From Don Potter

Here is a pretty good analysis of Ken Goodman’s whole-language method of teaching reading. The author of the article considers both Goodman’s logic and rhetoric. It would make a good exercise for advanced students of logic with an interest in reading instruction. My school district spent $2.5 million for 57 teachers to teach Reading Recovery, which is basically a form of whole-language instruction. Just imagine how many phonics books we could have bought for $2.5 million! I am thinking about writing an article for the local paper proposing to take that money and buy copies of Alpha-Phonics. Yikes, I could buy 86 thousand books! If you think I am crazy, just think about how crazy it is to spend $2.5 million dollars on a program that causes rather than cures reading disabilities.