Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: decline in SAT scores very little genetic
From: lynx@surrey.amigans.gen.nz (Lynsey Gedye)
Date: 3 Jan 93 23:59:34 GMT-12
Distribution: world
Organization: Prime Line, Wanganui, New Zealand

In article <1992Dec30.065008.9285@panix.com> mtaranto@panix.com (Mark Taranto) writes:

  ...stuff edited...

  Wow!  Net.celeb asks little old me for more info.  Impending sense
  of nervousness enters stage right...

  Hi Mark

  I'm not that familiar with the Reading Recovery Programme - 
  it's targeted at six year olds, I work with adults.  I'd use similar
  methods I guess - try to meet the student at their needs tho, rather
  than some pre-determined agenda.  There's a limited number of books
  suitable for teaching adults, so I'll make my own "text" books for
  each individual student.  This approach saw the development of
  the first adult adult reading book.    I guess you had to be there =;)

>I've heard a bit about the reading programs based on the New Zealand 
>model, and wonder if this is the same program I've heard about.

  IMHO, based on your explanation, I suspect not.  Unless, that is,
  the RRP has been "adapted" (see also corrupted).

>I heard a lot about the NZ program when I got married and moved to
>Westchester county, NY.  My wife was on the school board in the town 
>where we lived, and this program was being used.  Parents were up in 
>arms about it.  The school district is one of the ten best in the US, 
>and test scores are consistently high.  There is a battery of tests 
>given to fourth graders each year.
>
>The first set of fourth graders which had been taught using only the 
>new system had the lowest test scores of any fourth grade class in the
>school district's history, and were substantially below the norm for 
>New York state.
>
>The problem was that the method that was taught stressed things other
>than those which were traditionally taught, and which were tested in
>the statewide test.  The people running the program claimed that the
>program was successful -- but parents were upset that their children 
>were not being taught certain grammatical rules or any spelling.

>Administrators were caught off guard -- knowing that the school 
>district's performance on test scores was important to keep up the 
>rating of the school district.

>My view of it is that there are similarities between this method and 
>what happened with New Math.  That is, it might be a better way for 
>some children to learn the topic, it stresses the conceptual rather than
>the rote.  But it does it at the expense of skills which many people
>consider to be important.  My own feeling is that the best way to 
>approach teaching arithmetic to young children is to blend the old and 
>the new methods.  Similarly, my impression was that a blending of 
>methods in the teaching of reading and writing ought to be considered.

  As I understand the RRP, it's designed to be a system whereby six
  year old students are tested for their reading skills.  The capable 
  students slip through the cracks into the big world of reading,
  probably destined for fame and fortune as net.celebs =:)

  Children start school here at age five.  They will have had a year's
  learning before the test.  I believe RRP is not a learning system like
  new math i.e. for everyone.  Instead, it is a *recovery* programme.
  A rescue programme.  Find the less capable student, apply some extra
  teaching with parental support and help the child before too much
  time passes, halting the old "what were vices now are habits" routine.

  Testing the child at six helps uncover other aspects as well.
  Some children in NZ suffer from "Glue Ear", a condition affecting
  hearing, and therefore their reading.  Improved reading also helps
  motivate the children, and reduces disruption in the class.

  From the little I've seen of the RRP it's long on one-to-one
  student/teacher ratios, and thorough methods involving, indeed, a 
  blending of methods.  In form it reminds me of the methods proposed
  in Grindler's "Righting the Educational Conveyer Belt"(unsure of title).
  It *feels* good too, if you can withstand a sensitive-new-age-guy-type
  outburst =:)

  Given the NZ penchant for not fixin' what ain't broke, I see no 
  reason for introducing any new system to a school.  I can well
  understand why a parent would be upset with bad results.  Most 
  parents want excellence (or as near an imitation as can be achieved)
  from their children.  

  Scientific American, Feb 1992, has an interesting article about
  why asian children excel in school.  It observes that the American
  school system has retained its capacity to teach, but that there
  were some unrealistic demands on the educational system to deal with
  urgent social service needs.  "Citizens and politicians expect
  teachers and schools to keep children off the streets and away from
  drugs, deal with teenage pregnancy, prevent violence in the schools,
  promote safe sex and perform myriad other tasks and responsibilities
  in addition to teaching tradional academic subjects."  The article
  also commented about the positive benefits of a strong parent/teacher/
  school relationship.

  All of which is slightly tangental to books, sorry bookniks, but when 
  Mark calls, I answer.  Here's a book for you to check out, seeing as
  Mark has raised the idea of teaching maths.

  "The Complete Book of Fingermath"
    (Simple, Accurate, Scientific)
    Edwin M Lieberthal and Bernadette Lieberthal
    1979 McGraw-Hill

  When I "learnt" new math we were punished for counting on our fingers.
  To this day my maths ability is limited to remembering where I left
  any one of the four calculators, not including the computer  =:).

--
           lynx@surrey.amigans.gen.nz    lynx@amigans.gen.nz
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books