University of Texas-Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
Board Member, International Reading Association
James Hoffman
University of Texas-Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
Board Member, International Reading Association
Transcript from Critical Balances: Early Instruction for Lifelong Reading
DR. HOFFMAN: It is time our voice is heard on the American scene with respect to
controversial issues. Individuals and groups with dubious credentials have
taken it upon themselves to attack American reading instruction over the
past decade with the simple thesis that there is nothing wrong with reading
instruction that their brands of phonics won't solve. Since many of these critics are scientists in one or another discipline
outside of education, it seems incredible that they have failed to use
well-known scientific methods for evaluating their hypotheses. Typically
they call only upon some of the available research which seems to support
their point of view. They fail to show evidence of knowing what actually goes on in schools
which follow the leadership of outstanding educators whose points of view
differ from their own and use the best performance in selected schools
as evidence of their hypotheses and cite the poorest practices of other
schools as typical of what is happening when the so-called educationist
reading specialists take over. Evidence, in fact, as reported by these
critics would rarely be acceptable in a court of law or in a laboratory. These were the remarks of Morton Botel, (past) president of the International
Reading Association, published in the The Reading Teacher in January
of 1963. Botel's message focused on the role the professional organization
like the IRA must play in addressing challenges like these, and here we
gather 35 years later, facing similar challenges, and searching to find
a reasoned course through muddy waters. Kathy Jongsma and I will serve as your facilitators this morning. Unlike
the nationally recognized group of research scholars you will hear this
morning, Kathy and I didn't have far to travel to get here. We live in
the world of reading education in this state, Kathy as a school district
director of reading and I as a university-based teacher educator. We know firsthand about the problems and challenges in reading instruction
and learning to read in this state. We know what it means to walk in the
halls of an elementary school in early October and see the TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) preparation
signs and never see them come down, or to visit these same schools during
the weekly TAAS shutdown days that continue throughout the spring. We know what it feels like to converse with a group of teachers we have
known for years in school the day before it has had its name posted in
the paper as a low-performing school. We know what it means to go into
a first-grade classroom where all of the students have been labeled as
dyslexic or at risk for dyslexia, and then we know that this track will
be theirs throughout their elementary years. We know what it's like to read in the newspaper that teachers are failing
to teach reading the way that they should and that parents must take action
to ensure their own children don't fail to learn to read. We know about
criticism in this state. But we also know about successes. We know about teachers out there who
are working tirelessly, in difficult circumstances, to make a difference
in the lives of students they touch. We know about principals in districts
who actively seek out the graduates from our programs as new hires because
of their competence. We know about the countless hours that teachers spend in professional
development outside the requirements of districts and their schools. We
know about the tremendous contributions of teachers, Texas teachers, Texas
supervisors, Texas teacher educators, and Texas researchers to the growth
of the professional in this state and nationally. We know about the enormous productive partnerships that have been forged
over the years between the State Education Agency curriculum leaders and
the reading professionals at all levels. It's not all bad news. We don't
need to be crisis oriented in our rhetoric to suggest that changes are
necessary. In fact, we can and should acknowledge that we have made improvements.
We are in fact doing a better job of teaching reading than ever before.
The national assessments support that, and as Dr. Allen reminds us, so
do our state assessments. Kathy and I come to you this morning as board members of the International
Reading Association to offer support for your efforts to open a dialogue
about the current dilemmas and future directions for reading in the state. The IRA is no longer the fledgling organization with a thousand members
that Morton Botel addressed in his presidential message. We are 90,000
strong in members, 450,000 strong if you include local members. We're the
largest publisher of reading education materials in the world and a host
for thousands of local, regional, state, national, and international conferences
each year. This conference, in the spirit of those who have organized it
and in the spirit of those who are attending, is evidence of the commitment,
courage, optimism, and energy that we as a profession are capable of assuming.
We are not here to blame, to argue, to complain, or to self-promote.
We are here to share our expertise, our concerns, and to begin to plan
for the future. It was in this spirit of starting a dialogue that the board
of directors of IRA voted to support this conference. We don't need to be autocratic to promote change. The fact that we have
the power to policy initiatives to make sweeping changes in teaching practices
frightens me enormously. I would rather that we emulate our society in
our valuing of democracy as a guiding principle for change rather than
look toward mandates as our message. As John Dewey reminds us, "democracy begins with discussion,"
so let's begin the discussion. Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
Posted October 1997
© 1997-2000 International Reading Association, Inc. ISSN 1096-1232