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velvetears -> RE: Decline in Reading (11/21/2007 11:55:28 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: mefisto69
The downfall began in the mid-70's with the advent of Whole language learning. PHONICS was ripped out of the program, and children began to memorize short sentences and were told they could then "read", when they were able to parrot them back. There have been two major modifications in US language arts since then....not much more successful.
Students were taught to 'be creative'..........spelling, punctuation, cohesion were thrown out the window. There hasn't been much improvement since the 70's in those areas either.
There has been NO imrovement in reading comprehension because the children canot learn to read. To compound the problem, current parents and yes.....current classroom teachers went through the same dis-educational system. Parents cannot or will not sit and prepare their children for school. Teachers simply can't 'get it'. Consequently, we have hundreds of reading specialists in every school system....guess what.......they went through the same system too,,,,,,,,,,nearly all of their 'reading strategies' discount the importance of Phonics. AS an aside.........every prospective class room teacher in the US only gets 1 (one) 3 credit course in the pedagogy of Phonics and are told to do the best they can with it.
Now, when the genius' diseducation leaders finally realized American students were tragiclly behind the ball in math and science, what did they do? Turn nearly ALL math problems into word (reading) problems......guess what? All that accomplished was a slew of NEW math methods, new textbooks and new Math-edubabble terminology. This.....for an educational concept that 95% of people DO NOT USE in adulthood.
Oh yes........math helps the student with critical thinking. Well, you should all be out tarring and feathering your dis educational leaders because THEY KNOW without a doubt that the formal study of Music/ Art does a much better job of helping a student grasp oblique concepts. Uh huh..in the past 100 years, there have been nearly 3000 studies performed on the affects of music on the brain. About 80% have been realized in the US. Most of these studies have been performed by Psychologists and Neuroscientists. They still haven't figured out the 'why' , the 'how'........but the test results show 'positive'.
Dis-educators discount all these findings because they cant pidgeon hole the results (yet)..............Neuro-science is still in it's infancy and time will prove their current results.
The bureaucrats also refuse to recognise findings of ETS......the company that produces the SAT. IE: for the past 40 years, students that studied a musical instrument ( or took art classes )( with a specialized teacher) and practiced each day for at least 30 minutes, consistently scored 3 to 9 percent Higher than the math and science whizzes ( combined) on SAT tests.
No human empire has survived beyond 200 years........and we are seriously on the downward slide.
Where do you get your information regarding education, reading, teachers etc? Are you a teacher or a parent whose kid is having problems learning to read and it must be (teachers, programs, etc) fault out there. Ever hear of guided reading, or are the only 2 options whole language and phonics? You need to do a little research before going off about things you don't sound like you know much about.
Bold #1 - That is a ridiculous statement. Children most certainly CAN learn to read. Knowing how to read and reading comprehension are 2 different things.
Bold #2 - Another ridiculous statement - maybe you "can't get it" but don't disrespect educators like that in one full swoop.
Bold #3 - Absolutely wrong. Have you read every university and colleges list of requirements?
And as for math and word problems - that's to improve critical thinking skills and incorporate reading into other subject areas - it's called interdiciplinary teaching - try doing some research.
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