NAEP Scores In Reading Just Released!
From the graphs that accompany this article, it would appear things have been on the "downhill slide" since 1998. So, my question is how can things continue to decline over the course of 8 years and no one is doing anything to correct the problem? Don't these statistics make ELA teachers cringe; and if they do, why isn't anyone doing something about it?
This just brings me back to what I said once before - I personally know of someone who graduated from the same high school I did one year ahead of me who - to this very day - cannot read or write. How can we possibly let such a thing occur? It's time teachers take a long look at their classrooms and their students to see if they could change some things to make their students proficient readers!! And, if they can't, then I say they should not have their jobs.
I wonder if anyone knows how much of an affect tenure has on these steadily declining reading levels. Do teachers who no longer have to worry about losing their jobs simply sit back and let children go through their classrooms without ever caring whether or not they have the basic skills to help them succeed in the world?
Or, how much of this is a result of the fact children no longer need to read books. The things they are required to do in class makes it unnecessary for them to have to read the book in order to answer the questions asked of them. I cannot imagine anyone being less than proficient in reading.
Reading this article and looking at the accompanying graphs makes me very sad - and it also makes me very angry. I want to inspire kids to be avid readers, and from the things I hear in our class I am not entirely certain I know how to go about accomplishing that. I am, however, anxious to give it a try.
2 comments:
Hi Darlene,
I must say that unfortunatly, I agree with you. I cannot believe the statistics that are occuring and the fact that nothing seems to be changing. I could only hope for my students to be avid readers but it is becoming more difficult to have hopes of this due to all of the technology that students are absorbed by. Why would a student want to read when they can be blogging, making a pod-cast, using social bookmarking techniques? And of course we cannot forget, AIM or video games. Although technology is offering many resources, I can't help but see it as a distraction as well.
Hi,
As much as tenure is a blessing to teachers, it can also become a major problem for some. Some see tenure as the ability to have freedom to teach; others see it as the opportunity to slack off, relax, and instill the same lesson plans from when they started teaching. Personally, I have seen many damaging effects that are hurting students' learning.
I am not surprised with the statistics, but it does make me sad and angry to want to influence students and change how the system is now. At least we can see this problem and look for solutions before we begin teaching.
Jami
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