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Dear Ms. O' Connell, Thank you for your thoughtful response to my request for a stronger emphasis on phonics. I am glad to know that you see its value but I cannot agree that whole language is useful to any but a limited few. I have many reasons for believing phonics should be the primary method of teaching children to read and the whole word method relegated to the fallback for those few who may not be able to grasp decoding. Even a dog can memorize words but memory has its limitations. The phonetic method requires the use of and stimulates the growth of a different part of the brain. I think we can agree that rote learning has a role but a limited one. I consider the phonetic method of reading to be much like mathematics in that it stimulates the brain’s ability to deduce which then enables greater achievement in other areas. It is a tool of creativity. As I said previously, reading (thoroughly) “Why Johnny Can’t Read” would be a good primer to a debate on this issue but it would only serve as part of an opening remark in what has taken me most of my adult life to understand. It is not “…exactly where (my) ideals are based”. We all are indeed like snowflakes and it’s my unique experiences that have taught me that our education bureaucracy is too large, politically motivated and unyielding to respond to the disparate needs of all of our individual learners. I have testified before the State Senate and Assembly Education Committees on two occasions where I experienced more than I could learn from any book. I have been part of a group that met with Commissioner Mills for a series of discussions. I stood in for New York State and NYC teacher of the year John Taylor Gatto as keynote speaker at a conference on conservative education policy when he was called away on an emergency. I have had in depth discussions with teachers who bore witness to the infiltration of progressive teaching methods. One of those teachers took part in a project to teach prison inmates how to read phonetically and experienced dramatic reductions in recidivism. I could and may yet fill a book with the experiences that have formed this snowflake. I have taken note of the article by Sharon Cromwell that you attached and in those few sentences there are keys to the problems and solutions to this issue. Who are “the majority of experts” she cites? Whole language supporters use psychologists to bolster their argument while phonetic supporters cite linguists. I agree with the linguists. Their argument makes sense while psychologists’ doesn’t. Psychologists have very little credibility with me for the simple reason that they try to fit us into one-size-fits-all (snowball) groups. She then mentions “…debates like phonics vs. whole language in the media…” but I have never heard such a debate. To the contrary I have witnessed a prolonged and concerted effort by the education establishment and the media to stifle all debate on the subject because they know they would loose such a debate. They have gone so far as to insist, presumably in anticipation of their eventual defeat, that there is no right or wrong, only differences of opinion. You stated that you were unsure what I meant by Superintendent Brewer being contradicted so permit me to explain. I am a member of the Schodack Business Association. Mr. Brewer was keynote speaker at a recent SBA meeting. Before committing to attend the meeting I asked the SBA why he was making a budget presentation to our group when neither he nor the EGCSD were members. I was sure that our group was going to be subjected to one of Mr. Brewer’s long winded dog and pony shows but received assurances that he would not be permitted to get away without answering some tough questions. True to form Mr. Brewer spoke past the appointed end of the meeting (while saying nothing but MANDATES & MORE MONEY) leaving no time for questioning or debate. In the two minutes that I was permitted to question Mr. Brewer I broached the subject of phonics. If you were to read “Why Johnny Can’t Read” or “Why Johnny Still Can’t Read” for that matter, you would know what Mr. Brewer’s response was – as I knew it would be – because it was the pat response that administrators have been giving parents for decades and is noted in those books. He said that our teachers teach phonics, when I know that some teachers don’t because I have spoken to many teachers over the years who have told me that the phonetic method was not taught and was in fact scoffed at in the teaching colleges they attended. Furthermore, as I noted in my first letter, Madison’s first grade teacher admitted as much to me in one of our conferences. The contradiction is; how can he say that students are getting phonics when teachers are saying they are not? Systematic phonics is not being practiced. You should do an Internet search on ‘facilitated communication’ if you care to understand what lengths reformers must go to in order to expose the education establishment’s malfeasance. With regard to your being unclear what I am doing at home to help with Madison’s reading, I said I have been (past tense) very involved, not “are very involved”. I had to give up in frustration (not with him) when it took all night to get through his reading assignments. He would often say: “We haven’t learned that word yet”. So my wife goes over the sight words with him. Lately I have limited my involvement to reading to him and telling him how much I love reading. I’ll never forget one time when I had been reading at length and noticed that his eyes were closed. I asked if he was asleep and he said: “No, I’m just painting pictures in my mind”. Regards, David Crawmer
PS. Neither of my children and none of my younger employees write very legibly. I have watched how they form letters and it is clear that they have not been taught properly. I know that it has been the district’s policy not to discourage the attempt no matter how feeble but this is the type of thing (low expectations) that contributes to poor overall performance. Raising these standards doesn’t cost more money.
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