Readers have words over renewed push to overhaul literacy
Equally troubling is the growing drive toward programs that rely heavily on screens, rigid workbooks, and scripted lessons. Many are not differentiated, lack a logical scope and sequence, and even promote practices, such as repetitive, skill-based worksheets and
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No program can succeed without time, support, and high-quality professional development. Teachers need space and support to respond to student needs, not top-down mandates that reduce complex work to checklists.
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Literacy reform should focus on equipping teachers, not blaming them. Let's build a path forward that centers professional learning, student needs, and instructional flexibility, rather than scapegoating and standardization.
Becca Burk
Leeds, Maine
State risks discarding a valuable resource
I was concerned to read about
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The Units of Study series, with its reading workshop approach, was an excellent resource for teaching literacy in my fourth-grade classroom in New York in the mid-2010s. This program brought wonderful children's literature, book clubs, and thoughtful approaches to teaching to my students. The authors of this curriculum have since taken pains to address the critiques of previous versions, including increasing phonics instruction. I worry about the effect of mandating a curriculum for students, teachers, schools, and districts for whom Units of Study, with targeted adaptations, has been working well.
In education, and especially in literacy, we tend to look for silver bullets and quick fixes. Many literacy curriculums currently in vogue rely on common textbooks even at the elementary level, which I fear would be far less interesting or challenging to many students. If we mandate new curriculums and all districts purchase these materials, and then things swing the other way in 10 years, will we simply toss those materials, at great expense?
Our state should resist the urge to mandate a literacy curriculum, no matter how tempting.
Peter Cipparone
Roslindale
The writer is the head of school at The Croft School in Jamaica Plain, a private school that currently educates students in preschool through grade four.
Any reform should address children's crucial first years
Reading depends on knowing spoken words in one language or multiple languages.
When babies hear songs, lullabies, stories, and conversations every day, they can start to understand words and phrases. When babies start to talk, they can listen to stories read to them from books. They can follow simple and complex sentences (for example, 'You are my sunshine ... you make me happy when skies are gray').
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Toddlers can learn to spot the initials of their family members from an alphabet page (M is for Mama). By the time they are in preschool, children can understand the link between the spoken and written word.
Children who both have a basic vocabulary and know the connection between written letters and the spoken word will be able to learn to read in school.
Parents and day-care and preschool teachers may need help to present very young children with many hours of face-to-face talk. I hope the new literacy reform will include effective programs for helping new parents and caregivers build basic vocabulary during the precious first two years of life.
Greta Lee Splansky
Framingham
Phonics made all the difference
I taught my son to read 25 years ago when I purchased Hooked on Phonics. He would have much preferred to be watching TV or playing games after dinner, but I continued to follow the program with him for the year until he mastered all of the material. In addition to the study of the printed phonics flash cards, we listened to recordings of the correct pronunciation of letters and phonics. This program was very effective in teaching my son to read, spell, and pronounce words correctly. This simple and basic curriculum solved a big problem for my son, who was not learning in the classroom.
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