Just thought to put the ‘but’ in concerning the changes to Alberta’s math curriculum - http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/06/18/alberta-government-makes-progress-on-fixing-math-curriculum-but/

About Halifax,

There is mounting resistance to the idea of teaching the right way.
In spite of failure…repeated annual failure!
Dr.Metsala ,with all her efforts to influence and try to help is meeting up against the same wall as Dr.Stanovich.
Ignoring research is a mainstay.

About Handwriting,I also have read all the recent research and it`s gratifying as well as logical.Let`s hope school boards listen to that..or the universities who train our teachers.

I have noticed the U.S. schools look more and more to research to validate their decisions because they need to do better!Just not happening here…yet.Hopefully it will come.

One more thing about teaching Reading.

We shouldn`t just say phonics because as the woman in the article points out they teach it,it`s the way that they teach it that doesn`t show results..they use authentic text
and pull out words that they deconstruct..that is called implicit phonics.

Methodology is very important.Makin and SQE know this but the article doesn`t discuss it.

I noticed in the last 6 months how much bad information is disseminated through Dick Allington and Lucy Caulkins.
The IRA is heavily influenced by them and the organization that most influences teachers across the world is not accepting the compelling empirical research.
It`s very curious and something fishy must be at the core.

Just to give more weight to Jo-Anne’s post, I did a little exploring on the names of Allington and Caulkins. I shall leave the links, but suffice to say the only thing that they are pushing for is Reading Recovery, inventive spelling and writing, and lots more reading specialists with teacher degrees. Oh yes, calling for all the paraprofessionals to be kicked out of the schools. Only certified teachers will be needed.

http://www.teachersread.net/papers-and-articles
Scroll down to the last one called, What really matters when working with struggling readers.

Jo-Anne was being far too kind because Allington and Caulkins are part of the education establishment crew, in charge of filtering down, to confuse, and to confound the public that reading and writing instruction methodology don’t matter. No it doesn’t matter much in their world, when the compelling empirical research is dismissed as poppycock, and inventive spelling and writing becomes the new demigod to worship.

The Wilful Ignorance of Richard Allington by a teacher of some note - http://speedchange.blogspot.ca/2013/11/the-wilful-ignorance-of-richard.html

We Have 21st-Century Learners Who Need 21st-Century Leaders - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/leadership_360/2014/02/we-have_21st_century_learners_who_need_21st_century_leaders.html

Just nice to know, there is educators within the public K to 12, willing to go toe to toe with those of the education establishment who will not provide effective reading instruction nor provide the students with reading struggles, effective accommodations that aids the students in their reading, so the students can actually do their schoolwork and progressing in achievement.

On another note, Allington seems to have made a few enemies within the public K to 12 education establishment. No doubt Allington’s name is mud in the LD blogs and forums….........