EARLY LITERACY EDUCATION
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Why do 51% of 3rd-grade general education students read below grade level in New York?
- Corruption
- Not understanding the science of reading, and lack of teacher training in science/evidence-based methodologies to teach reading
- Prejudice: The American Psychiatric Association's diagnosis guidelines are eugenic-esque and unscientific
Our data is from New York State Education Department, 2019 (before COVID). In 2022 reading levels decreased further in New York. However, Tennessee, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Montana, Utah, Nebraska, Ohio, etc, all have higher levels of reading proficiency. Here's the link.
Here's the link for every school district in New York, check out whether your district teaches reading HERE.
Let's break this down (click on the tabs):
1. CORRUPTION
Corruption consists of deriving benefit from power over others in morally objectionable ways. Modern capitalist economies inevitably generate corrupt gains, but these gains are within capitalist norms. The literacy world is dominated by a handful of teachers programs; the education market in North America is worth billions of dollars. Unfortunately, one of the main programs (Units of Study/Teachers College) does not follow the science of how children learn how to read. This program uses a three-cueing system to teach children to guess words instead of decoding them, leaving the majority of children with weak reading strategies. With their huge lobbyist budget they easily influence politicians, this is not corrupt in the legal sense. However, it leaves hundreds of thousands of students in New York and across the nation with zero strategies to read (decode words) therefore, it is corrupt in the ethical sense. Additionally, it is corrupt in the fiscal sense too: illiteracy costs New York taxpayers 3-billon per year.
Corruption consists of deriving benefit from power over others in morally objectionable ways. Modern capitalist economies inevitably generate corrupt gains, but these gains are within capitalist norms. The literacy world is dominated by a handful of teachers programs; the education market in North America is worth billions of dollars. Unfortunately, one of the main programs (Units of Study/Teachers College) does not follow the science of how children learn how to read. This program uses a three-cueing system to teach children to guess words instead of decoding them, leaving the majority of children with weak reading strategies. With their huge lobbyist budget they easily influence politicians, this is not corrupt in the legal sense. However, it leaves hundreds of thousands of students in New York and across the nation with zero strategies to read (decode words) therefore, it is corrupt in the ethical sense. Additionally, it is corrupt in the fiscal sense too: illiteracy costs New York taxpayers 3-billon per year.
2. NOT UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENCE OF READING (AND UNSCIENTIFIC TEACHER TRAINING)
Big multi-billion dollar unscientific teaching programs dominate the New York teaching landscape. Administrators are not trained in the methodology to teach reading, and are victims of the media hypes from the billionaire corporations and their convincing sales people. What is interesting is that most of the poorer mid-western and southern states now have higher literacy levels than New York State. This is because they did not buy those expensive non-scientific reading programs; Utah, Virginia, Montana, Ohio all have significantly higher reading levels than New York.
Big multi-billion dollar unscientific teaching programs dominate the New York teaching landscape. Administrators are not trained in the methodology to teach reading, and are victims of the media hypes from the billionaire corporations and their convincing sales people. What is interesting is that most of the poorer mid-western and southern states now have higher literacy levels than New York State. This is because they did not buy those expensive non-scientific reading programs; Utah, Virginia, Montana, Ohio all have significantly higher reading levels than New York.
3. BIAS AGAINST UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN AND CHILDREN WHO SPEAK ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
The American Psychiatric Association
Ever wondered why so many children struggle to read, but are never tested by the school psychologist?
School psychologists generally follow criteria for diagnosing Specific Learning Disorders from the American Psychiatric Association. However, check out their prejudice criteria:
Under "What is Specific Learning Disorder" "Diagnosis" they state:
To be diagnosed with a specific learning disorder, a person must meet four criteria.
4. Learning difficulties are not due to other conditions, such as intellectual disability, vision or hearing problems, a neurological condition (e.g., pediatric stroke), adverse conditions such as economic or environmental disadvantage, lack of instruction, or difficulties speaking/understanding the language.
American Psychiatric Association please remove your bias and damaging criteria!
The American Psychiatric Association
Ever wondered why so many children struggle to read, but are never tested by the school psychologist?
School psychologists generally follow criteria for diagnosing Specific Learning Disorders from the American Psychiatric Association. However, check out their prejudice criteria:
Under "What is Specific Learning Disorder" "Diagnosis" they state:
To be diagnosed with a specific learning disorder, a person must meet four criteria.
4. Learning difficulties are not due to other conditions, such as intellectual disability, vision or hearing problems, a neurological condition (e.g., pediatric stroke), adverse conditions such as economic or environmental disadvantage, lack of instruction, or difficulties speaking/understanding the language.
American Psychiatric Association please remove your bias and damaging criteria!
