As far as serious science is concerned, whole language (aka balanced literacy) is as dead as a slab of hallibut.
However, fudge-brained
whole language cultists (necrophiliacs) keep the
corpse standing through periodic voodoo-like rituals, called conferences.
Rockford,
The tale, below, takes Readers through the different phases of the
battle.
Phase
1. Attack of the Morons
But first, consider
other professions.
Science. Amplifying light such that satellites can tell what
you’re reading.
Medicine. Painful and crippling diseases stopped in their
loathsome tracks with a pill. [Gout/allopurinal]
Music. Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro; Beethoven’s Sixth
and Ninth; Duke Ellington; Django
Reinhart, and Mark Knopfler.
Dentistry. White teeth in ten minutes (oral cancer next
week)
In
these fields, the most learned (musicians, scientists, physicians, legal
scholars, jellied eel salesmen) teach students to surpass their
teachers--yielding cumulative beauty, knowledge, and wisdom.
Quite the opposite in
education. After 5000 years and billions of dollars, 50% of kids
can’t read, 30% can't make change for a buck, and maybe ONE senior can tell you
the logical argument in the Declaration of Independence.
Why?
Because barely literate, ideology-driven, anti-rational, self-absorbed,
arrogant, mentally negligible, maggot pie ed perfessers ensure that their students know even less
than they do (which, if knowledge were gun powder, would be insufficient to
blow their hats off). Then their former students, as teachers, miseducate the next generation of school kids, some of whom
in time become ed perfessers,
“reading coordinators,” and classroom teachers--yielding cumulative
stupidity.
Recent
villainy in
Professor
Plum knows these persons well. He has seen them operate since 1967.
Yes, I make fun of them and reveal their asininity. But I know them as
small, crimped souls whose dogmatism stems more from limited intellect than
from confidence. They are truly evil. They have sacrificed G-d knows
how many children on the altar of their vanity and they will continue to do
so--always claiming the best intentions.
The
following was written by one of the smartest and best persons I know. She's a
nationally known expert (I mean, a REAL expert) in reading and direct
(systematic, explicit) instruction. She assisted "low performing"
schools to implement new reading programs. Probably Reading Mastery.
Now,
these schools had done such a poor job teaching that they received a Reading
First grant from the state, after the state received a Reading First grant from the U.S.
Department of Education.
Reading
First grant proposals are not the usual eduslop. They
are serious scientific proposals. In the proposal, the state or district writes
a contract with the funding agency--to use certain reading curricula (that are
field tested, effective, and teach the five basic reading skills, using systematic
and explicit instruction)
If
the state or district does not do what it agreed to do, it's in trouble.
So,
here is what my friend wrote… [My droning,
flap-mouthed comments in brackets.]
As many of you know, for the past four years I worked with
Project READ in Ithaka [Not the real name.] After
more than a decade of whole language [And the destruction
of one generation.], we introduced a multi-tiered phonics approach
using Direct Instruction for students who needed the third tier intervention
program. [Three-tiered means they had a core curriculum for all
kids; supplementary materials; and intervention materials for kids who need
even more fine-grained instruction.]
At the end of the three and a half years, teacher
satisfaction grew to high levels and student attitudes (non DI and DI equally)
towards recreational and academic reading were positive (even the most
struggling readers) as measured by a reading attitude survey. Two out of the
three schools carried the reading model out with high fidelity and in
those schools the percentage of students who had met state standards in
writing and reading increased. Initially, we had hoped for even larger
increases, but the reality of dealing with the unions (periodic inferior
teachers replacing newly trained untenured ones) and whole language mandates
thrown down from Central office reading administrators the first two years
introduced us to reality.
In these two schools the 2004 results for our first group of
students in these high poverty inner city schools were a hair above the state
average in reading and way above the state average in writing (interesting
impact of phonics). In School One back in 2002 only 15.2 % of the
third graders met standards in reading; this year 68.2% met them;
in writing the percentage of students meeting standards went from 15.2 to
86.4% .
In School Two,which seemed to have an ever changing
staff, in 2002 54.5% of the students met standards in reading
with an increase to 67% in 2004; in writing the percentage of
students in that school meeting standards went from 57.4% to 80.6%.
By year three the resistant Ithaka
balanced literacy reading coordinators [Balanced literacy is another name
for whole language. Realizing that they'd been found
out, as lying weasels, whole language hucksters merely changed the name. Same ineffective trash. This is really important reading.]
were on their way out and the administration
had decided to turn two other failing schools into Direct Instruction
schools. [Good. Expand the use of what is obviously working!] Even
though our project was finished, the schools made elaborate plans to continue
using the same model.
BUT THEN. Enter a new
superintendent this year and the curriculum director he brought with him from Hashville. [Not the real name.] Throughout
the fall I received heartbreaking emails from staff who were trying to work
their way around mandatory "word walls" and mandatory time spent on
leveled books from the new "book rooms." [In
other words, less direct teaching of reading skills and more kids
“constructing” knowledge on their own. That’s why so many
kids couldn’t read BEFORE DI was introduced. So, the district is basically
saying, “We don’t give a good G-d damn what works! We don’t LIKE DI and we DO
like whole language. Screw the kids!! And screw anyone else who doesn’t have
the power to stop us!” Sorry for the profanity. I've seen this before.]
