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Bethlehem's Reading Problem
- Jack Silva, Bethlehem's chief academic officer, found that 56% of third-graders weren't proficient readers.
- Even older students struggled with basic decoding, impacting low-income and wealthy schools.
Balanced Literacy in Action
- Kim Harper observed teachers instructing students to guess words based on pictures.
- This "balanced literacy" approach prioritized meaning over accurate decoding, even accepting "pony" for "horse".
Reading is Not Natural
- Reading is not natural; it requires rewiring the brain for print decoding, unlike spoken language.
- Learning to read involves connecting spoken sounds with written letters, cracking the code of language.