Sold a Story 9: The Aftermath
Apr 4, 2024
Lucy Calkins, Irene Fountas, and Gay Su Pinnell discuss the changing landscape of reading education. They talk about the struggle to maintain relevance in teaching reading, the consequences of outdated practices, and the fight to stay current in schools. The episode explores the aftermath of removing certain reading curriculums and the shift towards evidence-based programs in education.
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Balanced Literacy Under Public Scrutiny
- New York Chancellor David Banks led a high-profile push to ban balanced literacy, linking it to nationwide failures in teaching reading.
- That announcement accelerated districts to drop curricula tied to cueing strategies and seek alternatives rooted in the science of reading.
Calkins' Public Comeback
- Lucy Calkins, once a dominant figure at Teachers College, launched a "Rebalancing Literacy" site to defend her work and tell her story.
- She publicly acknowledged learning from the science of reading and revised units to add phonics practice and remove cueing strategies.
Institutional Distance From Founder
- Teachers College removed Lucy Calkins from leadership of the institute she founded shortly after she launched her defensive campaign.
- The college framed the decision as aligning programs with the latest research and evidence.