Marion Joseph’s Role in Shaping Our Schools

Re “The Conscience of a School Reformer,” Opinion, Jan. 26: As usual, Richard Lee Colvin was right on target in honoring Marion Joseph. I was appointed by the state Board of Education to serve on the curriculum commission from Nov. 1, 1997, until Dec. 31, 2001. During my term, the frameworks in the four core content areas -- English/language arts, mathematics, history/social science and science -- were written. Curriculum and instructional materials based on our state content standards and frameworks were adopted.

Joseph was the board liaison to the commission. She was a mentor and a resource for commissioners. During those four years of my tenure, she was right there with us. When we occasionally lost a battle in the education reform fight, she never let us give in to our disappointment.

This retiring board member’s dedication and tireless work for all children were crucial in the struggle to reform California’s and the nation’s public schools. We could not have been successful without Marion Joseph.

Patrice Abarca

2001 Chair, California

Curriculum Commission

Paramount

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Colvin says that because of Joseph, “Elementary school children across America are getting better reading instruction than they would have otherwise.” There is no evidence that this is true. There has been no increase in National Assessment of Educational Progress reading scores since Joseph began to exercise power, nor have California’s children improved on the national test. Joseph has been a champion of intensive, “systematic” phonics instruction. Research shows that children who have had intensive phonics instruction do better on tests of reading isolated words aloud, but they do not do significantly better on tests of reading comprehension.

What does influence reading ability is access to books -- the chance to really read. A great deal of research shows that better school libraries mean higher reading test scores. California’s school libraries were among the worst in the country when Joseph came to power and they remain among the worst in the country today.

Stephen Krashen

Professor Emeritus

School of Education, USC