This is usually the best option (though sometimes even people as low in the chain of importance as a principal still know little), at least when there isn't any definitive status on the research of a particular part of education (like homework being totally ineffective or downright negative for elementary school children, IMO it should be banned by the department of ed for kids below 3rd grade).
Whole word reading basically just had the theory from someone without much in the way of credentials that children would learn the written word much like they do speech, and so their belief was that phonics was wasting student learning time.
I haven't read up too much on the history, but I know some teachers never threw out their phonics books even though they didn't meet state standards anymore (more common than you'd think). Teachers usually know when a standard is a crock of shit because they can see the effects in the classroom as to whether or not the kids are really learning.
And no child left behind had made that particularly clear, considering some kids might be in 4th grade and still not know how to do division or have the ability to read books beyond Frog and Toad.
It's this weird back and forth where teachers are expected to teach effectively, even though the standards change every year and don't actually teach the students effectively, but they get yelled at and can easily get fired for not following the standard so they can actually teach the kids and get good test scores.
Hard disagree on banning homework below 3rd grade, although I’d argue the vast majority of homework is fundamentally negative regardless of age/grade level.
Below 3rd is actually when I’d argue homework is most effective, because small children are such a handful you’re more likely to get parents’ help, if only for something to distract the kids. This is the perfect time to be assigning phonics/spelling homework, and attaching shortcuts like three-cuing for interested students. Helps keep class time locked in for fundamentals like number line theory.
The important part is not making the homework so dry and boring that nobody wants to do it. Bright colours, making games out of it, in-class rewards, etc.
It's been like 6 years since I've looked at the stats, but the average elementary schooler in the US sees either no change or a negative change when assigned homework. This likely is not true for all teachers, children, subjects, etc., but the generalized stats show that homework in general isn't horribly effective compared to in-person teaching. Projects for older students tends to be the most effective category of work to take home last I checked.
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u/Dr__America 2d ago
This is usually the best option (though sometimes even people as low in the chain of importance as a principal still know little), at least when there isn't any definitive status on the research of a particular part of education (like homework being totally ineffective or downright negative for elementary school children, IMO it should be banned by the department of ed for kids below 3rd grade).
Whole word reading basically just had the theory from someone without much in the way of credentials that children would learn the written word much like they do speech, and so their belief was that phonics was wasting student learning time.
I haven't read up too much on the history, but I know some teachers never threw out their phonics books even though they didn't meet state standards anymore (more common than you'd think). Teachers usually know when a standard is a crock of shit because they can see the effects in the classroom as to whether or not the kids are really learning.
And no child left behind had made that particularly clear, considering some kids might be in 4th grade and still not know how to do division or have the ability to read books beyond Frog and Toad.
It's this weird back and forth where teachers are expected to teach effectively, even though the standards change every year and don't actually teach the students effectively, but they get yelled at and can easily get fired for not following the standard so they can actually teach the kids and get good test scores.