Interesting answers to parents asking for help with reading concerns, part 3

I blushingly admit I have no answers to your good questions. As a teacher, I determine that my classroom will be a different place and put my ideas into practice and made it possible for all students to be successful and believed that all grew their skills and knew that all looked forward to my class and saw it as a haven. In my new setting, I do the same.
But that doesn't effect change past my classroom though it may plant some seeds of change.

I don't know how to effect change in the change-resistant places that are schools. What change I've seen over the past several decades has not resulted in change for the better.
There is no organized group of parents in the country. The NEA and AFT represent teachers - the NEA is particularly powerful in its place as the country's second largest union. Ideally, there would be a group of parents and other interested citizens to advocate for change in our schools - the push for change from parents and citizens now is not as powerful as is the push for serving the needs of teachers that comes from the NEA.
How do we effect change in the absence of such an organization?

I truly have no idea - I fell to doing what many parents do - looking out for your own children and working hard to keep them as safe and well and free from the harm of the system.

As a country and a culture - we change only in dire circumstances. Only when crisis is upon us, do we change. Only now for example are we discussing bringing change to Medicare - a badly stressed and now rapidly dying payment system for the care of our elderly. Many saw the disaster ahead but only now can we even begin to discuss needed reform to keep it from total collapse.
Perhaps the charter schools and school choice although in those states with school choice, I have not seen any significant change resulting from their embrace of school choice.
Your question remains unanswered - what positive change did you see in your time in schools? And if any what precipitated it?

Thank you for sharing the site and associated resources. Yes, please send word when you enter the twitterverse. Wonderful place to spread the word and connect with the world of folks just like us who want to share.

Joe Bruzzese

I hope to twitter soon! I still haven't gotten around to facebook! My time is so limited right now but I hope to get there soon! Will look for you. If you haven't gone to www.childrenofthecode.org yet, it is a huge resource of info. I reference it im my post a lot.
here is today:
According to the latest National Assessment of Adult Literacy report (NAAL), over 90 million (4 out of 10) U.S. adults are living lives socially and economically disadvantaged due to poor reading skills. Adults with low levels of literacy are significantly more likely to live in poverty, engage in crime and other forms of social pathology, and to live unhealthy, and even shorter lives.

Considering the number of children and adults affected and the profoundly negative life-consequences, even if we cut the NAEP and NAAL numbers in half, more children are at risk of long-term life-harm from the consequence of reading difficulties than from parental abuse, accidents, and all other childhood diseases and disorderscombined. To continue:
tinyurl.com/mvw3o2

love what you shared! Fortunately I'm on staff at UC Santa Barbara in their Teacher Ed program where I have just that opportunity. Are you twittering? Look for me "JoeBruzzese". Would love to share our upcoming discussion with you as the class looks at Ken Robinson's book, "The Element" and its impact on the future of education.

Joe Bruzzese