The poem fits.  In so many ways, I’ve asked this question before, but why do the teachers’ unions, McGuinty, etc want an ambulance down in the valley, rather than a fence in the first place?

Regarding building a fence, the NL government is moving toward a fence, rather than keeping the ambulance. In the June newsletter: “Primary Literacy Initiative
An interdivisional committee has been struck with
representation from both the Department of Education and the various school districts. The committee will make recommendations to the Department of Education regarding the development of an inclusive and preventative approach to literacy learning
and teaching in Kindergarten to Grade 3. The framework will engage all students and enable them to reach their potential.”

It is the first time that I have seen effort and movement to stop the decline of literacy in the province, at its roots; the primary grades. In NL, the low literacy rate is at 48 % to 55 % depending on the source. The rate is probably around the median between the two extremes. I believe that the NL government has discovered the costs of low literacy, versus the costs of doing it right in the first place at the primary grades.

How are they going to go about this, Nancy?

Here is the link to the newsletter - it is in June’s newsletter and is a fairly new committee. So they is not much information on it.
In the second paragraph, it states:
“As part of the committee’s work, primary classroom and special education teachers will be asked to complete an online survey on English literacy assessment tools and instructional resources provided by the Department of Education. The committee
encourages all primary teachers involved in English literacy instruction to complete the survey. The experience of front line teachers is vital to formulating good recommendations.”

I may be jumping the gun, but I do believe since they are involving the primary and special education teachers from the get go, I truly believe that the teachers will express themselves on the assessment and instruction approaches that are being used, and what actually works in the first place. The second part, is that there has been major improvements in reading and writing instruction for students who are weak in these areas, but it is happening at the later grades. A lot of this remedial instruction would not be taking place, if the students received the correct instruction back in the primary grades.

It is still early on, but there will probably be more information coming in the fall, on the committee’s work.

Nancy, please keep me abreast of what’s happening regarding these changes in NL.  Of course it makes sense to teach phonics,  but so much of what is done by educators right across NA and in the UK that defies logic, that it would almost seem miraculous if NL does the right thing.

Nancy, do keep us posted, it would be very interesting what approach will be chosen.

After all the problems with reading have been recognized to some degree, that’s why Ontario has tried the “Reading Recovery”, isn’t it?

I will do so. I have a feeling that this committee was struck due to the success in Labrador and Joanne’s work. NL cannot afford to waste money on programs that are not working in the first place, and in the education part, the resources are a lot more valuable since there is fewer resources, compared to other provinces. In other words, NL cannot afford to make mistakes on their citizens, nor expect them to pick up the ball on the education end, since there is so few of us, compared to other provinces. It is evident in the health care, where the government has moved to supply more medical services in the local rural areas, and where patients no longer have to travel great distances for basic health care services. It is a sign of decentralization, and I see small signs where decentralization approaches are taking place in education services. It is the number one reason in my mind, that the Williams government is so popular. They have made many changes to the government, and how services are delivered, keeping in mind the citizens using the services. The government are thinking outside of the box, putting in policies that work for the people of NL, and may not work at all or make economic sense for other provinces. Their social policies are a case in point, and I can hear the Ontario’s premier screaming out, we cannot afford the social programs of NL.

you`re right, Nancy.  Your government can`t afford to squander tax dollars on useless teaching methods which produce illiterate, numeracy disfunctional adults, but it hasn`t stopped governments to do the above, and to boot it`s been going on for decades now.  That`s why I think it`ll be miraculous if it doesn`t happen in your province this time—if there`s a real shift, and not just more time, tax dollars, and children`s lives wasted.

More on the latest developments. On open-line this morning, which is a radio talk shore, the host was calling for teachers to come on to speak about the closure of the deaf school. The deaf school closure has cause a lot of upset, especially on the question if there will be services for these children in the regular classroom. One teacher, who is working presently, was at a meeting that consisted of Atlantic teachers this summer, and the funny thing they are asking for more training, on all aspects of special education and special needs. Apparently the teachers that are leading the pack, are the NL teachers. The deaf school closure may indeed at the end, provide better training for our teachers.