Let's put reading 'front and center'

Researchers are beginning to agree about what strategies work for early reading instruction. But getting that information into classrooms will require time, effort and the active, ongoing leadership from groups like the AFT.

This month, many AFT affiliates will receive a new publication to help them win the fight for effective reading instruction in their states and districts. "Putting Reading Front and Center: A Resource Guide for Union Advocacy" is designed to give local leaders practical information as they work to improve reading programs--from textbook adoption to teacher preparation.

"Behind almost every headline about failing schools and public dissatisfaction with the public education system is the story of struggling young readers who never got the kinds of support they needed," says AFT president Sandra Feldman. "Yet this failure needn't occur. With quality teacher education, continued preparation for teachers and classroom aides, a well-designed reading program and the proper supports, virtually every child can be taught to read--most before the end of the first grade."

The handbook offers background information and materials that AFT leaders can use to help advocate for improved reading instruction, particularly at the K-3 level. Among the areas for improvement addressed in the guide are: quality early childhood and preschool programs; early diagnosis and prevention of reading difficulties; teacher preparation; professional development; class-size reduction; curriculum materials; and student reading difficulties. The guide describes how locals can convene a task force to identify problems tied to beginning reading instruction and to develop a local action plan to remedy them. The guide also stresses the need for a comprehensive, balanced approach to reading instruction and an end to the "reading wars"--a counterproductive battle that, in the words of one researcher cited by the guide, fails to recognize that the ability to read well "can be found only in the presence of both decoding and comprehension. Both skills are necessary; neither is sufficient alone."

The guide was developed under the leadership of the AFT Task Force on Reading, appointed in 1997 to develop formal policy statements on beginning reading instruction that reflected the growing consensus in the research community. Their work became the basis for the resolutions on reading instruction passed by delegates to the AFT national convention in 1998.

"The demand for research-based reading instruction has grown dramatically, and the AFT wants to help local and state union leaders bring these proven strategies to our members and to students in our schools," explains AFT vice president Marcia Reback, who chaired the union's task force on reading. "We hope this resource manual helps leaders reach thousands of teachers and enlighten administrators, school committees and other stakeholders about the emerging consensus on reading."

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