Part 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Preface Part 3 Part I: Beating the Odds Chapter 4 The Crisis in Our Classrooms Chapter 5 Armed with the Facts: The Science of Reading and Its Implications for Teachers Chapter 6 I Could Not Read Until I Was 30 Years Old Chapter 7 A Parent's Journey Chapter 8 A Parent's Pressure Cooker Part 9 Part II: Changing the Odds Chapter 10 When a Whole State Fails to Measure Up: One Grandmother's Fight for Phonics Chapter 11 Pulling Back the Curtain: Successfully Working With the Media Chapter 12 You Can Do It! How to Change Laws to Better Educate Children Chapter 13 Team Up With Teachers Chapter 14 Johnson Elementary School: A Transformed School Chapter 15 Hartsfield Elementary School: The Story of a Turnaround Chapter 16 The Last Word Part 17 Appendix A: What Is Scientifically Based Reading Research Part 18 Appendix B: How Do I Know a Good Early Reading Program When I See One? Part 19 Appendix C: Advice to a Teacher of Beginning Reading Part 20 Apendix D: Tools for Parents
Phyllis Blaunstein is senior counsel at Widmeyer Communications. She is a national leader in education policy and public engagement. As a long-standing advocate for an effective education for all children, she has actively promoted the use of research to inform instruction. Reid Lyon is executive vice president for Research and Evaluation at Higher Ed Holdings and Whitney InterNational University Systems. He was an advisor to President and Mrs. Bush on education research and policies and a research psychologist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He has been a classroom teacher, university professor, and research scientist.
Parents and teachers working together can be an unstoppable force
in solving our children's reading problems. This book will guide
all who want to strive for a nation of readers.
*Robert Chase, past president of the National Education
Association*
This book has the potential to change an appalling
statistic-70%-80% of poor minority children cannot read on grade
level. This is a national and personal tragedy that cannot continue
to exist. Lyon and Blaunstein lay out the facts, solutions and
tools to help parents work to solve this problem. Every parent
should know these in order to make the changes needed to eradicate
reading failure in our children.
*Quentin Lawson, executive director, National Alliance of Black
School Educators*
I am the parent of an 11-year-old special needs child. She has had
a number of problems learning to read. For a parent, navigating the
education system can be extremely difficult and frustrating.
Everything becomes personal, and the stakes are high. This book was
so helpful to me. The resources are outstanding and, frankly, it is
good to know we are not in this alone. I will recommend this book
as an excellent source for other parents, teachers and
administrators.
*Cheryl Kravitz, parent*
Families and parents know the relationship of reading to their
children's academic and long-term success. Many however are
unfamiliar with the nuances of evaluating how well reading is
taught in their children's schools. Reid and Blaunstein have made a
significant contribution to the tools parents have available to
support their children's reading instruction. Why Kids Can't Read
articulates the challenges parents face with practical solutions
and advice on effectively interacting with schools and teachers to
support student learning. Parents, teachers and policymakers will
appreciate the no-nonsense stance and strategic resources included
in this book.
*Brenda Lilienthal Welburn, executive director, National
Association of State Boards of Education*
I believe we all must work together to provide our children with
the reading skills they need to succeed in school, get meaningful
jobs, and fully participate as citizens of our great nation.
Fortunately, we have the means to do so. This book takes us through
research-based steps to help nearly every child learn to read. I
urge you to think about the experiences of those in this book, take
them to heart and learn the lessons they teach. Parents and
educators who work together to help children read wellare rewarded
by seeing them become excited, successful learners. There is no
greater gift one can give to a child. This book will help every
adult help every child in every classroom experience the pride and
thrill of reading well and all of the learning that results from
it..
*Richard Riley, former U. S. Secretary of Education and former
Governor of South Carolina*
I believe we all must work together to provide our children with
the reading skills they need to succeed in school, get meaningful
jobs, and fully participate as citizens of our great nation.
Fortunately, we have the means to do so. This book takes us through
research-based steps to help nearly every child learn to read.
I urge you to think about the experiences of those in this book,
take them to heart and learn the lessons they teach. Parents and
educators who work together to help children read well are rewarded
by seeing them become excited, successful learners. There is no
greater gift one can give to a child.
This book will help every adult help every child in every classroom
experience the pride and thrill of reading well and all of the
learning that results from it.
*Richard Riley, former U. S. Secretary of Education and former
Governor of South Carolina*
'This book is meant to help the millions of parents who find their
children struggling to learn to read.' So begins this swell
collection of twelve essays in which Blaunstein and Lyon walk
parents, step-by-step, through the science of reading, how that
science has changed real people’s lives, and how parents of
struggling readers can improve things for their own children as
well as others. Impressively, there are no weak essays.... If you
have a struggling reader in your family, buy it. If you’re a policy
wonk, buy several copies for those who look to you for guidance
with a struggling reader.
*The Education Gadfly Weekly*
Overall, this is an extremely informative, helpful book for anyone
interested in understanding what the reading wars are about and how
to navigate through the propaganda and decipher the facts. I highly
recommend this book.
*The National Ledger*
In this collection of twelve essays aimed at parents and educators,
contributors explain how to use research-based instruction and the
science behind it, including five stories from parents, and their
tips.
*Reference and Research Book News*
This publication needs to be read.
*Reading Time*
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