Why Kids Can't Read (eBook)

Patrick R. Riccards is a nationally recognized strategist, writer, and speaker on school improvement and education issues. He is also the voice behind the award-winning Eduflack blog.Phyllis Blaunstein is a national leader in education policy and public engagement. She worked extensively with state boards of education to develop state policies to ensure an effective education for all children as the former executive director of the National Association of State Boards of Education, was an education policy fellow with the Institute for Education Leadership, and was a member of the regulations writing team for the first law that guaranteed the right to an education for children with disabilities, P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act.Reid Lyon is the chief executive officer of Synergistic Education Solutions. He was a research psychologist and chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health. In that capacity, he was responsible for the direction and management of research programs in developmental psychology, cognitive neuroscience, behavioral pediatrics, reading and human learning, and learning disorders. He was also responsible for translating NIH scientific discoveries relevant to the development and education of children to Congress and other government agencies.

Foreword - Carol Hampton RascoPreface - Richard W. RileyAcknowledgmentsIntroduction - Phyllis Blaunstein, Reid Lyon, and Patrick RiccardsPart I: Beating the Odds1 The Crisis in Our Classrooms - Phyllis Blaunstein, Reid Lyon, and Patrick Riccards2 Armed With the Facts: The Science of Reading and Its Implications for Teaching - Sally E. Shaywitz, MD, and Bennett A. Shaywitz, MD3 I Could Not Read Until I Was 30 Years Old - Diane Badgley Lyon4 A Parent’s Journey - Teresa Ankney5 A Parent’s Pressure Cooker - Norma GarzaPart II: Changing the Odds6 When a Whole State Fails to Measure Up: One Grandmother’s Fight - Marion Joseph7 Pulling Back the Curtain: Successfully Working With the Media - Patrick Riccards8 You Can Do It! How to Change Laws to Better Educate Children - Richard Long9 Johnson Elementary School: A Transformed School - Benjamin T. Sayeski10 The Last Word - Phyllis Blaunstein, Reid Lyon, and Patrick RiccardsAppendixesA What Is Scientifically Based Reading Research?B How Do I Know a Good Early Reading Program When I See One? - Laura BushC Advice to a Teacher of Beginning Reading - Sara M. PorterD Tools for Parents - Patrick RiccardsE Common Core State StandardsGlossaryResourcesReferencesAbout the Contributors