In a recent editorial in the Gadfly, I criticized New York Times reporter Diana Jean Schemo for her hostile coverage of reading instruction. In two articles, she managed to convey her misunderstanding of the phonics/whole language issue and to cite researchers with an axe to grind against any kind of phonetic instruction. However, I am happy to say that Schemo has mended her ways. In an article on February 9, 2002, about California reading instruction, Schemo showed that she can be a first-rate reporter, not by taking sides but by accurately explaining what is happening in that state. Unlike her earlier articles, this time Schemo did not create an unbridgeable gulf between phonics and whole language, and she did not selectively quote researchers associated with the anti-phonics position. It appears that she may have even read the report from the National Research Council, "Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children," which has been so important in persuading states like California to abandon its devotion to whole language and its new-found enthusiasm for phonetics as a prelude to imaginative reading of good children's literature.
"California Leads Chorus of Sounded-Out Syllables," by Diana Jean Schemo, The New York Times, February 9, 2002
Diane Ravitch is a Research Professor at the New York University School of Education and a trustee of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.
