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Welcome to another exciting episode of the Reading Instruction Show. I'm your

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host, Dr. Andy Johnson. Topic of today's podcast is wrestling with balanced

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literacy instruction. This is my second podcast and a series of podcasts looking

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at reading instruction issues in the state of Wisconsin. And I'm going to do a

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bit of teaching and explaining here. So let's use a behavioral objective just

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like this was a gosh darn lesson plan. And this is it. At the end of my podcast,

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listeners will A, be able to define balanced literacy and B, provide at these

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two reasons to explain why the Wisconsin State Legislature seems to be part of a

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clown club. Now, a little context. I grew up in Wisconsin. I did my undergraduate

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work at University of Wisconsin River Falls. I did my first year of teaching

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first four years at Greenwood Elementary School in River Falls, Wisconsin. Spent

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three years teaching as well in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. Wisconsin's right

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next to Minnesota where I currently live. I've got plenty of friends and family.

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Matter of fact, I'm going back to Wisconsin and next week. Wisconsin was a

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great place to go to school in the late 60s and early 70s. It used to be a great

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place to teach. It used to be a great place to send your kids to school. And

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now I can say I'm glad I don't have kids in Wisconsin schools. I'm glad I'm not a

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teacher in a Wisconsin school and I'm glad I'm not a professor in the UW

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system. It's rather sad what Wisconsin has become and is becoming in terms of

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education. Now, this is not Andy being a big meanie or name calling. It's a fact

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that the Wisconsin Republican-led legislature has bullied teachers,

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teachers unions, and literacy experts with their no-nothing top-down mandates.

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They have deprofessionalized and disempowered teachers and stuck their

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big red rubber noses in places where they don't belong. Interstage left

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Corinne Hess, reporter for Wisconsin Public Radio. On her website, this is her

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bio. Corinne Hess has a Wisconsin Public Radio reporter, is a Wisconsin Public

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Radio reporter based in Milwaukee. Hess has reported on the Southeast

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Wisconsin area for over 10 years. Writing for the Milwaukee Journal, Sentinel, the

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Kenosha News, and other print media, Hess has won a number of awards from the

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Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, and others. And

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that's what it said. And here's a bit of news. Ms. Hess was recently the

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recipient of another award, the completely wrong award given to the

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journalist who gets it completely wrong. Corinne, if you're gonna be a

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journalist for heaven's sakes, you can't just vomit up the talking points handed

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to you by for-profit entities. And that's obviously what you did here.

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Somebody gave you some old talking points and you said, okay, maybe I can be the

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next Emily Hanford and get large speaking fees. Or maybe you said, you know, I got a

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lot of things to do today. I'll just print up what they gave me. I'm not quite

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sure what was going on your head, Corinne, but whatever you did, it wasn't

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journalism. Now, I'm addressing Corinne's article because her severe

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ununderstanding of the science of reading and balanced literacy is

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illustrative of what we see on the national level. So as a public service

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to the state I once loved, you're welcome, I'll point out the errors and

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distortion of Corinne Hess's Wisconsin Public Radio article in a couple of

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podcasts. And in doing so, this will point out the many errors and distortions

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occurring in states all over the nation and in other countries by those who

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think they know much more about literacy instruction than they actually do. And we

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have a special term for those people. We use it not to be mean or disrespectful or

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demeaning, but as a metaphor for shorthand. We call them clowns using very

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polite terms. That's because the image of a clown goes where a thousand words

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can't. And also because it's fairly accurate, no disrespect intended. So in

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September 26, 2023, the headline of Corinne Hess's article was this,

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teacher prep programs not on the same page as Wisconsin's new reading law.

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Let's unpacker it down a little bit. Teacher prep programs and a reading law.

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Hmm, a law for how to teach reading. Imagine that. There's a law about reading

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instruction. A law that dictates how a first grade teacher must teach reading.

