To Make Reading Great Again, Schools Must Go Back To Teaching Phonics

Nicholas Kristof is featured in The New York Times. Recenty, took on American students are facing illiteracy. According to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), almost two-thirds fourth graders in the US aren’t reading at grade level. This is a significant increase from 2 percent two years ago, and most likely due to the following: Covid Learning LossDespite the many campaigns to promote reading, this is still an overwhelming number of students who are struggling.

Teachers of English can confirm that this problem isn’t just for fourth graders. It can also be seen at all grade levels, including Advanced Placement and Gifted and Talented classes. The students of today read much less than their predecessors and struggle to complete basic reading tasks. While I was not a keen reader or the expectation at my public school, I marvel at how many books I read compared with some of my AP Language and Composition classmates, who admitted that they hadn’t read a book in their entire lives since elementary school. It is a problem that they have to overcome in order to pass their AP exams. I also have to model how to read with them.

Kristof, like most left-leaning people, has supported public schools for many years and continues to advocate for more funding. However, he is still shocked at the inability of teachers to properly teach reading using data. “the United States has adopted reading strategies that just don’t work very well and … we haven’t relied enough on a simple starting point — helping kids learn to sound out words with phonics.”

Too often, teachers have used sight-words to teach younger students. Instead of teaching them how letters sound, they use flash cards and images to teach them. Sight-words seem more effective than teaching Phonics in the initial years. This is because these children can identify more complicated vocabulary and not just the two- and three letter words that are included in beginner books. This advantage quickly fades as students begin to read longer texts that contain unfamiliar vocabulary. The challenges are so daunting that many students end up in high school and middle school. Diagnosed with dyslexia and other reading disorders.

Not just for political reasons

If teaching phonics was always the solution, it is worth looking at why some people don’t like it. Kristof does admit that politics was a part. “Republicans endorsed phonics, so I was expected as a good liberal to roll my eyes.” Furthermore, most educators are “good liberals” Kristof and Kristof were no different. They had no hesitation to give up phonics in favour of other methods.

However, I have found that there is always more to the “Reading wars“More than who supported what. Yes, my teachers were hateful.