Two errors were inadvertently introduced in the editing of Rudolf Flesch’s Commentary, ''Why Can’t Johnny Read? We Taught Him Incorrectly.” (Education Week, June 12, 1985).
First, the term attributed to Dr. Hilde L. Mosse--"an epidemic neo-literacy"--should be “an epidemic neo-illiteracy.”
Second, the wording of one paragraph suggested that Robert H. Seashore of Northwestern University invented systematic phonics. Rather, Mr. Seashore demonstrated that an English-speaking child enters 1st grade with a speaking and listening vocabulary of about 24,000 words.