Tonight, just before Christmas the dam broke. The
fledgling DI schools are no longer DI schools and our schools have been
told to abandon the multi-tiered model. Balanced literacy is once again the
order of the day. Forget history, forget upward results. It's the same old
story again. Administrators within the district are fighting to hang on, but
it's looking grimmer and grimmer.
I know that some of you are involved in Reading First. The
Reading First school that made the most dramatic
progress (going from a low of 11% of third grade students reading at grade
level to the current 68.2%) is in many ways, "The Little School That
Could." The cultural change that took place in Kickmeagain
School and transformed it from a place where no one ever expected that those
students from poverty could read, to one where everyone followed DIBELS
[an assessment system] results with magnifying glasses trying to get
everyone up to standards, was amazing.
Over the course of the three years, parents who routinely never attended school
functions, began attending in droves.
K - 3 in this school is what Reading First is all about. The fifth graders in
But now I find out that it may all be over before it's begun.
Rumors abound that the district will likely not renew its Read First
contract. [In other words, to avoid being punished for violating the
terms of the grant, the district will simply take no money. That way, they get
to keep on using whole language with impunity.] And currently the newly
mandated word walls, guided reading, DRA assessments [Strictly
qualitative and unreliable] , running records [Useless and
time consuming.], and literacy centers [Kids lay around and
appear to read. No checks on accuracy or comprehension. Looks good but is pure
pageantry.] are threatening to dismantle the
excellence that had begun to bud in this school.
***************************************************************
Oh, but there’s more! Here’s the email sent to all of the schools in that
district by the new reading coordinator from Hashville, brought in by the new super.
Note the artful bunk as she tries to make it appear that this is NOT all about power and ideology.
Sent:
To:
Subject: Reading Programs
I have tried to be sensitive this year [Oooo, sensitive.] to reading initiatives that
schools already had in place. [Is sensitivity the right
disposition? Shouldn't she be most interested in what is working and what
is NOT?] However, as time goes on, I realize that it is
imperative that we all be on the same page. [Why? If some schools use DI
and others whole language, you have a natural experiment. You’d think she’d
want to learn which works better. But noooo.
She does not CARE which works better. She wants whole language, and to get it
she makes up this bs about
how it is imperative for everyone to teach the same way.]
It is just too difficult to have schools that espouse
“different philosophies” that require different materials. [Bunk. What’s hard? Districts all
over the country do exactly that. Wart-faced scut.] In addition, it is not a wise use of
our very limited resources to finance independent training sessions that impact
only one or two schools. [Banana oil.
The money comes from Reading First. The district does not spend a dime on those
few schools. In fact, part of a
If you are a DI or Success for All school [Success for
All is another reading program that is systematic and explicit, and is the
opposite of whole language] and you have teachers who want to switch to
a balanced literacy approach during the second semester, please allow them to
do so. [You KNOW that these teachers have been TOLD to ask.
It's a set up.] In the fall of 2005 all elementary schools
must be on board with balanced literacy. [How do you spell
coercion?] Please let your coaches and district reading coordinators
work with teachers second semester to initiate this transition. [Such nice sounding talk. “Please let…”
And if a principal says, "Screw you. We will continue using DI.”, What do you think will happen?]
We will also have many training opportunities in the balanced
literacy approach this summer, so please encourage your teachers to sign up as
these sessions are advertised. [That is, indoctrination
and “re-education.” How do you spell “thought reform”?]
Balanced literacy is an approach, not a scripted
program. [Here we go. Note the idiotic logic--as if so-called
balanced literacy could not be scripted. ] It is based on the premise
that children need a balance of phonics and authentic reading and writing
experiences. [Now she’s trying to sound like a mentor. In fact, she's
presenting a false dichotomy.
Earlier this year, we gave all of you recommendations for
daily schedules that support this balance in reading instruction. [In
other words, the schedules precluded the DI lessons as kids were instead
supposed to fart around making up words and reading “silently.] The
balanced literacy approach advocates explicit and systematic phonics
instruction [Oh, sure it does! But for a few minutes
“as needed.” That’s why kids don’t learn “phonics” with “balanced
literacy” and end up illiterate.] along with
progressions from shared to guided to independent practice in reading and
writing. Students should interact with, read, and respond verbally and in
writing, to both fiction and nonfiction materials from the moment they start to
emerge as readers. [Which they DO in DI programs! She's
creating a straw man.]
Instruction should be a balance of whole
group and SMALL group work, with the small groups targeting students who
have similar needs. These small, guided reading groups are
flexible in nature, fueled by student need [fueled by student need. Means
what? The mantra of the progressive deaducator.], and the heart of the reading program.
