Education reform is easy???

Aren't you thinking, how could that possibly be? Aren't we told every day in the media and professional literature that the public schools are a tragic mess and the only solution is vastly more money?

 Think about it for a second. That is a very self-serving view of the world. If schools can't be readily improved, then the people in charge of the schools can't be criticized or blamed for anything that is…

Once upon a time long ago, the whole point of education was something called knowledge. The goal was to transmit this magical thing from the older generation to the new generation. And that was how we sustain civilization.

So if you are a new observer of K-12, the thing that will shock you the most is that knowledge is no longer a magical thing. It is a scorned thing. It is last century's fad and something we need not bother with…

This debate has been raging in K-12 education for a century. 

 "Meaning from print" is the foundational sophistry supporting Whole Word, sight-words, and all other non-phonetic ways to read, or to teach reading.

 The big lie here is that you can look at print, not actually be able to read, but somehow get the meaning. (This is what we all do in foreign countries when we stare at a menu in a strange language.)

 I've been watching this debate for…

The official view of dyslexia is  that it is a mental impairment which a great percentage of children are born with. They bring this defect to the classroom. Naturally no reasonable person would expect our public schools to teach these defective students how to read, etc.  

 In this way, when schools decline and reading scores drop still lower, the Education Establishment has an all-purpose…

Quora asked people to name the biggest scams and cons in American history. A lot of entertaining answers are given.

I think the obvious answer is: using reading instruction that you know won't work. That is, any reading instruction that is non-phonetic and requires children to memorize words as graphic designs.

 I write about this stuff all the time. So I get a chance to see how completely inertial the society is. All the big shots, the…

I'm always telling editors that if they want some quick copy, the easiest way is to send me a bunch of questions, I'll send back the answers, and the editors can edit any way they want. They control the whole thing. I think this is an irresistible offer. In fact, only a few people have taken me up on it. Recently Brad Nelson at Stubborn Things did.…

Pensare Oltre is a group of Italian education reformers. They decided that their public schools have gone in the wrong direction, and they are trying to fix this mistake.

 The fascinating part of the story is that these are not the typical disgruntled intellectuals (such as myself) but in fact are upscale doctors, lawyers, business people, ballerinas, psychiatrists, sports figures, and everybody else who has figured out that the people in charge of education should be…

Suppose, instead of the grandiose, totalitarian, billion-dollar approach that doesn't turn out well, Bill Gates wants to sponsor education reform that quickly and efficiently produces fine results....

 In short, he wouldn't do something like Common Core, a vast federal program that is top-heavy, top-down, and contemptuous of everything at the bottom. No, he'd stay miles away from that.

 But how about he looks for the quick, simple, even down-and-dirty…

Anybody still confused about why we're having so much trouble with reading should look at this short article.

It explains why reading and phonics should be considered interchangeable terms.

You cannot teach a phonetic language without phonics. Phonic, phonics, and phonetic are equivalent derivatives from the Greek word for sound. That's the beginning and…

 More and more, my impression is that K-12 education is rigged to be bad. I sum this up by saying: the fix is in.

I have a new piece on American Thinker titled: Only you can prevent bad public schools.

 This perspective grew out of my sense that the Education Establishment, left to itself, will never…

For millions of years--okay, several thousand--children were taught to read with nursery rhymes,  cute little stories, Jack  and the Beanstalk, and every other kind of sweet temptation you can dream up for young minds. You give them literary candy. You give them verbal toys. You pull them into the whole notion of reading, of liking books.

So right from the start I thought David Coleman was way off base. He wants children to read difficult stuff. He wants them…

 I've written 30 or 40 articles about the reading wars. I always think I've explained the subject clearly, just as Rudolf Flesch thought he had explained the subject once and for all in1955 (pub. date of Why Johnny Can't Read). But nothing gets better. 

Here's why: our Education Establishment is married to the idea that  K-12 schools must not use the most efficient methods. The result is that…

It's often said in life that no good deed goes unpunished.

 I want now to assure you that in K-12 education no good idea goes unpunished.

I think this pattern is glaring from one end of education to the other. But most people are specialized; they are not aware of what everybody else is doing.

So I want to invite everyone to consider that the chaos and decline in their own area is exactly like the chaos and decline…

I've got many hundreds of articles on the Internet about education. So I'm embarrassed to admit that just today I stumbled on one of the most obvious metaphors for much of what goes on in our public schools. Embarrassed but still overjoyed. This metaphor is just too wonderful.

 Here is how Wikipedia defines a snipe hunt: "A snipe hunt or fool's errand is a type of practical…

.This article started from a quote by Steve Jobs in 1980, to the effect that we weren't doing a very good job in the public schools but it would be quite easy to give every kid a good education.

 Steve Jobs is  a smart practical guy. I think his opinion should be presumed true.

 The problem comes with explaining our Education Establishment. They think that education is difficult, impossible,  unlikely, needs another trillion dollars, etc. The truth is, they're…

There's been a steady criticism of the lecture and direct instruction for several decades. Simultaneously, we've heard constant praise of Constructivism and new approaches.

Well, you know, we all want to save the world, as the Beatles said. But some of this constructivist stuff is just nonsense. This doctrine ends up prohibiting teaching. Kids are expected to go on the Internet and figure out everything for themselves.

 This is horribly…

Everything you ever wanted to know about reading as revealed by a letter from a teacher.

Long story short: this woman had no idea how to teach reading but she was teaching it every day of her career. Finally, after many years, she realized she had  done everything wrong. Isn't that pathetic? But it's not her fault. It's the fault of the ed schools. Shutting them down would probably increase the national IQ by 50%.…

I had a new experience this month. Somebody, probably a professor of education, referred to me in a comment as "just a novelist."

Who uses a phrase like that as an insult? Just a stockbroker. Just a doctor. Just a  carpenter. Just an artist. Just a poet. Why would those things be bad?

 So I immediately thought: this is a flimsy and desperate insult. A little mind at work.

 Then I thought about it some more. Anybody who can write a novel, even a…

Our Education Establishment has always been fast on its feet sophistrywise.

If saying the sky is blue will help push through some new gimmick, the sky is blue. But if saying the sky is gray will help the cause, then the sky is gray. These people are very expedient. Isn't that the correct word for someone who will shamelessly do whatever it takes?

 Automaticity has been one of the central themes throughout the last hundred years. Sometimes it's very very good.…

The linked article is a quick sketch of how things should be done, as opposed to all the many ways things should not be done.

 Ever notice how the public loves quiz shows? There seems to be in our DNA an absolute fascination with facts and knowledge. Everybody gets this, except the far-left social engineers in charge of our public schools. They are devoting their trillion dollar machine to social engineering and politically correct attitudes.

 If you are one of…