Reading by 9 Program

I just read with great enthusiasm your article on reading, and most particularly your commitment statement (Oct. 18). Hooray for you for having the courage to speak so passionately about the reading problem facing all of us. In 1989, as part of my elementary credential, I took the reading course offered by Chapman University. As I sat in the class listening to the “whole language mantra,” I praised the fact that my own three boys had attended parochial school, where there was no money to buy into the new methods. All three of them are competent readers and had phonics instruction. Even to a novice teacher, but a long-time parent, I felt the whole language experiment bordered on fraud.

I now teach in a fifth-grade classroom of 32 children. Nineteen of these children read below grade level. They are part of the whole language experiment and I, as your article suggests, wonder if they will ever catch up. Many are second-language learners but have been in English instruction long enough that they should be functioning at a higher level.

MARSHA MULRONEY

Placentia

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I would like to compliment The Times for the series of articles on reading and especially your commitment letter on Reading by 9, which outlined what each stakeholder in our society must do in order for our children to succeed.

Why some students read and others fail is complicated, however. Some students learn to read very well in spite of any approach, phonics or whole language. And others, abused by a member of the family, for example, are not likely to read or have success in school regardless of what we do.

To suggest that we hold a teacher accountable for “how well he or she teaches students to read” is unfair. Before we hold teachers accountable for variables that are out of their control, let’s make sure that they have the resources and training to hold the door open for all our students, regardless of their social-economic level or proficiency in English. We can do this by continuing to reduce class size and giving teachers the control in the classroom they must have in order to be held accountable.

Once the door of opportunity for all students to learn to read is open, we must recognize that it is the student’s responsibility to walk through.

MICHAEL VETRIE

Sylmar

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I salute your effort in the literacy drive. As a parent of a dyslexic seventh-grader, I am all too familiar with the hardships a poor reader faces. Reading is tremendously important, and the leadership role you have assumed, the action plan you have laid out and your commitment are commendable. Thank you in advance on behalf of my daughter and all the children whose lives will benefit.

JEANNE GILMORE

Huntington Beach