The Ends Do Not Justify the Means in the Lives and Education of Children
17 September 2020 turned out to be a day of disinformation about education in the U.S. The White House launched another assault on education (not a surprise), and the International Literacy Association offered (for a fee) “Making Sense of the Science of Reading.”
The latter is disappointing from a powerful and influential professional organization because the “sense” made appears to be quite different than the intent.
Ultimately, as this event revealed, the “science of reading” (SoR) advocacy fails for several key reasons:
- The movement is driven by parent advocacy (specifically around dyslexia) and media advocacy. That grounding lacks historical context and expertise in reading, literacy, and special needs.
- SoR promotes a simple view of reading and seeks to mandate systematic intensive phonics for all students (regardless of student need).
- SoR embraces a simplistic and distorted view of “science” as “settled.”
- SoR links reading to policies and practices that lack scientific support and cross ethical lines of allowing the ends to justify the means (for example, nonsense literacy and grade retention linked to high-stakes testing).
Here, I want to focus on how SoR crosses ethical lines in order to justify and misrepresent the very “science” those advocates embrace.
Writing about corporal punishment, Rutherford quotes from Gertrude CONTINUE READING: The Ends Do Not Justify the Means in the Lives and Education of Children – radical eyes for equity