cson, ArizonaMary was a teacher in the Sunnyside School District for fifteen years where achievement in reading, math, and writing was always last. "People would say, 'Well,it's these children.' That offended me because I subscribe to the idea that God don't make no junk." She was appointed to a study committee to come up withrecommendations on how to improve achievement levels, and one suggestion that the committee approved was to introduce "phonics." Mary had been taught thatphonics was "grunt and spit," and that children taught phonics had no fluency in reading and, even if they could read they had no comprehension or understanding.Many other policies were adopted by the review committee, including ways to involve parents, improve discipline, and strengthen teacher training, but the mostimportant policy was the introduction of intensive, systematic phonics. After four years the results were unassailable.The school was open to everyone in the district on a "first-come, first-served" basis; the capacity was 623 students; 58 percent were minority students; manychildren came from low-income families; no federal money came to the school other than the school lunch program; there were no learning disabilities teachers, andno need for them; there was no bilingual education because everyone spoke English, and even if children didn't speak English when they came into the school,they did when they left; the grading system had a higher standard than the other 18 schools in the district, and yet 33 percent of students on the district Honor Rollwere from Gallegos; and perhaps most important of all, 46 percent of the students in the intermediate grades were former special education students. After oneyear, only four students remained in the special education category.The inescapable conclusion: teach intensive, systematic phonics!Example #2 - ask Charles Micciche, former Superintendent of Schools in Groveton, New HampshireWhen Mr. Micciche became ...
