Haven't these people been thoroughly discredited yet?

I was reading the hometown fishwrap the other day and ran across a column (apparently it was written apropos of nothing) that tried to discredit phonics. And yes, the author (a retired educrat) did sneak in a snide reference to "Hooked on Phonics" while he was at it. Cute, if not trite.

Now my role in life is not to bore you with technical stuff, so I will distill his argument into this: phonics doesn't work because... well, um, because... uh.... BECAUSE IT DOESN'T!!!

Yes I know, I'm being unfair. His argument wasn't even as good as that.

He tried to argue that some words cannot be deconstructed phonetically, therefore phonics fails at all levels. There are, in fact, a few words such as "for", "come" and "who" that can't be deciphered phonetically and therefore must be learned by sight.

But the alternative to phonics is whole language. And whole language requires that virtually ALL words must be read by sight and memorized. I'm sure future chemistry majors, doctors and lawyers will all really appreciate that.

No, sir, phonics is time-tested and proven to work. In fact, very few colleges of education insist in perpetuating whole language instruction. The most prominent of the dinosaur thinkers is the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, and they invented the thing.

Critics of phonics say they find it lacking because some kids who learn using phonics are poor readers. That's a circular argument not worthy of an academic thinker. There are endless reasons why kids are poor learners, blaming phonics is just scapegoating. Note that this guest columnist did not have the temerity to claim that all kids taught with whole language are excellent readers, one and all. He knows better.

His claims are pure sophistry designed to prop up a failed and unloved system of reading instruction - whole language. I am so happy the author of that article is now a retired educator.

And I am so happy I learned how to read by phonics.

...more rucketing in the brain...

I kind of like my new word, "rucketing" but I might get tired of it, too. You may hate it. You may hate me. I hope not. But let's try the new word on for a while...

Seeing as it's summer, you may have seen something slip by. Even though the schools are not in session (for the most part), school boards are still meeting in many precincts of this great nation.

You know what they're talking about? Money.

I don't know if you've noticed, but budgets are pretty tight these days. we're in a growing economy, by the way, but it's pretty flat. But despite the growth, states have spent so much in the past few years, they have little or no reserve funds. And guess who takes some of the hit for that less-than-stellar planning? Yup, schools.

We've got districts cutting back on nurses, librarians, field trips, the whole Magilla. Now what's been rucketing in my head (slick, no?) is that you almost never see cuts to six-figure administrative jobs in the district offices. Or, you rarely see the pricey consultant services trimmed back.

Here's a thought for you: Go online to your local district website and find when the board meetings are. Pay them a visit. Ask the tough questions and make you voice heard.

Don't the the boards run their budget knife through the heart of education - the classroom and library (nurses, too) while leaving the fat untouched.

Happy 232rd Birthday!

Happy Birthday U.S. of A! I love ya!


Did you ever notice how eloquent our Founders were when they wrote and spoke?

Did you ever notice how entreprenuerial they were and how they understood economics and business?

Did you ever notice how mathematically inclined a lot of our Founders were?

Did you ever notice many of them had some artistic ability, or, at the very least, a deep appreciation for music, painting, or scuplture?

Hey, did you ever notice that our Founders never put anything about a federal department of education in the Constitution?

How did these guys become educated? They mastered a classic liberal curriculum with a heavy emphasis on math, grammar, the sciences, vocabulary, literature and Greco-Roman history.

Did you ever notice how in many ways, we're a lot less smart than those guys?

Did you ever wonder why?

and we're back...

It's been a busy month at EdReformer Ranch. Lots of stuff going on, but very little of it has to do with education. It's summer break, after all.

But I have not forgotten you, dear readers. Not by a longshot.

I have promised you a proposal that would rock the education world if anyone really had the guts to implement it. I will nto break that promise. But it IS summer, and that's a bad time to launch new and wonderful ideas. So, it will wait. I like building the anticipation anyway.

So there are a few random thoughts rucketing through my brain. (I made up a new word - rucketing - do you like it?)

For example, did you happen to see the HBO documentary about Douglass High School in Baltimore? It was labeled an indictment of No Child Left Behind. Now, I'm not a huge fan of NCLB, though I do like it's basic premise - accountability, but there's no way this HBO film could really have measured NCLB. The footage was shot in 2004, when NCLB had barely taken hold. It can hardly be blamed for this school's many shortcomings.

No, the blame squarely lies with leadership. The principal does not have real control over the students and many of the teachers are just marking time. The good educators are struggling and the real losers are the kids.

No news there.

More random thoughts later....

Somewhere in America...

A grad student is developing a thesis. The thesis involves a new way to teach kids reading.

Somewhere in America, a university professor is reading a dissertation about methods of developing number sense for 3rd graders.

Somewhere in America, a child is sleeping, not knowing that in a few years she will be subjected to experimentation that will change her life. But will it be changed for better or worse? The grad student thinks he knows. So does the professor.

Are they right or are they wrong? How can they know and do they actually care?

Your children's future may depend on it.

There is a threat, and we're not responding to it.

My proposal is coming soon.

...Slipping away

I mean your money.

Lots of it.

No, really, I'm talking about billions and billions of dollars, y'know, Carl Sagan-like amounts.

That's what this thing costs; this thing I think causes more trouble for your kids' education than just about anything else.

My proposal is to get rid of it.

The answer... soon.

Coming Soon

I haven't forgotten my modest proposal.

I'm not ready to unveil it yet, but here's a hint:

What costs billions of dollars but is little more than a full employment act for the Ivory Tower crowd?

Keep thinking.