It’s one of the most fundamental and indispensable skills: the ability to read. Low reading scores on recent standardized tests in Maryland public schools shocked some parents – both fourth-graders and eighth-graders showed a drop in reading. As a result, education experts are asking whether teachers are being adequately prepared for the classroom.
On today’s show: what’s the best way to teach reading? We’ll talk about the debate over phonics versus whole-language. We’ll hear from Karen Robertson, associate dean in the College of Education at Towson University; Walter Dunson executive director of Cardinal Reading Strategies; Steve Buettner, the head of the Baltimore Lab School; and Donald Bolger, associate professor in the Department of Human Development & Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland.
Check out the National Reading Panel recommendations here. Walter Dunson and Steve Buettner are members of Right to Read - Maryland, a coalition of education advocates who support phonics-based reading instruction and teacher training.