[The Great RJ]

The whole language approach has been used for decades without serious success. My older brother and sister were taught reading using an early varieant of whole language and were handicapped in reading their whole lives. I went to school when phonics was again strong and fared better.

When our son entered first grade whole language was again in vogue, but thankfully his teacher persisted in teaching phonics. The school district finally changed its reading curriculum after test scores dropped dramatically. Our daughter was also taught to read with phonics.

Why can't these educational bureacrats get it ...phonics works and whole language doesn't.

[Oztrich Boy]

The whole language approach has been used for decades without serious success

An understatement. At the time of the Korean War the US Army found about 15% conscripts were functionally illiterate (could not read at 4th grade level).

In WWII (the last generation before "Whole language") it was 2% - and 3/4 of those had not gone beyond third grade.