Why Johnny can't read very well and what to do about it

Teacher Thomas Biel:

Juan/Sean/John doesn't read too well because we don't teach him how very well. Results from the 2005-'06 Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations show that 55% of Milwaukee Public Schools 10th-graders do not read at a proficient level. The majority of our kids have reading problems.

Leaders in the school district, in the Legislature and at the federal level need to take a stand and do something practical, like earmarking funds for literacy wherever literacy is a problem.

We need to go way beyond literacy coaches and in-content-area reading programs to try to solve this problem.

Reading should be made a department in every high school just as math, science and English are, and reading classes should become a part of every high school curriculum.

I'm not saying that we don't teach reading in the high schools. But, primarily, we teach reading to students who already can read. Those who can't, or who can't read well, struggle, and many fail. If they aren't designated special education or a special needs learner, these students disappear into the cracks of the system.

Typically, the struggling reader who has fallen behind somewhere in his education gets to high school and is expected to take the same English, history, science and math classes as the proficient reader.

The student in junior-year English who reads at a third-grade level but is studying the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson or "The Fall of the House of Usher" will drown in language he doesn't understand. The textbooks he has to read for history, science and math will be eight grades beyond his reading level.

hat student is primed for failure. While the content-area teacher can provide reading instruction, it is impossible to meet the needs of all the struggling readers and non-readers (reading at a second-grade level or lower) when one teacher teaches 30 students at a time.

If a 9th- or 10th-grade student hasn't passed a proficiency test in reading, shouldn't learning to read be the core of his whole curriculum? What other subjects could this student do well in if he or she can't comprehend the course material? What does one do if one can't read? Without basic reading skills, a whole life can spin out of control.

The reason reading does not lie at the center of our schools is the same reason fighting poverty is not at the top of our government's list. Our priorities are out of whack: We are interested in profit; we invest in success, not in those on the brink of failure; and we want a measurable return on our dollar.

Federally, the billions of dollars spent for war and massive violence is mind-boggling at a time when there is not enough money for improving education.

The point is: Make reading and literacy the primary educational goal at the high school level. Then hire and train more people to do it, to study it, to carry it into the community through colleges and into the schools. Push teaching as a great career and attract talented young people.

Too many teenagers stand at the brink, where not much seems possible in life. We can make the possible a stronger likelihood.

We can push the study of literacy and reading at the high school level.

Refocus legislation from conceal and carry to reveal and carry books. At the federal level, spend money on tools of mass instruction. Inject reading into brains so we can help prevent drugs injected into veins.

The payoff will be innumerable, immeasurable dividends.

Thomas Biel of Milwaukee is a high school English teacher for the Milwaukee Public Schools. His e-mail address is tbiel@sbcglobal.net

Posted by Jim Zellmer at February 1, 2007 7:00 AM
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