions Also like to see comprehension incorporated into level placement decisions
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Here is the goal
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Supporting talk about text
Defini tion Exa mpl e (Student talk)
Restating Repeating a previous contribution Linda said that the fish was sad, because he was lonely.
IÕd like to hear w hat Ge orge thinks.
Inviting Inviting a participant to contribute Acknowledging or validating Focusing/refocusing Agreeing Disagreeing Elaborating Requesting clarification or elaboration Providing an example Signaling a change Providing evidence Posing a question to the group
Scaffolds (Teacher talk)
Can someone say that in a different way?
Recognizing a response without agreeing or disagreeing Making a metacomment about the course of the conversation Extending oneÕs own or anotherÕs assertion I can see why you said that.
I get what youÕre saying.
I hadnÕt thought of that.
We were talking about the reasons that Frank ran away from h ome.
I agree, becauseÉ Yeah.
ThatÕs right, becauseÉ I see what youÕre saying, butÉ But what aboutÉ?
I disagree, becauseÉ I agree with Juan that the fish was lonely, and I think that he...
AlsoÉ What do you mean? Can you say mo re about that? What makes you think that?
Providing an example from inside of the text or outside to support oneÕs own or anotherÕs assertion.
Examples can be explanatory or evidentiary Changing the direction of the conversation Supporting oneÕs own or anotherÕs assertions with evidence For exampleÉ ItÕs like whenÉ I want to talk ab out the mo ther.
I agree with Julie that the fish was sad.
You can see his sad face in the picture on page 3.
Does anyone thinkÉ ?
Do you want to invite anyone else to add to what you said?
Do you get what Juan is trying to say here?
I think IÕve lost track of the question we were trying to answer. Can anyone help me here?
Does anyone agree with Juan? (agreeing) Does anyone want to disagree?
Does anyone see it another way?
Do you all see this the same way as Juan?
Does anyone want to say something mo re about that?
Who can think of another solution or another reason?
Does anyone want to raise any questions about the point that Juan is trying to make?
Anyone find anything confusing in this part of the story?
Can you give an example of É from the story?
Has anything like this ever happened to you or someone you know?
Can you think of an example from another story by this author?
Does anyone want to change the subject?
Are you ready to move on?
Does anyone want to ask a different question?
Why do you think that?
Anything in the story to support that idea?
Can you point to something in the text that makes you think that?
Do you have a question for the group?
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Supporting talk about text
Comp rehension Move Defini tion Exa mpl e
Making connections Connecting the text to personal experience That part reminded me of when my brotherÉ.
Making predictions Asking questions or wondering Recalling Inferring Connecting the parts of the text to earlier par ts of the text Connecting the text to other texts ItÕs kind of like that part in the beginning, when the teacher saysÉ ThatÕs like in that other book we read where the main characterÉ Connecting the text to the world Connecting the text to the writer Using evidence (from personal experience, prior knowledge, or the text) to make good guesses about whatÕs coming next, how a problem might be solved, etc.
Posing questions about the text, the characters, the author, etc.
This sounds like that thing that happened in San DiegoÉ It seems like the author wants us to learn something about how friends sometimesÉ I predic t thatÉ IÕm guessing thatÉ HeÕs probably going toÉ I wonder why sheÉ How do you think the father felt when heÉ Paraphrasing or summarizing the text Integrating prior knowledge with new information in an effort to construct coherent meaning Why did the author put in that part about theÉ Well, first the main character went to the playground, but then sheÉ You can tell she was worried becauseÉ
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A full tool kit for word reading
I like the balanced emphasis that I see on word reading--appeal to context, sounding it out, looking for patterns, but… I would love to see what RR could do if this element were augmented with, say, the model of someone like Linnea Ehri Letter-sound decoding Decoding by analogy Sight word reading Context
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A full tool kit for word reading
Truth be told, at least in the US, we are perilously close to the early 1970s skills for skills sake that was prompted by the behavioral objectives movement We must bring authenticity, relevance, and application back into the picture… And I think Reading Recovery could help
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Unpack your theory of text difficulty
What is it that lies just behind our collective and individual wisdom in judging books to provide a particular level of challenge What is it about the books, the ideas, the words and the linguistic structures that accounts for that wisdom?
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Just to summarize
Reading Recovery has left us a rich legacy, one for which I and others are grateful You all should take pride in But… Reading Recovery as a strong organization and a grass roots community of committed teachers could help the broader reading community address some pressing issues
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A little help from our RR friends
The comprehension business The full tool kit of word id strategies The theory of text difficulty Help to prevent backsliding on Model of apprenticeship in learning PD as a committed professional community Assessment as authentic performance on tasks that pass the prima facie test… is that what I mean by reading!
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Let me close by offering an invitation to you all
I invite you all to join my new literacy political party The Radical Middle You may already be there, But now you can have a name!
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Our fundamental position
The debates, at least in the USA, Canada, and maybe England (don’t know enough about NZ and Australia), have been counterproductive by sustaining a pretense that
authenticity
and
explicit instruction
oppositional ideas.
are
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Our fundamental position…
We must wed these two powerful ideas--
authentic activity
and
ambitious instruction
a curriculum that provides: in skills that give kids independence, writing opportunities that promote their communicative competence reading opportunities that promote engagement, motivation, and intellectual challenge
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You can stand where you like, but as for me . . .
I choose to stand in the radical middle on the common ground that brings us together to build the sorts of curriculum and opportunity that will support the development of the kinds of readers we will need in the 21st century.
Readers who can read and think for themselves And if you join, you must accept our motto, our platform, and our pledge
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Our motto for the radical middle
Read me a book today, and I learn a little more, I feel new emotions, and think a bit more deeply.
Teach me to read today, and you give me a lifetime of tomorrows in which I can read, and learn, and feel, and think for myself.
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Our platform
Better to be helpful than politically correct.
Better to be involved that theoretically pure.
Better to be searching for common ground than for ideological distinction.
Better to be in the middle of a road headed somewhere than stuck in a ditch on either side.
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Our Pledge
Kids are who they are. They know what they know. They bring what they bring. Our job is not to wish that students knew more or knew differently. Our job is to transform each students' knowledge, along with the collective diversity of knowledge they bring to the classroom, into a curricular strength rather than an instructional inconvenience. We can do that only if we hold
high expectations
for all students, convey
great respect
for the knowledge and culture they bring to the classroom, and offer
every ounce of support
needed to achieve those expectations.