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Boys can learn to beat girls at reading if they are given old-fashioned teaching methods, claim psychologists. The use of more traditional phonetics-based lessons helps boys catch up with girls - even doing better on some tests - and prevents some children from needing 'special' schooling, according to new research findings. A study of synthetic phonics also found children from disadvantaged backgrounds do as well as those from better off homes. The research, presented at the British Psychological Society's annual conference in York, has underpinned changes being made in the nation's classrooms. They have been introduced after damning revelations that...

To save the country, we first have to save the public schools. Doing this requires that we save reading, the one essential skill. March, 2010, is the 55th anniversary of “Why Johnny Can’t Read.” This book is just as hot now as it was a half-century ago, because our obtuse Education Establishment insists on using sight-words (or Dolch words) to teach reading. This is the phony method that Flesch exposed and explained in his book. “Rudolf Flesch Rules the World of Reading” gives a quick update on why this book is so hugely important. Maybe you already know all this....

College fails to teach civic knowledge - including American history and national institutions - and has an influence on liberal leanings among students, a new study says. The study, conducted by the conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute, specifically cited typically liberal positions on gay marriage and school prayer. Richard Brake, the director of ISI's Culture of Enterprise Initiative, said high schools could be partly to blame for a lack of civic knowledge but college courses should provide more concentrated study. "You should reinforce it and go beyond it," he said. "Learning is about reinforcement." The study tested 2,508 Americans with various...

Think Globally Read Locally Malcolm A. Kline, January 22, 2010 The UN warns that illiteracy is a global problem but Americans may not have to look that far to find it. “Far too many young people emerge from primary school unable to read or write,” UNESCO warns. “In some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, young adults with five years of primary schooling have a 40% chance of being illiterate.” The U. S. could catch up in this race to the bottom. “The skills and knowledge that college instructors expect entering students to have are more focused and specific than what high...

They're kicking up their heels at the Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation for Family Literacy offices with announcement that former vice presidential candidate, Fox News commentator and author Sarah Palin will be among the published writers of note to make presentations at the Celebration of Reading. Politics notwithstanding, those who've seen Palin in person report that she is a charismatic figure not to be missed. And if you loved Palin going rogue on the campaign trail, we bet you'll love her even more as she comments on her life and reads from her book, Going Rogue. Mark your calendars for the...

Teenagers have been warned they are becoming unemployable because they use a vocabulary of just 800 words. The limited linguistic range also consists of many made up words and 'teenspeak' which has developed through modern communication methods such as text messaging and social networking sites. Today Jean Gross, who advises the Government on children's speech, said urgent action was required to prevent children failing to find jobs because they are unable to communicate. Mrs Goss, who last week issued a stark warning over the effect of television on children's development said yesterday: 'Teenagers are spending more time communicating through electronic...

Teacher's pet inspires students at Ft. Pierce school Students having a ruff time reading have a new helper, and rather than eat their homework she's here to help with it. Abigail the golden retriever has been hitting the books hard to provide a good example for the kids at Dan McCarty Middle School in Fort Pierce. Abigail already knows how to read eight distinct terms, and her word power is proving to special needs students that anything is possible. "That’s my hope - that the kids will become more motivated, more interested in reading because having this dog that can...

FLYING squads of specialist teachers will swoop into 300 Queensland schools next year under a plan to boost literacy and numeracy results. The so-called Turnaround Teams will be deployed to low-performing schools to identify why their results are below average and develop strategies to improve literacy and numeracy levels. ``Some schools may have problems with truancy or behaviour management, others may need extra help with early childhood learning or teaching science for instance,'' Premier Anna Bligh said today. The teams are part of the State Government's three-year bid to turn around poor results in Queensland schools and will cost $9...

Lost In Cyberspace by: Deborah Lambert, May 21, 2009 Surprise, surprise. Spending thousands of hours on the Internet apparently leaves children poorly prepared to face the challenges of adult life, according to The London Telegraph. In fact, British child psychiatrists recently claimed that “teenagers were spending up to 16 hours a day playing games online with ‘potentially severe consequences’ for their education and social opportunities.” Speaking at an educational conference in Manchester recently, John Gibson, head of the Independent Schools Association, said that compared with today’s activities, the ways that children spent their time in the 50s and 60s like...

"No matter how much money is spent, literacy rates plunge and SAT scores fall. General knowledge throughout the society becomes more scant. Our better students can’t compete against better foreign students. The depressing statistics are all around us. Everyone admits the public schools are doing a lousy job. The question is, why can't we do more to improve them?"

