What Can Be Done to Improve Reading Education in American Schools?
Gallagher cites research showing that today’s “readicide” curriculum harms college bound students and low income students alike. He decries the trend in today’s youth to avoid reading for pleasure. And he worries that the kind of reading being taught in American high schools today (in order to do well on NCLB mandated tests) is turning out students who lack real comprehension. document.getElementById(‘adsense_placeholder_2’).innerHTML = document.getElementById(‘adsense_ad_2_hidden’).innerHTML; He says schools curriculums limit authentic reading experiences. What book students do read, the teachers overteach, which turn students off to reading. At the same time, teachers tend to underteach the more challenging books, not providing enough support so that students can experience success. Yet, Gallagher remains optimistic. And the reason he is optimistic is that he believes there are very specific things that can be done to turn good test takers into even better readers. He lays these out
