I wanted to raise the alarm when parents seek help for a student experiencing reading issues. I understand the stress and anxiety that parents go through in seeking help for a child falling behind in reading. Now, there is something else about which parents should be concerned. Recent revelations about the 40-year “reading war” show that widely used reading curricula harm some students’ reading skills We start this website describing how the nation's children are the casualties of this war. The curricula promoted by developers reject the science that backs reading and instead promote its basis on weird philosophies, false theories, and unfounded claims of validation of effectiveness for their reading instruction. A second reality is that education is veering away from a service and increasingly being operated as a business. It attracts companies and entrepreneurs with no training or experience in education. Still, the billion-dollar educational curricula market attracts them. Their entry into the reading curricula market is driven by profitability. It has become a “buyers beware market” when parents seek help for their child in the tutoring and educational market. I have filmed some podcasts on this subject. If you want to better understand the Reading War and it students, I would encourage you to tune into the podcast this podcast: https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/
Full disclosure: Corrective Reading classroom is independent and not affiliated with national or local franchises. Corrective Reading is a series of Decoding and Comprehensive reading courses for students K-12. Corrective Reading is a trade mark of Science Resource Associates (SRA).
Our national reading literacy rate has been sinking over the past 10 years. Among our student population we have identified the following Reading War damages in terms of multiple and consistent reading errors our students make.
There is a Right Way and a Wrong Way for everything! A wrong-way began 40 years ago when a group of reading professionals, universities, and publishing companies started a Reading War. They developed curricula that ignored decades of reading research, notably rejecting teaching phonics. Sadly, their curricula, based on some peculiar “ideas” and false premises on how children learn to read, were implemented in some 40% of US public schools. As with any war, there are casualties. Tragically, today’s students in grades 4 through 8 and the collateral damage inflicted on their parents and caretakers are the casualties of the Reading War. The 2023 “Nations Report Card” counted the casualties. Sixty percent of Grades 4 through 8 students are below their grade level in reading! We reject the typical way of defining these students as “struggling readers”-implying there is something personal in their failure to read. Casualty defines their reality because damage from war is inflicted, not innate. We have defined the damage here in the Section “How the Reading War Damaged Students.” Corrective Reading is also used extensively in special education settings, assisting students with reading handicaps. These include dyslexia, ADHD, autism spectrum, and developmental delays. Corrective Reading has been at the forefront against this war. Forty years of peer-based research validates our accomplishments.
The podcast below documents how our nation's children were exploited and betrayed in favor of profits and power.
When "Struggling Reader" defines a student, we have the pathway to "Fluent Reader." We understand that a student's experience getting such a label is disturbing. and we also know this can trigger behavior problems. A behavior management process with strong reinforcements for progress is integrated within Corrective Reading. Whatever reading disability is identified, including Dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, Autism Syndrome, Developmentally Delayed, and Minimal Brain Dysfunction, is not relevant since Corrective Reading does not relate to labels. Through placement tests, we determine what reading skills students have, what needs to be learned, and what mistakes have been learned that need to be corrected. Corrective Reading Classrooms are stress-free, cheerful, and reinforcing environments where achievement is noted and praised at every lesson.
The Corrective Reading approach is Online, but it maintains the best aspects of a regular classroom. Corrective Reading does not resemble the Google Classroom form of online teaching provided to students during the pandemic. Many students are unable to adapt to digital teaching. Furthermore, research increasingly shows that better comprehension comes from printed materials rather than screens. Corrective Reading students learn exclusively from Teachers stand in the virtual classroom with a wall-mounted whiteboard handy. There are no "canned" digital lessons. All classroom materials, including textbooks, workbooks, and supplemental materials, are paper-printed materials.
Corrective Reading occurs in a Virtual Classroom mimicking a live classroom, meeting thrice weekly for 45-minute sessions. The classes are highly interactive, emphasizing student progress tracking. Digital instruction is absent, using traditional textbooks and workbooks. A real-time teacher delivers lessons, initiating reading placement tests in the first class. Parents are actively involved, fostering open communication to accelerate their child's reading progress. The structured classes provide continuous positive feedback, boosting student confidence. A reward program aids students overcoming reading-related anxieties and fears.
Number of Lessons: 30 are based on three 45 minute lessons each week. Completion time is approximately 10 weeks .
DECODING C-60 and DECODING C-65 are based on Three 45 minute lessons per week. Completion time is approximately 20 weeks.
DECODING A -30 WORD ATTACK BASICS
Nuaber of Lessons: 30
Monthly Payments: 3 @ $235.00
Single Payment: $ 675.00
___________
DECODING A -35 WORD ATTACK BASICS
Number of Lessons: 35
Monthly Payments: 3 @ $270.00
Single Payment: $ 790.00
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DECODING B -30 DECODING STRATEGIES
Number of Lessons: 30
Monthly Payments: 3 @ $235.00
Single Payment: $ 675.00
____________
DECODING B -35 WORD ATTACK BASICS
Number of Lessons: 35
Monthly Payments: 3 @ $265.00
Single Payment: $ 790.00
=========================
DECODING C -60 SKILL APPLICATIONS
Number of Lessons: 60
Monthly Payments: 4@ $ 340.00
Single Payment: $ 1,360.00
____________
DECODING C-65 SKILL APPLICATIONS
Number of Lessons: 65
Monthly Payments: 5 @ $ 291
Single Payment: $ 1,455
=========================
Number of Lessons: 30 are based on three 45 minute lessons each week. Completion time is approximately 10 weeks .
