麻豆番外

For years, no one could agree on the right way to teach literacy skills. Some, mainly scientists and scholars, believed in a systematic phonics approach including strategies for decoding, or sounding out words based on their letters. Others, mainly educators who believed that they knew their students best and that researchers lacking in classroom experience had less relevance, sided with a whole language approach. They believed that all students needed was a literacy-rich environment and enough context clues to figure out a word.聽

In the past decade or two, the whole language, or balanced literacy approach, was the go-to method for teaching reading. But in the wake of the pandemic, when schools are acknowledging that their students鈥� reading scores haven鈥檛 been improving for years, we鈥檙e starting to see .

This is the second blog of our three-part series on the debate between the two approaches, why there鈥檚 been a sudden shift to systematic phonics instruction, and how 麻豆番外 uses the science of reading to inform our curriculum. Click here to read the first blog for the history and context on the science of reading and balanced literacy.

Here, we cover the backlash against balanced literacy and why we鈥檙e seeing this recent shift toward systematic phonics instruction.

Why Johnny couldn鈥檛 read

The backlash against balanced literacy has come in waves. In the 1950s, when the whole language approach was popular, Rudolf Flesch was tutoring a sixth grader named Johnny. Johnny was being held back a grade because he couldn鈥檛 read.聽

When Flesch started tutoring him, he realized quickly that Johnny was not decoding the words on the page. It was not in his reading curriculum to learn how to sound out words. So, Flesch turned to phonics.聽

Once Johnny learned how to piece together the syllables of the words on the page, his reading skills took off. Why Johnny Can鈥檛 Read was published shortly after. The book pushed back on the whole language approach and blamed the American education system for not teaching children how to read through phonics. He was the one to introduce the American public to the idea that the 鈥渨hole language approach鈥� wasn鈥檛 teaching kids how to read; it was teaching them .

While Flesch鈥檚 ideas resonated with the parents of struggling readers, educators continued to believe that all students needed to learn to read was to be immersed in literacy-rich environments, and that they would naturally pick up on the meaning of words through repeated exposure. So, the whole language approach continued to dominate reading curriculums across the country.聽

Vibes-based literacy and how educators were 鈥楽old a Story鈥�

The second wave of backlash against the whole language approach came in 2000 when the National Reading Panel that systemic, explicit phonics instruction was one of the five pillars of effective reading instruction. Many believed the report would end The Reading Wars. But it didn鈥檛.

As , the creator of the podcast says, 鈥淲hole language didn’t disappear; it just got repackaged as balanced literacy. And in balanced literacy, phonics is treated a bit like salt on a meal: a little here and there, but not too much, because it could be bad for you.鈥澛�

Jessica Winter, a journalist for The New Yorker, refers to balanced literacy as 鈥渧ibes-based literacy:鈥� the idea that students in literacy-rich environments will find their interests in books and be motivated by exposure to what they enjoy. It鈥檚 based on Lucy Calkins鈥� balanced literacy model and her book, The Art of Teaching Reading, in which she acknowledges that children who are thriving as readers and writers by the end of first grade usually seem to 鈥渏ust know鈥� how to read. Calkins, the founder of Columbia鈥檚 Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, trained thousands of teachers using this balanced literacy idea through her Units of Study curriculum.聽

In 2003, the NYC Schools Chancellor, Joel Klein, started requiring schools to use the Teacher鈥檚 College method. But at the time, Units of Study wasn鈥檛 actually a fully fleshed-out program. 鈥淚n other words, Klein had signed up for a curriculum that didn鈥檛 yet exist,鈥� .

While teachers were ecstatic about the opportunity to use Lucy Calkins鈥� curriculum, there were plenty of others who weren鈥檛 pleased about the direction New York City schools were headed. In fact, Susan B. Neuman, the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, under George W. Bush, went to New York to tell them not to use Units of Study. And three members of the National Reading Panel wrote an open letter to the school system, explaining that 鈥溾赌榳oefully inadequate鈥� and unsupported by research.鈥澛�

Units of Study dominated the New York School scene for a good five years. Because of its success, many other published curricula were modeled after Lucy Calkins鈥� ideas. So even when Klein realized that students鈥� reading scores weren鈥檛 improving and decided to officially phase out Units of Study, many New York City schools continued to use curricula grounded in the same practices.

In other schools around the country that had also invested a lot of time and money into Lucy Calkins and her curriculum, it proved to be hard to make the shift from balanced literacy to systematic phonics instruction. It would take something big, something unprecedented. Something like a global pandemic.聽

The catalyst for change and pivot to systematic phonics instruction

When Covid-19 shut down schools across the country, it not only halted, but reversed the academic progress students had made over the past couple of decades. The found that reading scores among third graders dropped three points since 2019.聽

Not only were school districts and education experts dismayed by the learning loss caused by the pandemic, but parents now had a front-row seat to their child鈥檚 education. Zoom school brought the balanced literacy curriculum to many families鈥� living rooms, and parents were realizing why their children were behind in reading.

In the first episode of Emily Ha苍蹿辞谤诲鈥檚 podcast, she talks with a stay-at-home mom named Corinne. When Corinne鈥檚 six-year-old son Charlie started attending kindergarten on Zoom, she was able to listen in. And what she observed wasn鈥檛 at all what she expected.聽

鈥淭he reading instruction seemed kind of鈥搊dd to her,鈥� Hanford reports. 鈥淭hese were things kids were supposed to do when they came to a word they didn鈥檛 know鈥�look at the picture. Look at the first letter of the word. Think of a word that makes sense. Corinne wanted to tell Charlie to sound out the word. But handouts coming from school were telling her that wasn鈥檛 a good idea, that sounding out words should be a last resort.鈥�

Charlie鈥檚 class was being taught how to read through the balanced literacy approach. But it wasn鈥檛 working, and Corinne could see that in a way she couldn鈥檛 have pre-pandemic.

Covid-19 threw a wrench in education. It paved the way for new technology in classrooms. It made clear the gaps in educational opportunities, and it allowed something new to emerge: change. Now, school districts are diving into the data and realizing that the way they鈥檝e been teaching reading for decades is wrong. Parents are advocating for more and better phonics lessons, and getting involved in their child鈥檚 education in ways they hadn鈥檛 before.

Ten years ago, it was rare for a state to have policies that mentioned, let alone favored the science of reading. But in 2021, had passed or were considering measures related to the science of reading. And is a prime example of what happens when early education curricula get infused with the science of reading: students鈥� literacy scores soar.

That鈥檚 why at 麻豆番外, our curriculum is rooted in systematic phonics instruction. Our third and final blog in this series explores how our program draws on the science of reading to boost student literacy levels and instill in them a love of reading.

If you missed it, read the first blog in this series on what the science of reading is, how balanced literacy is different, and why educators and scientists can鈥檛 agree on one approach.聽