I thoroughly enjoyed Liam Julian's piece "Check yourself before you wreck yourself." As the director of a teacher training initiative at Haskins Laboratories, practicing teachers, particularly the "big-hearted 22 year-olds," tell me they don't know how to teach children to read. The first thing we give our trainees is a scope and sequence of skills that students need to learn to become proficient readers. Many express gratitude and relief to have a "road map" to follow. What follows is an intense, two-year training process that includes an explanation of the hows and whys of systematic, explicit, sequential reading instruction. The bottom line is that no matter what reading program the district mandates for its students, "the basics don't go overlooked." Scripted program or not, every child, particularly those most at risk, must have a skilled teacher who will "jump through hoops" and do whatever else it takes to ensure their early reading success. And yes, Liam, solid reading instruction is a matter of life and death!
Margie Gillis
Project Director, Haskins Literacy Initiative