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This means there are certain ways to teach reading that are legal and some

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that are illegal. So are you going to bust kindly old Mrs. Peterson for the way

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she teaches reading? Are the reading police going to kick down the door to

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her first grade classroom and drag her away in handcuffs as her students watch

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screaming and crying and back at headquarters? Listen, Mrs. Peterson, we

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need you to talk. Where'd you get that balance literacy curriculum? It's not

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a curriculum. It's an understanding that there should be a balance of skills

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instruction and meaningful literacy experiences at every level of reading.

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And we don't need to listen to that polywoggle, Peterson. Take her to the

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hole. No, no, the National Reading Panel reports it. Reading panel,

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Schmeeding panel. We only listen to anecdotal evidence around here. We're

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the reading police. No, really. I can give you anecdotal evidence. Too late,

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Peterson. Take it away. You have a law in Wisconsin for how you have to teach

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reading. Imagine that. Thirty years ago, who could have imagined such a thing? A

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law. They made a law for how reading should be taught. Don't they have better

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things to do for goodness sakes? Well, here's the thing. We all know that real

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literacy researchers and real literacy experts have been telling us for years

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that there is no one size fits all approach to reading instruction. Real

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literacy experts have made a very compelling case using a wide body of

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research and reason to support a balanced literacy program, balanced

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literacy instruction. So what do you do if you're a clown club? You can't win the

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argument using research and reason in an academic setting. So what does the

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clown club do? If all your name calling, educational testimony, emotional

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testimony, anecdotal evidence, decontextualized data, and I thinkisms

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doesn't work in an academic forum, then what do you do? Well, if you're a clown

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club, you convince state legislature leaders to bully and threaten. That's

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what you do. Good problem solving. Bad reading policy, but good problem

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solving. Just so we're very, very clear here, the science of reading clowns

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have lost the argument many times over. Science of reading clowns go around

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debunking this and that all well and good, but all their debunker rate and

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doesn't do anything to support their argument in an academic setting.

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Those of us who support a balanced approach to literacy instruction, we've

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already won the argument. So the science of reading clown club can't win the

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argument. So they have to get lawmakers to bully, threaten, and harass. So we're

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going to focus on the first paragraph of Corinne Hess's article and it says this,

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by next year, Wisconsin schools will have to change the way they're teaching

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children to learn to read. A sweeping bipartisan bill signed into law this

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summer will shift schools from what has been known as balanced literacy to

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the science of reading approach. Okay, well and good. Let's do some unpacker

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rating here. We're going to focus on balanced literacy. Now,

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I would posit that 99.9% of all those people who are against balanced literacy

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are against something they don't really understand. They're against it because

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somebody told them to be against it. They were told it was bad, but they don't

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in fact really know why it's bad or even what balanced literacy is. Oh, they'll

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say things like it teaches the queuing system. It teaches children to guess

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at words. It doesn't teach phonics. We need more phonics. Phonics. So let's clear

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this up once and for all what balanced literacy is and listen up state of

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Wisconsin and all the other science of reading clowns. This is the last time I

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should have to explain this. Balance literacy is not a program or a method.

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It's not a curriculum. It's an understanding that children develop their full

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literacy potential best when skills instruction is balanced with meaningful

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literacy experiences. Literacy instruction can be balanced no matter what

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program or curriculum or method you use as long as skills instruction is balanced

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with literacy experiences. So let's get the International Literacy Association

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to weigh in. Here's their definition. A balanced literacy program includes

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both foundational and language comprehension instructional features such as

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phonemic awareness and phonics, fluency, guided oral reading, vocabulary development,

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and comprehension. Okay, that's their definition. Not my favorite definition,

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but there it is. And just so you know, the International Literacy Association is

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definitely in favor of balanced literacy instruction. Now, balanced literacy comes

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in a variety of forms. It's not a standardized method. Teachers using a balanced approach

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to literacy instruction recognize that some students need a bit more skills

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instruction and some students need a bit less. Every student is a bit different.

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So it looks a bit different in every classroom. Technically, even a strong

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phonics based program can be balanced if teachers provide students with ample

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amounts of time to engage in authentic reading and writing activities.

