Reading Last?

Students enrolled in Reading First, a key component of President Bush’s so-called No Child Left Behind law, read no better than students who aren’t in the program, according to a new Department of Education study.

“There was no statistically significant impact on reading comprehension scores in grades one, two, or three,” Grover J. Russ Whitehurst, director of the Institute of Education Sciences at the Depart of Education, said in a press briefing.

This comes as no surprise to educators:

“As an experienced teacher of third grade, I am deeply saddened by the Reading First Program. I have been teaching for more than 25 years and I have never seen so many students hurt by something that is supposed to be helpful,” writes one educator. “Many of our best teachers are seeking employment in non-Reading First Schools. The reason …is that the focus is on fluency and not comprehension. As a result, we have students who quickly read a passage, but cannot comprehend a word that they have read. I have [also] seen language skills, math, science, social studies, and all other aspects of education neglected because of the pressure of Reading First.”

Others are frustrated by the constantly changing curriculum procedures, and mountains of documentation requirements:

“I am a veteran teacher and this is my first year in a Reading First school....The workload is outrageous! I never seem to be caught up because we make changes constantly. Everyone is on pins and needles waiting for a state visit. There is no room for flexibility. I plan to leave at the end of the school year,” says one frustrated educator.

President Bush and Education Secretary Spellings have lauded Reading First as an effective program rooted in science and research, but controversy surrounded it from the start. Federal investigators found that some overseeing the $6 billion program had financial ties to the publishers of Reading First materials.

“The Bush Administration has put cronyism first and the reading skills of our children last and this report shows the disturbing consequences,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate education committee. “Instead of awarding scarce education dollars to reading programs that make a difference for our children, the Administration chose to reward its friends instead.”

Are you in a Reading First school? Share your experiences on our discussion board.