This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by  APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

There’s an idea about how children learn to read that’s held sway in schools for more than a generation – even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read. In this new American Public Media podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work. It’s an exposé of how educators came to believe in something that isn’t true and are now reckoning with the consequences – children harmed, money wasted, an education system upended.

Episode 10: The Details  

Some of the teachers, students, parents and researchers we met in Sold a Story talk about the impact the podcast has had on their lives and in schools — and share some of their hopes and concerns about the “science of reading” movement. 

This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by  APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

The post ‘Too little, too late’: What’s changed (and hasn’t) after scrutiny on debunked reading method appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by  APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

There’s an idea about how children learn to read that’s held sway in schools for more than a generation – even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read. In this new American Public Media podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work. It’s an exposé of how educators came to believe in something that isn’t true and are now reckoning with the consequences – children harmed, money wasted, an education system upended.

Episode 9: The Aftermath

Schools around the country are changing the way they teach reading. And that is having major consequences for people who sold the flawed theory we investigated in Sold a Story. But Lucy Calkins, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell are fighting back — and fighting to stay relevant. And so are organizations that promoted their work: The Reading Recovery Council of North America and the publisher, Heinemann.

This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by  APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

The post Authors and companies that pushed flawed reading method fight back appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

Este podcast, Sold a Story, fue producido por by  APM Reports y republicado con permiso.

Half of U.S. Hispanic fourth graders cannot read at a basic level. These and other revelations were uncovered in “Sold a Story,” an original investigation by APM Reports, which you can listen to in Spanish on Noticias Univision on the Uforia app and all podcast platforms.

La mitad de los alumnos hispanos de cuarto grado en Estados Unidos no saben leer a un nivel básico. Esta y más revelaciones fueron expuestas en ‘Sold a Story’, una investigación original de APM Reports, que puedes escuchar en Noticias Univision en Uforia App y en todas las plataformas de podcasts.

1: Cómo enseñar a leer a los niños salió tan mal

Existe una idea sobre cómo enseñar a leer que han adoptado muchas escuelas estadounidenses: En lugar de limitarse a pronunciar las letras, los profesores piden a los alumnos que utilicen las imágenes y el contexto para adivinar lo que dicen las palabras. Sin embargo, muchos estudios demuestran que es un mal hábito que puede estorbar el proceso de aprendizaje. Esta adaptación al español del exitoso pódcast Sold a Story, de Emily Hanford, investiga a las personas que promovieron esa idea y se beneficiaron de ella.

Este podcast, Sold a Story, fue producido por by  APM Reports y republicado con permiso.

The post Cómo enseñar a leer a los niños salió tan mal appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

Este podcast, Sold a Story, fue producido por by  APM Reports y republicado con permiso.

La mitad de los alumnos hispanos de cuarto grado en Estados Unidos no saben leer a un nivel básico. Esta y más revelaciones fueron expuestas en ‘Sold a Story’, una investigación original de APM Reports, que puedes escuchar en Noticias Univision en Uforia App y en todas las plataformas de podcasts.

2: Mi hijo no sabe leer bien. ¿Qué debo hacer?

Aprender a leer en inglés es notoriamente difícil. Letras mudas. Patrones ortográficos impredecibles. Y puede ser especialmente desalentador para los niños que no hablan mucho inglés en casa. El cincuenta por ciento de los alumnos hispanos de cuarto grado no sabe leer ni siquiera a un nivel básico, pero muchos padres no saben que sus hijos van rezagados. La presentadora Valeria Fernández entrevista a Emily Hanford, la reportera que elaboró Sold a Story, sobre los retos de aprender a leer en inglés cuando no es tu lengua materna, y lo que pueden hacer los padres si su hijo tiene dificultades.

Este podcast, Sold a Story, fue producido por by  APM Reports y republicado con permiso.

The post Mi hijo no sabe leer bien. ¿Qué debo hacer? appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

There’s an idea about how children learn to read that’s held sway in schools for more than a generation – even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read.

In this new American Public Media podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work. It’s an exposé of how educators came to believe in something that isn’t true and are now reckoning with the consequences – children harmed, money wasted, an education system upended.

