In a post on the disconnect between top-down education policy and on-the-ground realities, Doug Noon reacts to the recent report on the ineffectiveness of the federal Reading First program. He’s not suprised:
One of the core issues in current policy discussions is from what level curriculum control should emerge. Top down program administration too easily misses the fine print and messy details that come with the teacher’s territory. The only people who are surprised by a billion dollar per year program bust are the clueless pundits and policy pushers who believe that “scientifically based reading research” is about science and reading, and not about ideology and profiteering. I knew when I started this job that I’d become a cynic. It only hurts when I care, which is most of the time.