“Diversity of Preparation”

by Robert Pondiscio
September 2nd, 2010

At the Chronicle of Higher Education, Emory University professor Mark Bauerlein takes upa piece E.D. Hirsch, Jr. and I wrote in the American Prospect a few months back titled “There’s No Such Thing as a Reading Test.” The essay explained why, contrary to popular belief, reading is not an all-purpose, transferable skill, and argued for a domain-specific approach to reading instruction and assessment.

But a commenter on Bauerlein’s Brainstorm blog wants to know why the professor is taking up the issue at all. The piece, after all, was in an issue of the Prospect concerned with getting kids to read by third grade. What does this have to do with higher