Schools

Cutting Middle School Reading: 'Bold Step' or 'Joke'?

Howard County school system proposes infusing reading instruction into other classes to free up time for other initiatives.

The Howard County Board of Education is contemplating a proposal that could change the face of middle school instruction.

But while board members have been asked by Howard County Public Schools officials to take a "bold step" in adopting a plan that would include the elimination of formal reading classes, Howard County Education Association President Paul Lemle hears laughter.

As in the response to a joke.

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Linda Wise, chief academic officer for the Howard County Public School System, on Dec. 8 asked for the board's support of the plan, the Howard County Times reported.

Lemle, however, said a major factor has been left out.

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"I'd like to create an Onion headline that reads, 'Howard County reading scores best in the state; teachers have nothing to do with it,'" he said Thursday, referring to a well-known satirical newspaper.

The middle school proposal, which calls for additional physical education class time and the introduction of world languages in the sixth grade, targets reading classes to accommodate those additions, Lemle said.

The proposed changes are motivated by the Common Core State Standards, an effort to create uniformity in how the nation's students are prepared for college and careers, according to the school system.

Common Core standards don't specifically address reading objectives, which Lemle said leads him to believe reading instruction is being sacrificed to create schedule openings for other content.

"Something has to give," he said. "If you're going to offer more intervention, more sciences, more P.E. and more world languages, something has to give; there are only so many instructional minutes in the day."

Reading is a "very strange target" to accomplish that, he said.

The school system proposes assigning some reading teachers to other classrooms, where they would co-teach with core subject teachers.

For example, a science teacher would instruct her students in the required content area while the reading teacher would work with students on reading skills and strategies.

In a perfect world, that might work, Lemle said.

"Most teachers would love to have a second professional in the room," he said. "Another set of eyes, another set of feet, someone to collaborate with."

But the proposal is expensive, and essentially doubles the professional cost of each class.

"Either that or it cuts class size in half," Lemle said. "Either way, it's an expensive proposition."

Reading is a "low hanging fruit" that is often cut in the face of budget woes, according to University of Memphis professor Mark Conley.

Conley, who counts adolescent literacy among his specialties, told Patch that he would probably anger both asides of the middle school reading issue by saying that both formal reading classes and infusing reading instruction and activities into content area classes are "largely ineffective."

He is concerned about the casual use of the phrase "disciplinary literacy" by school systems that say that's what they're implementing when they eliminate formal reading classes.

Students who are struggling to grasp subject content are more often experiencing conceptual problems or difficulties with practical applications of the information, according to Conley.

"They're not struggling in their subjects because of a reading problem," he said.

Implementing a true disciplinary literacy program would involve a lot of conversation among reading and subject teachers, diagnosing each student's particular problems and then creating comprehensive plans to address those weaknesses, Conley said.

"There has to be a lot of conversation, a lot of planning and a lot of professional development," he said. "It might even be expensive.

"You need to address the reading problem directly instead of saying 'here's this magic package of pedagogy.'"

Research in the field is "extremely weak," according to Conley, particularly in regard to infusing reading into content classes.

"My opinions are based on 30 years experience," he said. "I have very little research to back it up, but I base my opinions on observations over the years."

Lemle called the school system's proposal a "really bad idea, a really bad proposal."

The HCEA is against the proposal as it now stands but is willing to help improve it. Failing that, the organization is prepared to work to defeat it, he said.

"I think it's a mistake to say that we'll have good reading scores with or without reading classes," he said. "How can you say we have the best reading scores in the state and then get rid of the program?"

Such a comment would be more appropriate coming from comedian Steve Martin than a school administrator, Lemle said.

Wise could not be reached Thursday for comment.

The school board will hold a public hearing on the middle school proposal Jan. 12. Board members are scheduled to vote on the plan Jan. 26.


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