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And balanced literacy actually reflects the recommendations made by the National

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Reading Panel. Now, I mentioned this because the National Reading Panel report

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seems to be the holy book upon which the scientific

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reading religion was founded. However, like many religions, its adherents seem not

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to have read the holy scriptures. In the book of phonics, chapter two, verses six

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through 10, it says this, look, look, I say a thun to thee, go ye therefore thun to

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all the lands and maketh your reading instruction to be of a balanced kind of

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a balanced kind, it shall be an unbalanced shall it be a balanced

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shall it not be. Okay, I lied. It doesn't actually say that. But on page two dash

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97 of the National Reading Panel report, it says this, quote, systematic phonics

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instruction should be integrated with other reading instruction to create a,

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wait for it, wait for it, balanced reading program, unquote. It goes on to say, quote,

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phonics should not become the dominant component in a reading program,

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neither in the amount of time devoted to it, nor the significance attached, unquote.

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Look it up. Page two dash 97 National Reading Panel report.

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Now, balanced literacy is a continuum with skills instruction on one end, meaningful

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literacy activities on the other. Balanced literacy recognizes that there's a sliding

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structure somewhere between these two ends that moves towards either end based on students' needs.

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There's a balance of skills instruction with meaningful reading and writing activities.

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Balance literacy instruction is good. Unbalanced literacy instruction is bad.

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The Wisconsin State Clown Club is promoting unbalanced literacy instruction.

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Now, a comprehensive or complete literacy program is balanced and includes a balance

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of 10 elements. Phonemic awareness, phonics, word recognition, word identification,

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which is different from word recognition, daily reading practice, social interaction around good

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books and writing, authentic writing activities, comprehension, vocabulary, and affect, which

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is emotions and motivation. Now, how much of each of these elements is determined not by some clown

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at a state legislature or some greasy-haired person writing curriculum in New York City,

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but by the teacher working with the children every day. Every kid is different. Every kid needs a

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little more of some elements and a little less of other elements. Now, if you're against balanced

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literacy, by definition, you're then for unbalanced literacy instruction. Unbalanced literacy

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instruction focuses overly much on one or two elements. Usually, it uses an extraordinary

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amount of sounding out word instruction to the detriment of everything else. Unbalanced clowns

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think that a whole lot of sounding out word instruction is an answer to the problem that

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they made up called the reading crisis. Silly, silly clowns. They're so unbalanced.

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And in saying balanced literacy is a bad thing, the Wisconsin state legislature is saying that they

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know more than the 300,000 members of the International Literacy Association, a group that's been

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doing research and scholarly work related to reading since 1956. Now, the International Literacy

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Association says that balanced literacy instruction is a good thing. In contrast,

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the Wisconsin state legislature says unbalanced literacy is a good thing.

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Who should I believe here? The International Literacy Association has had the world's best

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reading instructors, scholars, researchers, and teachers looking at reading instruction for almost

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70 years. There have been world-renowned scholars and researchers, not one or two, but a whole

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bunch of them. So, should I believe them or the Wisconsin state legislature? Or maybe I should

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believe Emily Hanford. That's the ticket. Well, we call the inexperts, the legislative clowns say.

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Sure you did. Here's the thing, you don't even know when an expert is in the area of literacy.

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You may have found people representing an outlier position to reinforce your preconceived ideas,

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but you did not call in a representative sample of literacy experts. You did not call in a

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representative sample of real literacy experts. And besides, the International Literacy Association

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has answered this question many, many times over the years, but you don't like the answer. So,

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you shop around for an answer that you like and you shop around for people who have the answers

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you like. And since it's called science of reading, shouldn't you use science to identify the problem

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and look for solutions? After all, that's what science is, but you didn't. You use a lot of

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personal accounts, anecdotal evidence, emotional testimony, data pulled out of context, and I

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thinkisms to determine, to come to the conclusion that you're going to come to all along. You came

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to the conclusion that more sounding out word instruction was the answer for a problem that

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never was. And I hate to burst your clown balloons, but that's not how science works. So, let me help

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you understand balanced literacy and the science of reading. When I was in Wisconsin, I competed in

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wrestling both in high school and in college. When I taught in the mid-80s, I was also a high school

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wrestling coach. I'm going to use a wrestling analogy that I hope will make things a bit clear.

