Foorman Responds to Coles: January 13, 1999

To the Editor:

In his Dec. 2, 1998, Commentary "No End to the Reading Wars,", Gerald Coles attributes certain views of children's development and literacy to me. Citing only two newspaper articles, one of which was published in 1989, he suggests that I advocate for something he terms "direct code" instruction and that my view of child development is managerial and autocratic. What Mr. Coles actually portrays is his own careless scholarship in quoting only newspaper articles and attributing certain positions to me that don't represent my views and research on literacy. In addition, he displays a characteristic passion for perpetuating literacy debates that have impeded effective reading instruction in children.

For the record, I am an advocate of balanced approaches to reading instruction. I do not accept extreme positions on either side of the so-called "Great Debate." The research syntheses in the National Reading Council Report, to which I contributed, as well as in the recent book by Michael Pressley, Reading Instruction That Works: The Case for Balanced Teaching, clearly indicates that children learn reading skills most effectively when explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle is combined with application in literature and teaching for meaning. This is the message of the NRC report. It is a message that extremists reject because, like Mr. Coles, they feed off the energy generated by the so-called reading wars. Particularly objectionable is the notion that because I advocate for explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle as a necessary but not sufficient component of beginning-reading instruction, I have views on child development that associate me with conservative political views and with autocratic, managerial approaches to classroom management.

The 1989 article in The New York Times, cited by Mr. Coles, stemmed from a discussion with a reporter concerning differences in child-rearing and education practices in Japan vs. the United States. The comments on cooperative learning reflected my view that cooperative learning was effective in Japan because it was consistent with cultural ideals and less effective in the United States because it was not consistent with cultural expectations. The context is completely left out of the newspaper article, which is all too common in the media. The second commentary, from the Los Angeles Times report of U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley's education summit, is only a sound bite of a much longer comment that I and other members of the NRC committee made after Catherine Snow's introductory remarks. Predictably, Mr. Coles left off the first part of the quote: "We're not going back to skill and drill." Mr. Coles' inference from his adulterated sound bite to suggestions that I am an advocate of "direct code instruction" and implying that I view such instruction as a "magic bullet" for what he interprets to be the difficulties with literacy characteristic of too many of our children simply reflect his own impaired scholarship.

Mr. Coles' deficient scholarship is apparent elsewhere. I do not dispute that issues such as equity are relevant to the literacy development of children and am attempting to expand my research program to incorporate more information on these types of variables. But suggesting that there is divergence in Mr. Coles' two questions is an illusory contrast. Our research did not address issues involving "What is the best way to teach reading?" Rather, it addresses the broader question of under what conditions and for what types of children do certain types of reading instructional methods work, and for how long. Mr. Coles' two research questions are encompassed in this larger, more comprehensive question.

In many respects, Mr. Coles appears to enjoy the role of a gadfly, taking points of view that simply place him in opposition to prevailing viewpoints. This certainly may enhance some readers' interest in his work. Nonetheless, it simply stirs the literacy pot. As far back as 1987, Mr. Coles provided the following analysis of the research evidence: "First, the ability to analyze words phonetically does play a causal role, if not the only one, in reading development. Second, preschool instruction in this skill can improve grade-school reading abilities. Third, children have difficulty with phonemic analysis in the preschool years and can learn how to do it....It is notable how little time and effort appeared to have been needed to help preschool children with phonological deficits so that they could benefit from later reading instruction."

Mr. Coles goes on to discuss the difficulty that teachers often experience with their understanding of phonological-awareness skills, the need for more teacher training in this area, and the role of early experiences as factors that promote or retard the development of phonological-awareness skills. Now we read in his current essay that he questions the causal influence of phonological-awareness skills despite the continued accumulation and overwhelming convergence of evidence since he wrote those words in 1987.

Our research takes place in minority populations that are at risk for reading failure. We presume that these children have environmental experiences that fail to promote the development of literacy-related skills, including phonological awareness--a meta-linguistic skill that presages the development of many aspects of literacy. Our interventions are designed to facilitate this development. One approach to the equity issues decried by Mr. Coles is to teach children to read, which in many children will allow them to overcome the burden introduced by the lack of equity apparent in many aspects of our society. Our suggestion to Mr. Coles is to get to work and contribute to research on these issues as opposed to maintaining a parasitic acquaintance with the research of other individuals. Irrationality is certainly interesting, and helps sell books, but we are more comfortable with evaluations supported by empirical investigation. Research--not hyperbole and media reports--is the key to both literacy and equity issues.