April 8, 2003
NEWSDAY, INC.
SMART MOVE: KLEIN ADJUSTS CITY READING CURRICULUM

April 8, 2003
     Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has plenty to worry about without taking on unnecessary burdens. So his adding a scientifically validated program to the city's proposed uniform reading curriculum will spare him at least one distraction. It was the right choice.
     The Department of Education caught flak earlier this year for adopting the controversial Month by Month Phonics instruction method, against the advice of reading experts. That the program may (or may not) hold great promise was not enough to overcome worries that it couldn't meet federal-aid guidelines.
     Klein had argued that Month by Month would be part of overall instruction that also emphasized daily reading and writing. That's commendable, but the problem is that millions of dollars in federal funding depend on using a phonics program that has been tested and proven. Month by Month has not. It almost certainly wouldn't qualify as a program that meets the needs of the most reading-challenged kindergarteners through third-graders.
It would have been senseless for Klein to dig in his heels when there are other available systematic reading programs based on proven research. Those include the supplement he has chosen, which was developed by a Dallas company called Voyager Expanded Learning.
     At least two expert members of the National Reading Panel who were critical of Month by Month have much more confidence in Voyager's reading plan. The scientifically based program includes phonics instruction of the kind Voyager began using this year in about 20 city schools. The company has also worked with the city summer school program for years.
     Voyager's experience and research-backed programs combine to make the selection an encouraging one. And even if Klein believed that criticism of Month by Month was overwrought, he was wise not to ignore it.

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