Talk:Reading First

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Untitled[edit]

Reference point [1] is a dead link.

Workplan for this page.[edit]

I got here from Emily Hanford's "Sold a Story", a podcast-format longform article series on the persistent use of three-cueing/"whole language"/"balanced literacy" approaches, which described Reading First as an attempt to encourage effective (i.e., phonics-based) literacy instruction in schools.

The last substantive edit was in 2008, and the article focuses on conflicts of interest as well as allegations that it broadly "does not improve students' reading comprehension". There's a sense of 'some people say this, some people say that', with no attempt at synthesis. (As of this writing) the Whole language article is very clearly critical of the concept, but Reading#Effectiveness_of_programs is equivocal, and simply recaps a _lot_ of debates without clearly explaining the state of knowledge.

My goal for now is to:

Explain the motivation for Reading First.
Describe how it descended from a Texas-based program backed by Laura Bush.
Explain the goals of the project, i.e., why people (including Reid Lyon and Susan Neuman) thought it would work.
Describe why it didn't work. In part, Proponents of Reading Recovery, another discredited approach, lobbied to have their programs included, and attempted to dilute the program's effectiveness.

grendel|khan 00:27, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]