Reading scores have been bad for thirty years.
Why? Because teachers stopped pushing phonics and replaced it with something called “Balanced Literacy.”
It’s meant to help kids fall in love with books. They use pictures to guess words, but may never learn to read.
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App designer Niels Hoven created Mentava to teach kids using phonics.
Now, most states have passed “Science of Reading” laws, pushing phonics.
Literacy Professor Andrew Johnson pushes back, saying teachers have always taught phonics. “Based on the needs of the kid, you design instruction.”
“[Politicians] jingle the keys and say, look over here! It must be those bad teachers, while ignoring the social things like poverty.”
We debate:
