Comments on: Many kids can’t read, even in high school. Is the solution teaching reading in every class?

By: Patty Knecht, PhD, RN, ANEF

Patty Knecht, PhD, RN, ANEF — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 21:15:39 +0000

Large gaps in reading comprehension aren’t just detrimental to student success in secondary school, they also prevent students from pursuing their dreams of working in healthcare.

It’s no secret that the pandemic contributed to decades of progress lost in reading. But new data shows that reading comprehension on the TEAS exam used to assess a student’s preparedness to enter nursing school is the strongest predictor of early achievement for nursing students. Sufficient performance in this core competency is necessary to thrive in rigorous healthcare education.

When nurses are exiting an already short-staffed field, it’s critical we support and prepare our next generation of healthcare workers from a young age. Sustained, large-scale investments in measurable remediation and preparation ed tech tools along with early training and education can increase the number of practice-ready professionals necessary to fill the gaps across our healthcare system.

With a worsening workforce shortage, we must help more students thrive.

By: Sandi Davis

Sandi Davis — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 20:44:11 +0000

Well, ok. Will a 32 yr reading teacher veteran do? What both parents and children do not get is the way one becomes a reader is to READ. Reading does not start in elementary school but begins at home. Students who are read to foster a love of books and ideas. As they grow so do critical thinking skills and questions. I only assigned one piece of homework – to read anything for 15 minutes, seven days a week. I always knew who did it and who did not. I always read 15 min everyday to my students. My kids, for the most part, left my room on level or higher. Education begins at birth and parents are a child’s first teacher. Parents can access lots of books at the local public library.

By: Laurie Zucker-Conde

Laurie Zucker-Conde — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 07:56:42 +0000

While it’s positive that research and methods based on Science of Reading are also being applied to instruction at middle and high school, methods used to teach reading for the first time in elementary schools are not appropriate for higher levels of schooling. Poor reading skills in the American population is nothing new. A lack of acknowledgement about a large immigrant proportion of students in many schools who continue to learn to read in English even after exiting ESL is another issue. Very few American students are prepared for college; in the past many fewer went onto college, which has become a largely mercantile operation. Solutions? Yes, embed the teaching of vocabulary including morphology into every lesson; improve the teaching of syntax(grammar) and spelling. Teach other languages additional to English, because this improves all student’s ability to read and compare across languages. Get rid of cell phones, watches, and spending half the day on Chrome books, and have a policy regarding AI. Read to your kids, go to the library, and have them see you reading books. Talk about things you have read at dinner. Those are traditional methods that home and school use to improve reading skills and make kids readers of books. When kids enter high schools, are families or guardians ever asked about their home reading practices? Because if no one ever reads for pleasure or interest at home, don’t be surprised that reading will be challenging in middle and high school.

By: Fiona Duigan-McKay

Fiona Duigan-McKay — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 05:48:09 +0000

The only way to teach reading is going back to old style phonics. I was able to read at four and told the teacher in the last of the junior classes that the books we were given to read were for babies.
It didn’t go too well with the teacher and so I wrote a book report and after the book report I was allowed to choose my own books from the library.

By: Lauren Hirsch

Lauren Hirsch — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 21:46:32 +0000

This is really disturbing! 1. Who in their right minds allowed students to keep getting pushed ahead into the next grade, without being able to read well?. 2. High school teachers should never be required to teach reading skills – this is supposed to happen in elementary school, not high school! Our district’s motto: “In K-3 you learn to read, while in grades 4-12, you read to learn”. If kids aren’t reading by the end of third, that is a huge problem – blame the school district ,the teachers, and the parents for allowing this to occur. But if they aren’t reading by the end of 3rd grade, there should be a diversion program. Students should not be able to continue on, because this is a dis-service to their long-term future. Shame on those who allowed kids to move on, when they haven’t mastered reading. How in the world do you expect these kids to excel at school and life, if they can’t read? It isn’t the responsibility of high school teachers. Forcing high school teachers to teach reading basics, takes time away from students mastering the material they need to learn to be competent. That is literally 100 minutes a week – or the equivalent of more than one full class period spent on reading skills – in high school. How do states and administrators expect high school teachers and students to make up this time???!!! This is wrong!

By: Macy Chan

Macy Chan — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 17:20:49 +0000

I teach babies reading and maths (even music) ideally at 18 mos. By the time they are four they can read simple books and do basic facts..
I use the programme developed by Glen Doman (Teach your baby to read, Teach your baby maths).

By: DuWayne Krause

DuWayne Krause — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 22:36:43 +0000

Go ask a 80 year old retired teacher how she/he taught reading.