Teach Effectively!

Teachers in the Warsaw (IL, US) local education agency reported to the school board that they had chosen a new reading program for use in the elementary grades, according to Diane Vance of the Gate City Daily. In Ms. Vance’s article, the choice was based on alignment between the reading program and the state tests of reading competence. Ms. Vance quotes comments by two teachers, Sue Zinn and Melody Carr, to the board.

“After looking at the materials from three publishers, the teachers chose the ones from McGraw Hill. We agreed it best follows the format of the state test questions. It highlights vocabulary words.”

In addition to the main reading textbook for each student, the curriculum includes workbooks at three levels for each grade, a flip chart of enrichment activities and connections to more information on the Internet.

There’s no mention of relative effectiveness, of research data about outcomes in Ms. Vance’s story. I hope that the teachers’ criteria included a heavy emphasis on these factors. Am I deluding myself?

Link to Ms. Vance’s story.