Basic learning Theories

Discussion #1

E. D. Hirsch & Common Core Standards

E.D. Hirsch was a guest columnist in an online article that appeared in the Washington Post on April 6,
2010. The article took a broad look at the recently released “Common Core Standards for English
Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies and Science”. He applauds the standards as they
resist the current narrowing of the literacy curriculum and instead attempt to show the importance of
“rich, meaningful, engagement with subject matter” in the form of a “coherent curriculum”. In his
mind’s eye, he sees that “reading is being taught as if it’s a transferable skill”, yet teaching a child to
“decode” has little to nothing to do with “practicing strategies such as ‘find the main idea’ and ‘question
the author’.” A strong curriculum based upon these standards is one of the only hopes education has for
increasing literacy and cross-curricular success. To read more about E.D. Hirsch’s thoughts on the
Common Core Standards, read: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/ed-
hirsch-jr-common-core-stand.html and
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/k12_statements/StatementK12CoreKnowledge.pdf

Discussion #2

Jack Fletcher, UH

Among the research interests already mentioned from classmates, Dr. Fletcher is also interested in
children’s reading comprehension. In a 2006 article, he assessed 5 articles from studies related to how
to measure reading comprehension. What he found is that many of the contemporary approaches to
assessment are not working because they are one-dimensional. He encourages multi-method research
to create tests that take a deeper look at the multiple variables that are at play in this complex cognitive
act. http://www.iapsych.com/articles/fletcher2006.pdf

Among his publications on the topic of reading comprehension, he has also presented at many events. In
this slideshare presentation, Dr. Fletcher clearly advocates for a change in the approach to teaching
reading because he views the current policies and tests to be ineffective.
http://www.slideshare.net/timmonsd/jack-fletcher

For more information on his views of widespread reading disabilities among children, see also,
“Preventing Reading Failure by Ensuring Effective Reading Instruction” (1998)
http://www.usu.edu/teachall/text/reading/ReadingFailure/