Reading Education: a Civil Rights Issue

Leaving Johnny Behind is an attempt to unite the reading community so that children can receive the full benefit of the scientific message, as is the case in medicine, engineering and so many other areas. Ignoring such powerful and consistent reading data is akin to doctors treating cancer patients with folk medicine when scientific cures have long been established.

Help Get Books into the Homes of Low Income Families

Leaving Johnny Behind was written as a means to help address the needs of those at greatest risk for reading failure. To further advance that cause, all proceeds from its sale will be donated to Reach Out and Read, a pediatric organization that donates books to low income families and addresses literacy as a regular part of pediatric care.

Teachers as Scapegoats

Teachers, you have worked hard to grow professionally prior to and throughout your career. But you might be surprised to learn what they have omitted from your training. Check out this article at http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/43647802.html

Do We Really Put Children First

I wrote Leaving Johnny Behind mainly because of my frustrations with the conventional wisdom related to reading instruction, especially as it pertained to the needs of poor and minorities, dyslexics, English Language Learners, and those with handicapping conditions.

One of the things I learned during the course of my research was that diagnosticians are rarely able to show any evidence of neurological dysfunction for the vast majority of children they label as LD. In fact, the term Learning Disability did not exist prior to the 1960's and is probably more a function of our teaching methods than it is of a child's ability to learn.

The research reveals a very unifying message, but unfortunately, the obstinacy of a few very influential people prevents it from being heard and practiced to the extent necessary to reach those who need us the most. This results in some very dire consequences for many of our children. That is truly an injustice.

I look forward to joining forces with you to address these issues and doing everything possible to promote early literacy for all children.

Let's Talk About Reading

Hello,

This blog is my attempt to generate a discussion regarding the manner in which we teach children to read. As a teacher and school administrator, I saw too many of our kids fall through the cracks. I therefore decided to conduct my own investigation into the research that surrounded early literacy training and to report my findings. The product of that effort is a book called Leaving Johnny Behind: Overcoming Barriers to Literacy and Reclaiming At-Risk Readers.

I will use this blog to communicate some of the various discoveries I made while analyzing the data and get your reactions to them. I feel there are several things we can do to build more and better readers and in so doing reduce the ever-increasing achievement gaps among poor and minority populations. I am hoping that we can have a stimulating dialogue as a means of pushing our agenda on behalf of all kids.

Tony Pedriana

Welcome !!

Welcome to Tony Pedriana's blog!

This is the first post. I hope you will check back often to read up on the latest from Tony, Leaving Johnny Behind and Learning Dynamics Press.