Sally Grimes to Speak In Madison

The Cliff's Notes to Reading Instruction

Who: Sally Grimes, Founding Director of the Grimes Reading Institute
When: Sunday, March 14, 2010; 1:00-4:00 P.M.
Where: The Pyle Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus
702 Langdon St., 53706

Sally Grimes, founding director of the Grimes Reading Institute in Rockport, Massachusetts will speak at the University of Wisconsin-Madison next Sunday, March 14th from 1:00-4:00 P.M. The title of her presentation, "The Cliff's Notes to Reading Instruction" will cover: 1. The Five Components of Reading; 2. Why Some Students Struggle to Read; 3. Why most Reading Failure is Unnecessary; and 4. Some Common Roadblocks to Best Practices.

Ms. Grimes has served in a variety of positions during her 35 years in the field of reading, and her Grimes Reading Institute was one of only three entities chosen by the Massachusetts Dept. of Education to design and develop the professional development component of the Reading First Grant under No Child Left Behind.

The event, sponsored by The Wisconsin Reading Coalition, is free and open to the Public.

Feds Reject Wisconsin's Race to the Top Application

To his credit, President Obama has shown he is serious about requiring that states adhere to rigid standards before throwing federal dollars in their direction. Wisconsin found this out the hard way by submitting a woefully inadequate Race to the Top application. Among its improprieties was a failure to embrace early literacy instruction proven most effective through the introspective lens of investigative science. Wisconsin has played political gamesmanship over this issue for some time, turning its collective back on parents of struggling readers who have literally begged for research-based reading reform measures. How long will it take for Wisconsin and other states to lay politics aside and adopt methods that are most likely to guarantee their children's literacy futures?

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.

Student Engagement: a Substitute for Standardized Tests?

Student engagement can indeed be a good indicator of achievement, but not in every case. For example, children can engage in a project based on a story in their basal reader, but that does not prove they are capable of actually reading and comprehending that story. Similarly, a student's science fair entry may not indicate that he or she is capable of producing the mathematical values that led to the project's conclusion.

Policy makers need valid and reliable means to measure achievement and build accountability, not just for teachers, but also for those who train teachers. Standardized tests fill that critical need. Besides, those who can demonstrate achievement through meaningful engagement in classroom activity are, in all likelihood, equally prepared to do the same on standardized tests.

Phonics: A Key Element for Building Cultural Awareness

We have been training teachers to work in diverse communities for a long time, and in fact, teacher preparation institutions have stressed matters relevant to cultural diversity for decades. But if children, especially at-risk children, are to have the capability to independently access this knowledge, we need to provide them with the essential tool for doing so. That tool, as the data shows so irrefutably, is direct and systematic instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics. Makes sense. Would you be able to learn about your family background by reading symbols you are incapable of decoding?