Letter: Reading First is making progress

Tuesday, March 27, 2007 | 7:30 a.m.

Regarding the Las Vegas Sun's March 17 editorial, "Accountability First":

With all the talk about the Reading First program, one simple but important message has gotten lost along the way. As Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has told Congress, "More students are being taught to read."

Reading First was created to meet a real and growing need. From 1971 -99, reading scores for 9-year-olds rose only 4 points nationwide, according to the Nation's Report Card. In the 1990s scores actually fell among fourth-graders.

Reading First trains teachers in proven, research-based instructional methods, such as phonics and phonemic awareness, based on more than two decades of research into how best children learn to read. It's an important component of the No Child Left Behind Act, which has helped produce rising test scores in reading and math.

Success has been notable. From 2004 -06, first- and third-graders in Reading First schools made double-digit percentage gains in fluency and comprehension. Nearly every category of second-graders - economically disadvantaged, English language learners, students with disabilities, black and Hispanic - made significant gains in fluency.

It is true that a report by the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general found that mistakes were made in the early implementation of Reading First. Spellings concurs with the inspector general's recommendations and has completed nearly all of them. Nevertheless, some critics continue to use the findings to try to end not only the program but also No Child Left Behind itself.

This would be a tragedy. No Child Left Behind and Reading First are working, and deserve to be reauthorized. Just as important, your readers deserve to know why.

Tori Hatada, San Francisco