Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
In the California 'Reading Wars,' Phonics Is Gaining
By admin
Published 1 year ago on
November 7, 2022

Share

For decades, educators and education academics have argued over the best way to teach young children to read, a conflict dubbed “reading wars.”

California has been deeply involved in the debate and its public schools have shifted back and forth several times between phonics and “whole language.”

Phonics, now renamed the “science of reading,” stresses fundamental instruction in the letters and letter combinations that make up sounds, thus allowing children to “sound out” words and later whole sentences and passages. “Whole language” assumes that reading is a naturally learned skill that will emerge if children are exposed to interesting reading material.

Dan Walters with a serious expression

Dan Walters

CalMatters

Opinion

The “whole language” approach has dominated reading instruction in California schools recently but its students fare very poorly in tests of reading comprehension. Scarcely 40% of the state’s third-graders are reading at grade level, the most recent tests confirmed.

Slowly, but surely, the emphasis is now shifting back to phonics, not only because of those low scores but because scientific research has proven phonics to be the better method and schools that adopted phonics have seen marked improvements in their students’ reading ability.

EdSource, an authoritative website devoted to California education, has been charting the increasing acceptance of phonics in a series of articles. Most recently, it noted that the new superintendent of Los Angeles’ massive school system heartily embraced phonics while speaking to the state’s annual reading conference.

Supt. Alberto M. Carvalho, who emigrated from Portugal as a teenager, declared himself to be a “science devotee” who used phonics to boost reading scores as superintendent of Miami’s school system.

“I believe that if we are going to follow the science,” Carvalho said, “then we should really embrace all science, including the science of reading. We cannot afford to be selective in which science we focus on. That includes training kindergarten to third grade teachers in effective reading practices.”

He pointed out what should be apparent to everyone, that teaching kids to read is fundamental to all other learning. “It is liberating,” he said. “It is absolutely central to do whatever it takes to improve reading proficiency throughout California.”

Having one school district, even one as large as Los Angeles Unified, adopt phonics, is a step in the right direction. But the key to widespread adoption is introducing it in the colleges that train teachers.

Three years ago, the Legislature abolished the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment, a test that aspiring teachers had to pass before being certificated. It was aimed at installing phonics but was criticized as being too difficult, particularly for potential teachers of color.

In its place, EdSource reports, is a set of new literacy standards and teaching performance expectations, approved by the state’s teacher licensing commission, that will standardize what student teachers are taught about imparting reading skills to their classrooms, with an emphasis on phonics.

“I think they (the commission) captured the thing that teachers need to know to teach effectively and, for the first time, put them into the TPE (teaching performance expectations) and literacy standards,” Todd Collins, organizer of the California Reading Coalition, told EdSource. “If certification works the way it is supposed to work, then teachers will have what they need to effectively teach reading in the early grades.”

If all goes well, therefore, scientifically proven phonics will eventually become fairly universal in the state’s public schools and we may, therefore, finally see those abysmal scores in reading tests climb to more acceptable levels.

It would be a major step toward raising academic performances in all subjects, since reading is so foundational.

About the Author

Dan Walters has been a journalist for nearly 60 years, spending all but a few of those years working for California newspapers. He began his professional career in 1960, at age 16, at the Humboldt Times. For more columns by Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

Make Your Voice Heard

GV Wire encourages vigorous debate from people and organizations on local, state, and national issues. Submit your op-ed to rreed@gvwire.com for consideration. 

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Newsom, Legislators Opt for Gimmicks and Wishful Thinking to Close California’s Budget Deficit

DON'T MISS

Courage to Embrace Change: El Rio Reyes Conservation Trust Boldly Rebrands as Kings River Land Trust

DON'T MISS

Committed to Politics or Committed to Fresno’s Children?

DON'T MISS

Repealing Prop. 47 is a Misguided Battle Cry. It Won’t Make California Safer.

DON'T MISS

Misty Her Might Be Best Superintendent Candidate. But Fresno Unified Still Needs a Statewide Search.

DON'T MISS

How California’s Prized Solution for Methane Gas Is Backfiring on Farmers

DON'T MISS

Many Californians Rely on This Farmers Market Program. Newsom Wants to Cut It

DON'T MISS

Carbon Capture Storage Is Key to California’s Economy & Energy Future

DON'T MISS

Shady Business Owners Can Hide Behind LLCs. CA Should Make Their Identities Public.

DON'T MISS

SLO Moves to End Gerrymandering, Yet Much of California Still Lets Politicians Draw Voting Maps

No data was found

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

11 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

11 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

12 hours ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

12 hours ago

Bredefeld, Smittcamp Debate the Salary of Valley Children’s CEO

12 hours ago

CA’s Liberal Government Has a Long History of Caving to Special Interests

12 hours ago

Corrupt Process? Bullard, Edison Parents Blast Handling of Superintendent Search

12 hours ago

Police Had About 90 Seconds to Stop Traffic Before Baltimore Bridge Fell. 6 Workers Are Feared Dead

14 hours ago

NBC Has Cut Ties With Former RNC Head Ronna McDaniel After Employee Objections, Some on the Air

14 hours ago

Here Are Some Numbers That Will Help You Get Your March Madness Fix for the Sweet 16

14 hours ago

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine has sunk or disabled a third of all Russian warships in the Black Sea in just over two years of war, the navy spokes...

5 hours ago

5 hours ago

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

Composite image of President Trump and Devin Nunes
9 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: How Going to Work for Trump Turned Devin Nunes Into a Millionaire

10 hours ago

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

11 hours ago

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

11 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

12 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

12 hours ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

12 hours ago

Bredefeld, Smittcamp Debate the Salary of Valley Children’s CEO

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend