This paper aims to present a critical analysis of the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check (PSC), with special focus on the relationship between the UK Department for Education's policy-making and the evidence considered in the process of developing and evaluating the PSC. The reports from the in-house Standards and Testing Agency and from commissioned…

Discusses ways that whole-language teachers can address the concerns raised by parents and others about why they do not teach phonics in isolation, drill students on sight words, or expect word-perfect oral reading. Notes that teachers often need to explain and justify their expertise and teaching methods to individuals not familiar with the…

Case study of a poor, rural Pennsylvania school district's experience with the Reading First initiative illustrates how the No Child Left Behind Act confines districts to a few federally prescribed, "scientifically proven" curricula that ignore local conditions. Sanctioned schools are negatively labeled but receive inadequate funding,…