Student need is determined through the different system wide assessments,
teacher observation, classroom performance, etc. As soon as students
become phonetically proficient, they move to word work like Making Big Words
and Words Their Way. [Neither of which has been tested and
been shown to work. In whole language, verification has nothing to do with data
on effectiveness; it has to do with being consistent with ideology.] As
students become fluent, they should have the opportunity to enjoy literature
circles and book clubs. [The point is, with whole language they WON'T
become fluent. This is mere flapdoodle.]
I will be the first to admit that this approach is not as
easy as following a basal or other scripted program. [G-d forbid they
should make it easier for teachers to teach something as routine as
reading. Oh, no! Turn it into an ersatz "art" that leaves
whole language teachers feeling like gurus, when it fact they are frauds who
have once again made their students stupid.] It takes time and training
for teachers to feel comfortable, [It takes maybe two days to teach
someone to use effective commercial programs.] but
I have every confidence [Oh, that’s comforting. No data but every
confidence.] that as we develop comprehensive,
quality balanced literacy programs in our schools, [Bullhockey.
You have nothing but the words "comprehensive" and
"quality" and a bunch of useless activities.] our children will flourish academically. [Yeah,
flourish in your butt.] I wish each of you a joyful holiday
season. Muttonhead
If
families only knew..
*******************************************
Phase 2. The Principal Resists.
She is Discarded. She Must be Made an
Example.
Here
is the continuing story from Reader Andrew "Alpha" Wolf (The Man On The Scene) on the evil morons in
The
Rockville Mental Cases had decided to:
1.
Can the principal who got results. And then
2.
Hire another administrator who quickly got rid of effective reading programs
and installed “balanced literacy”--which means whole language.
http://www.nysun.com/article/8073
The
By Andrew Wolf
January 21, 2005
Tiffany
Parker has been relieved of her instructional duties as principal of the
Since
we're here in
Ms. Parker, who will now shuffle papers, was not demoted because she is
incompetent, nor as the unfortunate result of an incident that she might have
mishandled. Nor was she disciplined because the school's reading scores went
down.
In fact, under her leadership, the school's scores improved dramatically. So
why did the district administration abruptly take her out of the instructional
loop?
The answer is that Ms. Parker put the children of her school ahead of pedagogical
theology.
According to a dispatch in the Rockford Register Star, penned by its education
reporter, Carrie Watters, Ms. Parker's background, like most educators today,
is in the predominant "progressive" educational ideology. But when
she got to the classroom, she found that this approach wouldn't work.
"I was trained in balanced literacy. I got so frustrated over not meeting
the needs of my kids ... I had training, reading coaches, high levels of
support, and I work. Yet I still felt inadequate, and it showed within the
scores," she said.
"Balanced literacy" is a revisionist term for the increasingly
unpopular whole-language programs that research has proven don't work for the
lowest performing children - those most at risk - typically minority children.
When a federal grant obtained by a former professor at
The
results were so impressive in the lower grades - the program was designed for
grades K-3 - that the principal expanded the use of the teaching methods into
the upper grades.
The reading program that Ms. Parker champions is similar to the one that was
used in the Chancellor District in
Just
as balanced literacy failed in
Like her counterparts here in
In
The new district leadership ordered the
So
the
One unhappy board member is Michael Williams, who said, "We need to
support those administrators who are getting results. Why mess with
success?"
This is an example of the pervasiveness of the true monopoly in public
education. Far more powerful than the teachers unions or the bureaucrats is the
university-institutional complex, the schools of education and nonprofit
foundations. They dictate the instructional methodology even when their
strategies defy logic.
This is why it is essential that in the revisions expected in the No Child Left
Behind law, provisions that require scientifically validated teaching methods
be strengthened.
Meanwhile, unless the school board acts when it meets next week, Ms. Parker
will remain another casualty in the reading wars. Research demonstrates that
Ms. Parker is right and the administration is wrong. But when we allow ideology
to trump science, the best principals and teachers inevitably join the students
as victims.
Andrew Wolf
Editor and Publisher, The Riverdale Review,
Columnist,
The
(718)
543-5200 ext. 105 * FAX: (718) 543-4206
Phase 3. A Small Resistance Movement Grows
Here’s
the continuing story from Chuck Muth's website…
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Samuel G. Freedman of the New York Times, among others,
has recently reported on a heart-breaking turn of events in
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Finally, we have a summary and update from the good folks at
the Illinois Loop.
http://www.illinoisloop.org/rockford.html
**********************************
What's the lesson? Maybe right-thinking folks in this looney bin
called "profession of education" have to perform some sort of ritual to
solidify the IDEA that a fad is finally DEAD.
Newspaper announcement in the Daily Shriek and Moan
"Whole language was finally laid to rest today. It had a 20
year run making kids illiterate, but getting its rump fed advocates nice jobs
and tenure. Whole language was so full of composting stupidity that it burst its seams, spreading inane ideas and
moronic methods hither and thither, and expired.
Services will be held at Mel and Ned's Marine Salvage and Junk.