Related: Reading Matters: See more Hechinger coverage of reading instruction

Across the country, school districts are dropping textbooks, state legislatures are going so far as to ban teaching methods, and everyone, it seems, is talking about “the science of reading.” Things have been changing since Sold a Story was released. In this bonus episode, we tell you about some of the changes and what we think about them. 

Bonus Episode 2: The Impact

This podcast was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

The post Nixed textbooks, bans on faulty methods: How reading instruction is changing appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

There’s an idea about how children learn to read that’s held sway in schools for more than a generation – even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read.

In this new American Public Media podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work. It’s an exposé of how educators came to believe in something that isn’t true and are now reckoning with the consequences – children harmed, money wasted, an education system upended.

Related: Reading Matters: See more Hechinger coverage of reading instruction

Bonus Episode 1: Your words

APM Reports heard from more than 1,000 people in response to its Sold a Story podcast. Nearly 40 percent were teachers. Most teach elementary school, though the podcast team heard from many teachers in upper grades, too. After teachers, the largest group was parents. Three quarters of the parents who wrote in said they were worried about their own child’s reading progress. For many families, thinking about reading instruction was new. Listeners in 47 states and Washington, D.C. called or wrote in, as did people in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Ecuador, Poland and Switzerland.

This podcast was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

The post ‘He is not lazy. He is not stupid. He wasn’t taught to read’ appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

There’s an idea about how children learn to read that’s held sway in schools for more than a generation – even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read.

In this new American Public Media podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work. It’s an exposé of how educators came to believe in something that isn’t true and are now reckoning with the consequences – children harmed, money wasted, an education system upended.

Related: Reading Matters: See more Hechinger coverage of reading instruction

Episode 6: The Reckoning

Lucy Calkins says she has learned from the science of reading. She’s revised her materials. (Disclosure: The Hechinger Report, which republished this podcast, is an independent unit of Teachers College at Columbia University, where Calkins serves as a professor.) Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell have not revised theirs. Their publisher, Heinemann, is still selling some products that contain debunked practices. Parents, teachers and lawmakers want answers. In our final episode, we try to get some answers.

This podcast was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

The post Why are some publishers still selling products that contain debunked ideas about reading instruction? appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

There’s an idea about how children learn to read that’s held sway in schools for more than a generation – even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read.

In this new American Public Media podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work. It’s an exposé of how educators came to believe in something that isn’t true and are now reckoning with the consequences – children harmed, money wasted, an education system upended.

Related: Reading Matters: See more Hechinger coverage of reading instruction

Episode 5: The Company

Teachers call books published by Heinemann their “bibles.” The company’s products are in schools all over the country. Some of those products are rooted in a debunked idea about how children learn to read. But they’ve made the company and some of its authors millions.

This podcast was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

The post A company has made millions selling books on reading instruction rooted in bad science appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

There’s an idea about how children learn to read that’s held sway in schools for more than a generation – even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read. 

In this new American Public Media podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work. It’s an exposé of how educators came to believe in something that isn’t true and are now reckoning with the consequences – children harmed, money wasted, an education system upended.

Related: Reading Matters: See more Hechinger coverage of reading instruction

Episode 4: The Superstar

Teachers sing songs about Teachers College Columbia professor Lucy Calkins. She’s one of the most influential people in American elementary education today. Her admirers call her books bibles. Why didn’t she know that scientific research contradicted reading strategies she promoted? (Editor’s note: The Hechinger Report, which republished this podcast, is an independent unit of Teachers College at Columbia University.)

This podcast was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

The post Why the author of reading instruction ‘bibles’ got her advice wrong appeared first on The Hechinger Report.

This podcast, Sold a Story, was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

There’s an idea about how children learn to read that’s held sway in schools for more than a generation – even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read. 

In this new American Public Media podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work. It’s an exposé of how educators came to believe in something that isn’t true and are now reckoning with the consequences – children harmed, money wasted, an education system upended.

Related: Reading Matters: See more Hechinger coverage of reading instruction

Episode 3: The Battle

President George W. Bush made improving reading instruction a priority. He got Congress to provide money to schools that used reading programs supported by scientific research. But backers of Marie Clay’s cueing idea saw Bush’s Reading First initiative as a threat.

This podcast was produced by APM Reports and reprinted with permission.

The post In the battle over reading instruction, a U.S. president faces off against influential authors appeared first on The Hechinger Report.