Posts by Barbara Crook
Will the reading wars never end? Part II
Finding the balance in balanced literacy An uneasy peace has settled over the land regarding phonics instruction and its critical contribution to reading competency. Since the heyday of whole language, phonics has returned to classrooms as part of a “balanced literacy” approach to reading. Shouldn’t this put an end to the reading wars? Not so…
Read MoreRead MoreWill the reading wars never end?
According to a preponderance of scientific evidence, phonics instruction — early and systematic — is critical to teaching most children to read. This beachhead, secured after decades of resistance from proponents of the whole-language approach to reading, should signal an end to the reading wars. But the path from settled science to practice in schools…
Read MoreRead MoreScience and the Arts: If You Can’t Beat ’Em, Join ’Em
Short history of art vs. science Art and science have been at something like “odds” ever since the Romantic period in European culture. The debate between the two centered on which of these human endeavors deserved pre-eminence in the cultural hierarchy. Which revealed the most important truths about human existence? On one side were the…
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