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Reading & Literacy Letter to the Editor

English, Math Need Balanced Attention

December 06, 2011 1 min read
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To the Editor:

I read about rising student math scores and lagging reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (Nov. 9, 2011). I find it true that English isn’t getting the focus that it needs. Math and English balance each other out in a way that students need to build their skills. I also find that parents need to enforce reading rules in order to have their children read at grade level.

Just as teachers spend time having tutoring sessions for math, there should be sessions where students can get help from the teacher on how to improve their skills for reading or how to write an essay. Math is important, but we also need reading to help us become doctors, lawyers, construction managers, and so on. I’m saying that we need to balance out how much time we spend tutoring students in math and reading.

Amanda Perez

Los Angeles, Calif.

A version of this article appeared in the December 07, 2011 edition of Education Week as English, Math Need Balanced Attention

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