I just don't get it. Fordham prides itself on positions that are based on research, data, and thoughtfulness. Why do you abandon this framework repeatedly when expounding on middle school reform? "Teaching to the middle" (March 22) is a good anecdote. But isn't it time to get serious about helping millions of kids in grades 5 through 8 who are counting on us to do more than trade wits? Senators Sessions and Murray (together with Domenici, Akaka, Cochran, Lott, Bingaman, Burr, Lincoln, Dodd, and Kerry) have just introduced a bill to expand Striving Readers to help below-grade-level students in grades 4-12 receive the literacy interventions they need to succeed in school and graduate college. Based on solid research, it deserves your attention--as do middle school students--in a serious way.
Susan Frost
President, Education Priorities
