Remedial Reading in College — A National Betrayal

 

Rahm Emanuel’s remark that the number one class for college freshmen today is remedial reading should have sent shockwaves through the education establishment. Instead, it barely registers. Dale Chu shared it, The Principal’s Office confirmed what every high school English teacher already knows: “The kids won’t read. We’re really trying, but they aren’t.”

 

This is not a revelation. It is an indictment. And it is proof that the so‑called experts — the professors, PhDs, and authority pundits — have failed.

Ideas for my blog - A reply to Lucky Earther

                                                                  

While waiting for HeyMrsBond to respond to some of the tweets yesterday, I would like to respond to one of the tweets by:

Lucky Earther @WreckaCenter

Maybe you could come up with your own ideas for your blog instead of poking around on Twitter to see if someone will write something for you?

For the information of Lucky Earther and the others in the thread I will explain so that they know that most of what I write is based on my own ideas. This is specifically for those who have not been following my blog.

Anna Stokke's podcast with Matthew Burns - Final Part

                                                     

Here is the fourth and final part of Anna Stokke's podcast with Matther Burns.

Anna Stokke:

About some of the education thought leaders, sometimes you could even call them education celebrities, I think. And we see this in both reading and math. Do you think maybe they get caught up in the positive attention that they're receiving and that this may be why they don't step back on the claims they've made, even when it comes to light that there are problems with some of the ideas they promote?

Matthew Burns:

And I think because of that, people telling you that your stuff is so great and people tell you what you say is true, that you sort of start to believe it.

And you get to the point where you can say, “Well, I think it's true. Therefore, it must be.” So I think we researchers need to be more self-critical and self-reflective. We need to recognize “What I'm thinking based on evidence, or is it something I think is true because I think it's true?” So I really challenge other researchers to engage in that level of self-reflection because you can get caught up in it really easily.

My comment:

Wow! Matthew has put it very well. Do read his excellent response above, again.

Do educators know the importance of foundational skills?

 

On 30.11.23 Cameron Carter @CRCarter313 Tweeted the following:

Every educator knows the importance of foundational skills, and of building student engagement and ownership while teaching these skills.

I then Tweeted as follows:

'Every educator knows the importance of foundational skills'.

This is Bullshit! Stop spreading disinformation.

Dr. Sam Bommarito @DoctorSam7 then replied to my Tweet.

? Sorry you feel that way.

Knowledge vs Wisdom

 

I have listened to both David Boulton and Andrew Johnson several times and must say that both of them are a wealth of knowledge but both of them are like the human egg in that they are not receptive to things that are contrary to what they have learned. 

It was David who blocked me on LinkedIn in 2015 when I told him that his two recommended videos would cause kids to disengage from learning to read. LINK.

Andrew Johnson cut me off stating I don’t have the credentials to discuss with him. He asked me for research reports to support my findings that phonological awareness deficit is not the cause of dyslexia. He continually asked me for evidence.

Here is Andrew Johnson's cocked-up view on phonics. LINK

Here are further excerpts from the discussion between David and Andrew and my comments. LINK

Sally Shaywitz and her book – Overcoming Dyslexia

Kelly Hobbs the Admin of Dyslexia Tutors & Support Group, I am a member of, posted a link to Sally Shaywitz’s book – Overcoming Dyslexia – and said

This is a must read! Does anyone else agree?

I replied:

She did not answer the questions I asked her on the Yale website. My question was left there until her post was removed by her. She is a scientist and not an educator.

YouTube discussion between David Boulton and and Andrew Johnson

                                                          

Here are extracts from a discussion between David Boulton and Andrew Johnson and my comments. LINK

 

At minute 34.30 - dyslexia is an inability to learn to read which is of Unknown Origin. It impacts usually depending on the researcher three to five percent of the population. Unfortunately, it's become such a big thing politically and profitably that they push that three to five percent which I kind of agree with to almost 15 to 20 percent because there's a whole lot more opportunity to intervene. 

 

I have said the same thing for the past over a decade.

Dyslexia - A multi-billion US dollar business written in August 2010. LINK

My e-mail to Dyslexia Scotland part 2 written in September 2010. LINK

Phonological Awareness Deficit is not the cause of dyslexics being unable to read fluently - A Myth Busted written in October 2010. LINK

There are many other posts I wrote over the years.

