Emily Hanford on 'How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong'

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 14 July 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Decades of cognitive science research has shown that children need to be taught to sound out words in order to read. But school districts across the country often ignore or sideline that research in early grades, according to education reporter Emily Hanford, who says that’s one reason that more than 60% of U.S. fourth graders aren’t proficient readers. Hanford’s six-part podcast “Sold a Story,” released late last year by American Public Media, is being cited in newly proposed legislation across the U.S. aimed to address the problem. We talk to Hanford about what’s wrong with the way we teach kids to read and what can be done to improve literacy in California and nationwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for Key QBD Podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport. At SFO, you can shop,
0:06.7	dine, and unwind before your flight. Go ahead, treat yourself. Learn more about SFO restaurants and
0:12.7	shops at flysfo.com. Switch to Comcast Business Mobile and save hundreds a year in your
0:19.0	wireless bill. Comcast Business, powering possibilities. Restrictions apply. Comcast Business Internet required. Compar Business Mobile and save hundreds a year in your wireless bill. Comcast Business, powering possibilities.
0:22.4	Restrictions apply.
0:23.1	Comcast Business Internet required.
0:24.5	Comparates two unlimited intro lines and lowest price 5D plans of top three carriers.
0:27.4	Tax on fees extra, reduce speeds after 30 gigabytes of usage.
0:29.8	Data thresholds may vary.
0:32.1	From KQED.
0:37.1	The From KQED in San Francisco, this is Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
0:52.9	Included in California's budget passed last month
0:55.4	was a million dollars for a so-called literacy roadmap that called for reading instruction
1:00.1	and teacher training based in phonics or letter sounds. While not a lot of money, it is the
1:05.4	state showing a preference for a specific method of teaching kids to read, less than half of California's third graders
1:11.6	can read at grade level. And journalist Emily Hanford says a big part of the reason is that
1:16.6	they've been subjected to a theory of reading instruction that isn't based in science, that
1:21.6	deemphasized phonics. We'll talk with Hanford about how she reached that conclusion, and
1:26.6	here if you agree with her.
1:28.5	Join us.
1:35.1	Welcome to Forum. I'm Nina Kim.
1:38.2	In California and nationwide, some two-thirds of fourth graders are not what's called proficient in reading. And this has had
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.