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Now, wrestling is a pretty complex skill to learn. A good wrestling coach uses balanced wrestling

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instruction. That is, the coach teaches important wrestling skills within the context of real wrestling.

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Wrestling. Wrestlers need to have a good grasp of some basic skills. Now, let's say that a wrestling

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coach spent the whole practice teaching these basic wrestling skills and doing drills. That's all

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they did for practice for all of the season. And if you gave a standardized wrestling test or somehow

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these individual wrestling skills, those wrestlers would indeed score higher than wrestlers who did

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not drill for the entire wrestling practice. But the question is, would these skills translate

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into real wrestling situations like a match if in practice they weren't given the opportunity to

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practice wrestling? Would they have the stamina to compete? Would they understand how to apply the skills?

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And would the wrestlers find wrestling practice even the least bit enjoyable if all they did was

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listen to the coach and practice isolated skills? The answer is no. A good wrestling coach teaches

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a couple of basic skills each practice and maybe spends some time in situational drilling,

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but then spends the most time doing a lot of actual wrestling. In this way, those skills

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learned in practice are more apt to transfer to real life wrestling situations. And that's the

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whole purpose, isn't it? Not to get high scores on standardized wrestling tests, but to perform

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well during matches. Now, like a good reading teacher, good wrestling coaches watch their wrestlers.

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And much of what is taught in practice is based on what they see and are seeing.

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Good wrestling coaches don't rely on a wrestling scope and sequence chart to determine what needs

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to be taught. They rely on their expertise and their observations of authentic wrestling performances.

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Good wrestling coaches, like good reading teachers, understand that skills are not

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mastered after a single encounter. The skills of wrestling and reading are mastered over time

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as wrestlers and readers use them in authentic wrestling and reading contexts. The ability to

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read and wrestle emerges naturally as wrestlers and readers are immersed in authentic reading

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and wrestling situations and taught skills in that context. Good wrestling coaches, like good

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reading teachers, differentiate reading instruction based on the needs of their wrestlers and readers.

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They see that some wrestlers need more of some things and others need more of other things.

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Good wrestling coaches, like good reading teachers, will sometimes call small flexible

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groups together for short bits of instruction on a particular skill. And good wrestling coaches,

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like good reading teachers, realize that all wrestlers and readers are different.

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Based on their body type and particular strengths, different skills work better for some wrestlers

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and not for others. It's important for wrestlers to find the skills that they are best at and use

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them in a match. And like good reading teachers, good wrestling coaches rely on informal assessment

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to determine both their wrestlers' strengths and weaknesses.

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So, staying with this analogy, could you imagine if the science of reading people got a hold of

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wrestling? You'd have a bunch of people who never coached wrestling telling school boards and

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legislators how wrestling should be taught. Science of wrestling clowns would go to the

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Wisconsin state legislature demanding that laws be passed, mandating how wrestling should be taught.

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And they'd use data out of context, anecdotal evidence, emotional testimonies, and a whole

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lot of I thinkisms. And maybe they'd even call in Emily Hanford. After all, she has as much

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experience coaching wrestling as she does teaching reading. And a law would be passed and thereafter,

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coaches could only use state approved science of wrestling curriculum. All wrestling moves would be

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taught in a predetermined order whether or not the wrestlers needed them. And you couldn't coach

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wrestling unless you coached in ways that you knew were bad for your wrestlers. And the scores on

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standardized wrestling tests would be published in papers. The success of a wrestling program

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wouldn't be determined by how wrestlers performed in actual matches. It wouldn't be determined by

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wins and losses. Rather, it would be the scores on standardized wrestling tests that determined

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the good programs. A law for how to teach wrestling. Hmm. I'm sure it's coming.

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All right. Let's check back on our behavioral objectives. Turn to your neighbor and explain

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what balanced literacy is. And then turn to your neighbor and give at least two reasons

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to support the idea that the Wisconsin State Legislature is a clown club. This has been

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the reading instruction show. I'm your host, Coach Johnson.