Veteran teacher and Scholastic author Laura Robb (XBOOKS) has an interesting post today on The Washington Posts Answer Sheet blog: Common Core: Will it hurt struggling readers?
In it she explains a conflict she sees in the Common Core standards:
On the one hand, she explains, the standards (in their definition of the reader and the task) say teachers know best which texts are appropriately difficult for individual students many of whom, we all know, can be two, three or four years behind grade level in reading.
However, I see the Common Core in conflict with itself because the standards say that all students should be reading complex, grade-level texts by the end of the school year, she writes. If a teacher decides to offer English language learners or developing readers texts they can learn from, texts two to four years below grade level, the teacher uses his decision-making power under the reader and the task but his students wont be reading on grade level by the end of the year.
Teachers: Do you agree with Laura? Whats your approach to helping struggling readers catch up?
(Flickr photo by wwworks)
