Reading First and the Art of Teaching Reading

Reading First was created as part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Reading First provides funds for schools to establish reading programs based on "scientifically based reading research." Five essential components of reading instruction were identified in the Reading First legislation: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. An interim report on the effectiveness of the Reading First Programs was released in April of 2008. The good news: On average, Reading First increased instructional time spent on the five essential components. The bad news: on average, estimated impacts on student reading comprehension test scores was not statistically significant. There will be a final report in early 2009 which will give the relationship between the degree of implementation of scientifically based reading instruction and student reading achievement. Opinion alert: I do not believe there is such a thing as scientifically based reading instruction. Teaching reading is an art. I do believe there are more effective and less effective methods of teaching reading, and a less effective way focuses on discrete skills, and reading small amounts of text chosen by the teacher. A more effective way emphasizes student engagement with text, student interest and motivation. Skills are taught, but they are a tool to achieve the goal of creating accomplished, eager readers. Stay tuned for the report due in 2009. I will keep you posted!