Left Behind?

One billion dollars a year is spent on the Reading First program, a part of the Bush Administration’s notorious No Child Left Behind Act. This initiative is meant to help children reach grade reading level by grade 3.

Just one problem. It may not be.

A study released Thursday (May 1st) by the Institute of Education Sciences shows that there is no difference in reading comprehension scores between students at schools who participated in Reading First and those who didn’t. Previously cited studies showed numbers up, but that was relative to the same school before the program was in place, rather than comparing it to schools that haven’t used the program.

Granted, this is one study – and a problematic one, at that. Eduwonk points out that we have no idea how well the program was implemented in these schools. Perhaps, if used differently, its effects would be more evident. But it’s difficult to dispute the fact that Reading First is teaching some, if not many, children how to read for the first time. And as much as we may want NCLB to be yet another mishap to add to the Bush tenure, we’d like children to read – even if that means the guy in the White House gets a little credit.