Ace in Space

Original

They’re teaching the kids phonics.

It is legally required.

Learn to Read With Feeling The whole language or balanced literacy approach to teaching reading operates on the presumption that breaking down words distracts children, even discourages them, from growing up to become devoted readers. Balanced literacy, or at least the way it's practiced in New York, is largely the brainchild of Lucy Calkins, founder of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, who is looked on nationally as a godmother of whole-language learning. Hundreds of thousands of New York children are learning to read through this approach and it is the school chancellor Joel Klein's belief that balanced literacy is the main reason the city's fourth-grade literacy scores have gone up seven percentage points since 2002, according to the latest survey. This article, written by Robert Kolker, appeared in the May 13th, 2006 publication of The Australian. Published Sunday, May. 14, 2006

They can't even say "We fucked up and fucked over an entire generation of children"

Just. "Uh Oh, Big Bird Makes Mistakes." Sabbatical time!

Teachers College professor Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study For Teaching Reading curriculum was once used in hundreds of New York City public schools and thousands of elementary schools nationwide. A proponent of “balanced literacy,” Calkins and her team at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project—which she founded—trained hundreds of thousands of educators. In New York City alone, the district reportedly paid tens of millions of dollars for the project’s costly services. But Calkins’ curriculum came under scrutiny years ago from experts for its inefficacy in teaching children how to read. Many experts have said Calkins’ controversial approach contributed to low-literacy proficiency levels across the country due to a decreased emphasis on phonics in its reading materials, especially in New York City’s school system, in which estimates say that less than half of its over 1 million students can read proficiently. Teachers College has now left its Reading and Writing Project behind, transitioning last month to a new center called Advancing Literacy, housed under the Continuing Professional Studies program. The announcement of the change came after New York City public schools decided to discontinue Calkins’ curriculum in May. Calkins has also decided to take a sabbatical for the 2023-24 school year, a Teachers College spokesperson confirmed to Spectator.

Anyway Hookedonphonics is still around as an app and with physical reading material for exercises soooo.

Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA

Tuesday, Wednesday tread through muck

Thursday maybe eat a duck

It’s Friday, Flat as Fuck