Evidence Based Literacy Instruction - Making Dramatic Inroads toward Literacy

My sojourn into the reading wars has led me to some remarkable people. One is Nora Chahbazi who created a reading intervention program called EBLI for EVIDENCE BASED LITERACY INSTRUCTION. Nora delivers her program to adults and children at her Ounce of Prevention Reading Center in Flushing, Michigan, and travels around the country training others in its use.

EBLI is just another example of what can be accomplished with struggling readers when we bypass the conventional wisdom and give full expression to the scientific message. For more information, visit http://www.ebli.org and http://ooprc.wordpress.com/about/

"Watch & Observe" Not Good Enough

In a recent column dealing with proposed legislation in Wisconsin for dyslexia screening the legislative chair of the Wisconsin State Reading Association (WSRA) indicated a preference to simply “watch and observe” as the needs of struggling readers continue to go unmet. As a retired urban school teacher and principal, I saw the dire consequences of this “wait and see” approach. I have also noted the refusal of reading constituencies to embrace the unifying message of legitimate science and to prevent it from getting adequate expression in classrooms. Those choosing to act in such a fractious and dispassionate manner must be pursuing some other agenda, one that is obviously not about kids and their literacy futures.

Don't Commit "Assumicide"

We often hear that the art of teaching requires that we take into consideration students' experiences, their cultural heritage, and the communities in which they live. I couldn't agree more. The problem is that in far too many instances we commit "assumicide." We presuppose that children own the tools required to access that knowledge and omit the kind of rigorous instruction needed to produce them.

If teaching is to be an art, it should be the art of delivering curricula shown to to be most effective. If such practices conflict with our pedagogical preferences, remember it is not about us; it is about kids and their futures.