EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA A Lucy Calkin’s Guest Column in the Akron Beacon Journal
Lucy wrote this column in response to an editorial that was riddled with misinformation. Please follow the link to read everything Lucy had to say.
Highlights are below
This is key point Lucy made in the column:
As is often the case in the reading wars, it is a good idea to examine ALL the research before drawing conclusions. Thanks for reading Lucy’s column. Please consider contacting the Akron Journal and letting them know how you feel about this issue. Here is a link to their website LINK,
Dr. Sam
Lucy needs to file a defamation lawsuit starting with the Sold a Story author who initiated such a negative campaign to destroy her as well as others with misinformation. As a former Reading Recovery teacher, I will be glad to take the stand to correct the ridiculous made up term she calls three cueing teaching and the lie about teaching students to guess. Attacking others to sell your own story is bullying.
That will never happen because she has no case.
Agree to disagree. There was a time she did not pay enough attention to synthentic phonics but that time has past. BTW only allowing synthentic phonics and nothing else is a bad idea. Many kids do best with analytic phonics yet the new rules are keeping them from getting what they need in the way of a phonics program. Instead of going to extremes (Meaning Based only/Decoding based only) lets try going to the center and doing both. Going to extremes guarentees there will be some kids who will not be helped. Drawing research based practices from all sides is a much more sensible approach.
Parents, don’t be intimidated by threats of legal action. You have the right to share your experiences and advocate for your child. Defamation claims require proving false statements made with actual malice—this is a high bar. Hanford’s work is legally solid. Following her series, notable actions were taken: Teachers College severed ties with Units of Study, and NYC Public Schools discontinued this curriculum. Continue to share responsibly and speak freely. We need balanced views based on real-world experiences, not threats, gaslighting, or obfuscation.
You have the right to share experiences and advocate for your child. You have an oblgation to look at ALL the research. You do not have a right to force every child to do only those programs that work for your child. Some children need other things. We should address the problems of your child but we also need to address the needs of other children who need other things. Handfords work is often factually incorrect and misleading. Handford ignores important research. Please see Pearson’s well document criticism that bears out what I am saying about Hanford’s misinformation/disinformation. Time to look at ALL THE RESEARCH.
Here is a link to Pearson book which gives 10 research based pushback points which clearly demonstrate folks like Hanford are not telling the whole story. https://literacyresearchcommons.org/?fbclid=IwAR3hxDcffNVbIkbOL3B9SSWCsnwhc51oocn0Tgh31QTNxlYfF9goEksOaSE_aem_AZ5wyF2pEVAYaOecmzoBlnhlllKRalmWrBJY1TNRfnjifMPLKzSQ0Vw5kjJxQD_AFWQT_V06o_3CTuXkH4R_dSA5
I find it interesting that despite the claim to be teaching Heggerty and Fundations – two heavy phonics programs – reading proficiency declined!! I remind my community of this every time SOR comes up. In truth, only a knowledgeable teacher teaches children to read. Our fault lies in preservice training, candidate selection and ongoing feedback throughout one’s career. No knowledgeable teacher EVER stopped teaching phonics and vocabulary.
Forget the words and watch what people who know the Units of Study curriculum best are doing.
Both Teachers College at Columbia University, which is where Calkins developed Units of Study, and the New York City Public Schools, long the curriculum’s flagship customer, have moved to sever their ties.
What does that tell us?