I believe the % of kids who may fall into the dyslexic category are no more than 2%. Even if we accept the 3 to 5 % as mentioned by David above that leaves a lot more who are unable to read due to ‘Dysteachia’.

The human mind is like the human egg.

 

Let us begin with a tweet directed to Dr. Sam Bommarito and his reply.

To my following tweet on 14.8.23:

I wrote emails to both of them (David Boulton and Andrew Johnson) in 2015. Both refused to accept what I discovered and wanted research reports to support what I discovered. Dr. Sam, do we need research reports for everything? Can't we think logically anymore?

 

Dr. Sam Bommarito @DoctorSam7 responded as follows:

In the world of research, there is the issue of replication. You have to be able to replicate results for them to be significant, replication requires formal studies.  One of the key issues here is. If you use your methods on other children and from other places will they still progress? So the answer is if you want other people from other places to consider your (approach) yes you do have to do research.

Are Dr. Sam Bommarito and the other educators that naive? Part 2

 

If anything is deemed offensive in my post yesterday on Dr.Sam Bommarito, it is intended.

He and many so-called educators have been stating things that are obviously misleading.

Sam mentioned David Boulton in his blog post. I commented on David Boulton’s LinkedIn post back in 2015 and stated that one of the main reasons why kids disengage from learning to read is due to the fact that teachers teach the sounds represented by letters wrongly as in the 2 videos that David recommended for viewing. He disagreed with me and blocked me and yet removed the 2 videos immediately thereafter.

In 2015, Andrew Johnson and I had several email discussions where I told him that phonological awareness deficit is not the cause of kids being unable to read. He asked me for evidence and research reports and cut me off saying that I don’t have the credentials to talk with him on this subject.

This was the same with Timothy Shanahan who ignored my comments in 2015 and made an about-turn in 2017.

I have been blocked by many so-called educators for no reason at all since 2010 when I started being active on social media. 

Most Twitters have a herd mentality and wear blinkers

 

Here is a tweet I commented on and was questioned and my replies:

Evan Robb @ERobbPrincipal Aug 15

To have a great team you must surround yourself with like-minded people!

@MichelLuqman

Where do I find people who can think?

Most of the educators on Twitter have a herd mentality and wear blinkers. They base everything on research reports and rarely think. Read what Daniel Kahneman said about research reports. LINK 

Note:

Since 2010, I have been questioned on my credentials and asked for research reports when common sense should prevail. This over-reliance on research reports as if they are the gospel truth is one of the main problems facing education. 

Learning to Read Changes the Brain - Richard Gentry

 

This morning I read a Tweet by Karen Vaites which had a link to the article here.

Here are some excerpts from the article and my thoughts. 

 

“How Learning to Read Changes the Brain”.

 

Yes, brain imaging will show a difference in the brain before and after a child learns to read. But it does not show how the brain learns to read. No one has discovered how the brain learns to read. 

"Research' is what nobody else has thought

“Research is to see what everybody else sees, and think what nobody else has thought.” 

The above was said by Hungarian biochemist, Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who first isolated vitamin C.

I, Luqman Michel, have thought and seen what no one else in the world has seen or thought. The Caucasians have a problem even understanding it.

Empirical evidence

An educator who had worked in several positions for 45 years and who is 80 years old and now retired – said on 11.1.2020 in a comment on one of my posts;

“As long as it is empirical, Americans are comfortable

but if it isn't empirical it is suspicious stuff.”

What has happened to the common sense of the American people?

Willfully blind – Timothy Shanahan and his colleagues

Why do guys like David Boulton, Reid Lyon, Andrew Johnson and Timothy Shanahan reject what I have told them without any basis? I don’t think it is ignorance. I believe it is willful blindness.

Speaking out

This post is in response to a post in a blog I read. It is a prelude to what I intend to write this Sunday on some of our so called experts like Andrew Johnson, David Boulton, Reid Lyon, Timothy Shanahan and a few others.

All these guys are just too naïve to connect the dots.OR are they the puppets of some people with a vested interest?

 

Practice makes perfect – REALLY?

I saw a post in LinkedIn which said ‘practice makes perfect’. I disagree and will give my opinion below. I believe perfect practice makes perfect.

The reading war as pointed out by Jo-Anne Gross from Canada, a Remediation teacher, has been going on for 45 years.