DECODING C-60 and DECODING C-65 are based on Three 45 minute lessons per week. Completion time is approximately 20 weeks.
DECODING A -30 WORD ATTACK BASICS
Nuaber of Lessons: 30
Monthly Payments: 3 @ $235.00
Single Payment: $ 675.00
___________
DECODING A -35 WORD ATTACK BASICS
Number of Lessons: 35
Monthly Payments: 3 @ $270.00
Single Payment: $ 790.00
========================
DECODING B -30 DECODING STRATEGIES
Number of Lessons: 30
Monthly Payments: 3 @ $235.00
Single Payment: $ 675.00
____________
DECODING B -35 WORD ATTACK BASICS
Number of Lessons: 35
Monthly Payments: 3 @ $265.00
Single Payment: $ 790.00
=========================
DECODING C -60 SKILL APPLICATIONS
Number of Lessons: 60
Monthly Payments: 4@ $ 340.00
Single Payment: $ 1,360.00
____________
DECODING C-65 SKILL APPLICATIONS
Number of Lessons: 65
Monthly Payments: 5 @ $ 291
Single Payment: $ 1,455
=========================
Number of Lessons: 30 are situations when time is of the essence! Your student may need a boost over the summer before entering middle school and is falling behind in their reading level. FAST TRACK will deliver the same content as the regular Decoding Strategies but in a shorter period. FAST TRACK requires 6 hours of class time per week instead of 2 ½ hours for the regular Decoding series.
Fast Track DECODING A-30 and DECODING A-35, DECODING B-30, and DECODING B-35 are based on Three two-hour lessons each week. Completion time is between 4 to 5 weeks.
Fast Track DECODING C-60 and DECODING C-65 are based on Three two-hour weekly lessons.Completion time is approximately 10 weeks.
DECODING A -30 WORD ATTACK BASICS
Nuaber of Lessons: 30
Single Payment: $ 800.00
___________
DECODING A -35 WORD ATTACK BASICS
Number of Lessons: 35
Single Payment: $ 900.00
========================
DECODING B -30 DECODING STRATEGIES
Number of Lessons: 30
Single Payment: $ 800.00
____________
DECODING B -35 WORD ATTACK BASICS
Number of Lessons: 35
Monthly Payments: 3 @ $265.00
Single Payment: $ 900.00
=========================
DECODING C -60 SKILL APPLICATIONS
Number of Lessons: 60
Single Payment: $ 1,450.00
____________
DECODING C-65 SKILL APPLICATIONS
Number of Lessons: 65
Single Payment: $ 1,550.00Corrective
Decoding A teaches sound – spelling relationships explicitly and systematically and show students how to sound out words.
Students are first taught the connection between sound and spelling relationships through regularly spelled words. Then irregular words are introduced. Later, sentence and story reading activities are used to teach students to apply their newly learned strategies and real contexts.
After completing Decoding A, students can be expected to read basic sentences and simple stories composed mostly of regularly spelled words. They can accurately read many words that typically confuse poor readers and can read quickly enough to comprehend what they read.
Specifically, Decoding A teaches the basic reading skills. These include (a) phonemic awareness, (b) sound – symbol identification, (c) sounding out regular and irregular words, (d) word reading (e) sentence and story reading, (f) rate building or words per minute, (g) workbook applications.
Outcomes: 60 words per minute, 98% accuracy, reading at about a 2nd grade level.
4
teaches (a) pronunciation, (b teaches (a) pronunciation, (b) sounds of letters and letter combinations, (c) word endings, (d) word reading, (e) critical word discrimination, (f) understanding literal and inferential comprehension questions, (g) workbook applications.
In Decoding Levels B1 and B2, word attack-attack skills are refined and applied to more sound-spelling patterns and difficult words. The skills are applied in stories designed for the poor reader typically makes.
Students are introduced to new words and word types, phonemic relationships, long and short vowel sounds, new sound combinations, and new word endings. They apply their discrimination skills by reading stories of increasing length and with more complex syntax and then answering comprehension questions both orally and in writing.
After completing Decoding B1 and B2, students will greatly improve reading speed and accuracy.
Specifically,Decoding B1 and B2 teaches (a) pronunciation, (b) sounds of letters and letter combinations, (c) word endings, (d) word reading, (e) critical word discriminations, (f) understanding literal and inferential comprehension questions, (g) workbook applications.
Outcomes: B1: 90 words per minute, 98% accuracy, reading at about 3rd-grade level.
Outcomes: B2: 130 words per minute, 98% accuracy, reading at about 4th-grade level
Decoding C bridges the gap between advanced Word attack skills and the ability to read textbooks and other informational materials.
Students are introduced to the meaning of 600 new words and read a variety of passages, from narrative to expository, with fairly sophisticated vocabulary. To prepare them to read in all content areas, Decoding C introduces sentence types and conventions that are typical of textbook material.
After completing Decoding C, students can read an average of 150 words per minute at 98% accuracy. They can read materials with a wide range of syntax, vocabulary, format, and content. They can learn new information and apply it after only one reading.
Specifically, Decoding C teaches (a) letter combinations, (b) affixes, (c) vocabulary development, (d) accurate reading of story selections and informational passages, (d) understanding literal and inferential comprehension questions, (e) rate-building, (f) workbook applications.
Outcomes: Reading over 150 words per minute at 98% accuracy at about a 6.0 to 7.0 grade level.
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