The recent announcement by the New York Times that it might close down the venerable Boston Globe, unless the paper can cut costs and begin to make money, came as a shock to many Bostonians. The Times bought the Globe in 1993 for $1.1 billion because it assumed that in an area with Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Boston University, Boston College and other schools of higher learning, they would have lots of readers and make lots of money. But this much-touted Athens of America, which prides itself on its intellectual history, has become, like the rest of America, a victim of...

Professor Joe Elliott, from Durham University, believes many parents with children who have difficulty in literacy lessons push for them to be diagnosed with dyslexia so they can get the extra support they need. Prof Elliott says this leads to children being falsely labelled and ignores the fact there are simply many children who struggle to read and should be given help at an early age. The academic, a director of research at the university's School of Education, said: "Many of the messages that I have received from parents have pointed out that the system has forced them to use...

Books left on the shelf: A fifth of pupils only read blogs and magazines By LAURA CLARK 04th April 2009 The National Literacy Trust is backing an initiative to encourage reading - using footballers as role models One in five youngsters never picks up books outside school, a poll has found. Instead, websites and blogs have become children's reading matter of choice. Pupils ranked social networking sites, blogs, general websites and magazines above books in a major survey of their reading habits. A quarter did not believe that being a proficient reader would help them achieve success in future. A...

The First Lady has excited the fashion world, but like Diana she would rather champion the less fortunate than be a mere clotheshorse. Michelle Obama’s flair for fashion has captivated Washington and set the hearts of glossy magazine editors aflutter. She has already eclipsed Carla Bruni, the super-model chanteuse and wife of Nicolas Sarkozy, the hyperactive French president. Not since Diana, Princess of Wales, has there been such a glamorous role model at the apex of society. In her white, one-shouldered chiffon gown, she boogied to Stevie Wonder’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours and slow-danced with her husband at a...

At 23 percent, California leads the nation in residents 16 and older at the lowest level of literacy. The National Assessment of Adult Literacy, released this month, is calculated by the U.S. Department of Education from 2003 data. Its estimate for California: 6 million of its 26 million adults can, at best, read and understand only “short, commonplace prose text.” At worst, they cannot read and comprehend any information written in English. Behind this eight-point increase in below-basic literacy since the last assessment in 1992 is primarily immigration. One in eight U.S. residents is an immigrant, the highest percentage in...

A solution for the reading gap between black and white children was discovered four decades ago. So, why aren't we taking advantage of it?One does not expect to see New York's school Chancellor Joel Klein on the same stage as Reverend Al Sharpton. Klein is infamous for his emphasis on test scores and shutting down schools that fail to measure up. Not so long ago, Sharpton was in the barricades with Russell Simmons protesting mayor Michael Bloomberg and Klein's plan to cut New York City's education budget. Yet these days the two are teaming up for the Education Equality Project,...

About 14 percent of U.S. adults won't be reading this article. Well, okay, most people won't read it, given all the words that are published these days to help us understand and navigate the increasingly complex world. But about 1 in 7 can't read it. They're illiterate. Statistics released by the U.S. Education Department this week show that some 32 million U.S. adults lack basic prose literacy skill. That means they can't read a newspaper or the instruction on a bottle of pills. The figures are for 2003, the latest year available. State and county results are available here. "The...

About five years ago, San Juan High School teacher Shirley Bowers realized that half her students had no idea what she was writing on the board. "I had a student remark that he couldn't read my notes," Bowers said. His fellow classmates fessed up, too. Bauer's notes were hard to read. They were in cursive. Over the past decade, teachers and secondary students across the country have reported a trend that their parents and grandparents could scarcely imagine: The millennial generation is increasingly cursive illiterate. The digital age has pushed to the periphery a penmanship skill used for generations. The...

Only 17% of 8th Graders Can Read at Grade Level in Chicago Schools Overseen by Obama Education Secretary-Designee Chicago Schools Chief Arne Duncan smiles as President-elect Barack Obama announces his selection to be Education Secretary, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008, at the Dodge Renaissance Academy in Chicago.(CNSNews.com) – In 2007, only 17 percent of eighth graders tested at or above grade level in reading in Chicago Public Schools – the school system administered by Arne Duncan since 2001. President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday tapped Duncan to become secretary of education in the upcoming administration. Duncan, hailed by Obama as a reformer,...

The Bell Curve, an excellent book more maligned than read, pointed out a trend seldom noticed. The authors called it “cognitive stratification,” not a phrase Byron would have chosen but serviceable enough. It means the concentration of the intelligent. In 1850 people of high intelligence were dispersed through the population. If the child of a cowboy had an IQ of 160, he would probably remain in the geographical region with cowboys. He might be more successful than most, and might choose as friends the quicker wits thereabouts. Yet he would be part of the community. A cowboy could be intelligent,...