3: Misreading Reading: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

So far, I have offered a historical perspective for the reading war, followed by a careful unpacking of the current “science of reading” reading war. Here, I want to address what I believe is another central problem with any reading war: misinformation and misunderstanding key terms and concepts. This chapter also addresses the subtitle of the book, A Primer for Parents, Policy Makers, and People Who Care, so anyone who genuinely cares about teaching reading, children reading, or the public debate about reading and education can be better informed.

These topics have been discussed or mentioned in the previous chapters, but now I present a fuller discussion of the following: the National Reading Panel (NRP), reading programs, balanced literacy (BL), whole language (WL), phonics, scientific research, grade retention, teacher education, and teacher autonomy. With a better understanding of these essential concepts, anyone can navigate the reading war, including evaluating how the media continue to misinform and mislead (see ^120251009: “Checklist: Media Coverage of the ‘Science of Reading’”).