Ken, this might fly in the face of your just-issued warning, but I wonder
if you'd like to
comment on the University of Houston study which was reported on the Los
Angeles Times supposedly finding dramatically better results for phonics
instruction over whole-language (therefore, according to the article,
providing a "turning point" in the "previously unproductive debate" between
drills and whole-language). You may well consider this disinformation as
well, but since it seems to be getting a lot of press--it was even picked
up the Honolulu Advertiser, which prints virtually nothing about
education--it seems worthy of understanding and critique. In fact, you are
quoted as responding in the article, but, unfortunately, your sentence is
cut-off in midstream and the rest of the article disappears into
nothingness (which is indicative of the quality of this newspaper--and may
also indicate that your powerful response just shattered their whole
article! :-))
Anyway, care to share any more info? If you see this as a distraction and
a waste of energy and email space, feel free to ignore, but those of us in
the trenches will certainly have this study thrown in our face, so it could
be beneficial to hear your response.
Mark
Mark Warschauer, University of Hawai'i, markw who-is-at hawaii.edu
http://www.lll.hawaii.edu/markw