In this article, I critique a component of the highly structured Open Court Reading curriculum designed to teach elementary children "inquiry and higher-order thinking" skills. The intended outcome of this component is, I argue, the production of critically literate and informed consumers of information. However, both the critical…

This report chronicles the record of the Reading First program as a research-based approach to teaching children to read, from early successes as a strict program whose funding would be distributed to states and districts using reading curricula whose effectiveness had been validated by scientific study, to one of eased eligibility that permitted…

Stating that it is essential that children have parents, teachers, and others in their lives who prepare them for success in school and in life, this document presents First Lady Laura Bush's education initiatives. Following a foreword by Laura Bush, which concludes that children who are able to read will be ready to learn and ready to lead, the…

Assertions of crises in public education commonly appear as descriptions of unease, suggestive of proposed remedies. In fact, many remedies actually existed first; their advocates sought particular circumstances they could transform into an alleged crisis. Examples include the "reading wars," bond elections for new buildings, and state standards…