Opinion
Curriculum Letter to the Editor

Principal Disagrees With Study of Reading Programs

May 18, 2009 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

I have been a secondary principal for the past 26 years, and have seen the positive impact on learning throughout my district resulting from Project CRISS, one of the reading programs reported on in your article “Supplementary Reading Programs Found Ineffective” (May 13, 2009). I attended my first CRISS training with three of my teachers in 2005, and could tell then that it was a professional-development program different from any other I had experienced. I recognized that CRISS had the potential to dramatically change the way we taught reading.

In 2006, I became a CRISS trainer so that I could share the program’s learning principles and strategies. Since then, I have personally trained the teachers in my building and more than 250 others throughout the district. There has never been a mandate for our teachers to participate in CRISS training; rather, they have requested it because they recognize the impact CRISS has had on their colleagues and students.

It is this teacher “buy in” and commitment to implementation that made the difference in my school and district, unlike many of those in the federal study described in your article. When teachers are committed to the professional development, schools see more effective implementation and improved results in the classroom.

I encourage educators to go to the Project CRISS Web site (www.projectcriss.com) and locate the list of demonstration sites. If they visit any of these schools in their area, they will see the powerful influence that CRISS has on student learning.

Ken J. Miller

Lake Central School Corporation

St. John, Ind.

A version of this article appeared in the May 20, 2009 edition of Education Week as Principal Disagrees With Study of Reading Programs

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Student Well-Being Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Power of Emotion Regulation to Drive K-12 Academic Performance and Wellbeing
Wish you could handle emotions better? Learn practical strategies with researcher Marc Brackett and host Peter DeWitt.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Curriculum How Digital Games Can Help Young Kids Separate Fact From Fiction
Even elementary students need to learn how to spot misinformation.
3 min read
Aerial view of an diverse elementary school classroom using digital  devices with a digitized design of lines connecting each device to symbolize AI and connectivity of data and Information.
iStock/Getty
Curriculum Opinion How Much Autonomy Should Teachers Have Over Instructional Materials?
Some policymakers are pushing schools to adopt high-quality scripted lessons for teachers. And here's why.
8 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Curriculum Middle Schools Often Prioritize English and Math Over Other Subjects. Should They?
An Illinois district is equalizing time across the four major content areas. But the decision comes with trade-offs.
5 min read
Blue gradient photo of a middle school boy and girl in science class working with beakers with an overlay of a pie chart showing a slice of the pie.
SDI Productions/E+/Getty
Curriculum Q&A How This School Librarian Transformed the Library and Got More Kids to Read
While schools across the country have shed librarians, Leigh Knapp became the first full-time librarian at her school.
7 min read
A look at the new seating librarian Leigh Knapp brought into Bethune Academy's school library in Milwaukee.
A look at the new seating librarian Leigh Knapp brought into Bethune Academy's school library in Milwaukee. Knapp became the school's first full-time librarian at the start of the 2024-25 school year, with a vision of revitalizing the library and changing the school's culture around reading.
Courtesy of Leigh Knapp