Today over 65% of fourth graders are not proficient readers. We chat with Emily Hanford of APMreports about her latest podcast series, Sold a Story, and what went wrong with teaching kids how to read.
About Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong
There's an idea about how children learn to read that's held sway in schools for more than a generation — even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read. In this podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work. It's an exposé of how educators came to believe in something that isn't true and are now reckoning with the consequences — children harmed, money wasted, an education system upended.
Original Music: Ayanna Jacobs-El
Show Contributors
- Emily Hanford
- Ikhlas Saleem
