The Boston Globe and APM Report

 

The Boston Globe and APM Reports:

Karrie Conley is one of the lead plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Heinemann, an educational publishing company. The lawsuit claims that Heinemann's reading curriculum made it harder for two of her daughters to learn how to read. (Liz Linder/APM Reports)

Karrie Conley and Michele Hudak filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the educational publisher Heinemann and three of its best-selling authors promoted “deceptive” and “defective” products that made it harder for their children to learn to read.

My thoughts:

These two mothers are misdirecting their efforts. As I’ve stated numerous times on my blog and social media, the root issue lies in how teachers are instructing letter sounds. When curious children encounter incorrect sounds and struggle to blend letters, they often disengage from the reading process. This challenge can be easily addressed through screening for incoming first graders. By providing interventions for children who have been taught the wrong sounds, we can significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the number of students leaving school unable to read. LINK

The Boston Globe and APM Reports:

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants falsely marketed their literacy products as “research-backed” and “data-based,” failed to “warn” consumers that the products lacked sufficient phonics instruction and continued to sell those products even when they should have known they were inadequate.

My thoughts:

Again, I’ve pointed out repeatedly that children were able to learn to read during both the Whole Language and Phonics eras. Numerous students left school unable to read during both periods, indicating that the issue isn’t with phonics itself but rather with the incorrect teaching of letter sounds. I have many videos on my blog that delve into this topic.

 

The Boston Globe and APM Reports:

One of the attorneys behind the case, Benjamin Elga, said he listened to Sold a Story and immediately saw “an injustice that cried out for redress.”

 

My thoughts:

It’s surprising that Elga found injustice in "Sold a Story" when similar arguments have been made elsewhere. What new insights does this narrative offer?

 

The Boston Globe and APM Reports:

In a recent survey conducted by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 24 of the 155 school districts that identified an early elementary literacy curriculum reported using a Heinemann program.

 

My thoughts:

Does Benjamin Elga or anyone else analysing this report consider what happened in the remaining 131 schools? Were there no students in those schools who left unable to read? Could all those students read at grade level? With only 24 out of 155 districts employing Heinemann programs—just 15%—what about the remaining 85%? Can we assume that every student in those schools is reading at grade level?

 

The Boston Globe and APM Reports:

But research has shown repeatedly that children best learn how to read by sounding words out, not by relying on context clues to guess.

My thoughts:

This statement is misleading. Millions of children successfully learned to read during the Whole Language period. How do deaf and mute individuals learn to read? How do those with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) manage? LINK

The Boston Globe and APM Reports:

“When you’re trying to teach a child how to read, and you’re using the same strategy over and over and over again, and it’s not working, clearly it’s not the child; it’s the strategy,” Conley said.

My thoughts:

This is absolutely correct. The repeated instruction of incorrect letter sounds leads to frustration, causing children to shut down. We then wrongly label them as unable to blend sounds and potentially dyslexic. How long will we continue to ignore this issue?

The Boston Globe and APM Reports:

“I’m not a party to the case, so it certainly isn’t about millions (of dollars) for me,” Duggan said. “It’s about opening the eyes of our local towns, your school committees, all the people that are responsible as adults to educate our children. Hopefully, people will make better decisions.”

My thoughts:

Yes, Duggan and others should consider making necessary changes and improve decision-making processes. The Globe is welcome to reach out with any questions.