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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 1957)
Educators Said To Be Haying More Trouble Than Ever With Undeveloped Readers Atlantic City. N.J. aj.R) I College: Mary C. Austin, of the I iments have proved that thislpoor readers are staying in i phasig on family environment I experience, what a handican in-1 ter m-enared: n thev rnnsfantlv I ; ui aVlucators claim that today's methods of teaching are the best ever devised, but they admit t;St schools are having more trofclewith poor readers than evrr before. The United Press ashed five fifsthe nation's top reading ex perts to explain this paradox, which has become a major source of concern to parents. The experts are. attending life annual convention of the Amer ican Association of School Ad ministrators. Symposium Participants Participating in the sympo sium wer Drs. William S. Gray, profess?) of education. Univer sity of Chicago; Nila Banton Srjth, professor of education, gf w Yorg University; Arthur IT Gats, professor of education, Columbia University Teachers College: Mary C. Austin, of the Harvard University school of eaucation; Russell G. Stauffer, director of reading study center, University of Delaware. All of the authorities agreed on these points: Poor reading has become one of our most acute educa tional problems. Millions of chil dren estimates of the number range from 10 to 25 per cent of total school enrollment are now classed as "retarded read ers." There are many students now in high school who can't read at the fifth grade level. Teaching methods cannot be blamed for this situation. To day's teachers use a combina tion of the best reading instruc tion techniques developed in the past, including phonics and a variety of visual word-identification systems. Repeated exper approach produces far superior results to phonics alone or any other "old method" , when both are used on children of com parable intelligence. No More Flunking Compulsory education laws and liberal promotion policies are mainly responsible for the fact that so many poor readers are turning up in the higher grades of public schools. A gen eration ago, children who didn't learn to read in the first grade were unceremoniously "flunk ed" and required to repeat the grade. After a couple of fail ures, many children of low read ing ability simply quit school. Now the United States is com mitted to a policy that every child bright, average or well below average in learning abil ity must get an education. The school instead, of dropping out. They are being promoted de spite their' reading deficiences because psychologists and edu cators agree that on balance it is better for a child to stay as long as possible, even if he re quires a good deal of "remedial" instruction to keep up. The tensions of modern life, which have sharply increased the number of adult neurotics, also are affecting children. Homes broken by divorce, work ing mothers, pressure from par ents to "succeed," particularly in reading these and many other circumstances of the mod ern home environment tend to create emotional difficulties in children which inhibit their abil ity to learn. Environment Important Dr. Gates laid particular -em phasis on family environment as a cause of reading difficulty. "Millions of modern children are suffering from linguistic starvation," he said. "When they 'get home from school, they find mother still at work, so they play in the streets. When their parents do come home everybody watches tele vision. There are no books- in ! the house nobody thinks of i reading as a leisure-time activ ity. "If Johnny's parents never read why should Johnny care about learning to read?" True enough, said Drs. Gray and Smith, but these same non reading parents often are the most insistent in their demands that Johnny "do well in read ing" at school. "They know, from their own experience, what a handicap in adequate reading ability can be in modern life," said Gray. They are eager for Johnny to be bet- I ter prepared, so they constantly I ing block," born of fear of fall- mane an usuf uui, ui ms reaa- ure, in jonnny. The parental ing progress." pressure, said Gray, is "a noble This tends to set up a "lean-( impulse wrongly directed." Many Schools Adopt New Reading Method Aa Aid To Problem - Atlantic City, N.J. (U.R) Evry ahild learns to read in his own way tnd at his own pace. Some become fluent readers in th first grade. Others need 0Ony yers of painstaking in struction to master the essential Qarl (0 modern civilization. Ho rapidly child learns to rnofl m ot necessarily an index tthis general intelligence. Emo tional maturity,, ability to per ceive iine distinctions in sounds an APr end other develop mental Rectors profoundly affect refaiM ability. f$ are the basic concepts o ja Mv approach to reading whici faaing adopted by many sta txrsrU believe it will shayjla veduce the "poor read er" Bofilni ehich has become the number one headache of American education at all levels. Djscu fey Aeeeeeca Thenaw approach, which has been a majr topic of discussion among the 19,00 school superin tendents here for the 83rd an rfeal convention of the American association of School Administra tors, calls for sweeping changes in some traditional ideas. It repudiates, for example, the yyie-honored notion that reading is a "beginner" subject which should be taughl only in the ele mentary grades. Virtually all authorities now believe that reading courses should continue to be a major part of the cur rirOlum right through high screol. Eftiphasis Is also being put on. Olhe fact that every teacher snares the responsibility of teaching a o child to read, and readinggimprovements should be aQgoat of every school course, whether in literature, science or even mathematics. Some ifte 'Ungraded' System Another long established edu cational custom which is being re-exa-lnfhed, and in many areas afcindoned, is the rigid division of primary .schools in.to first, second and third grades. In an effort to let each child progress O i!readina t his own best pace, & without hemming him in with arbitrary "norms" for a year's achievement, some schools are turning to an "ungraded pri mary" system. Under this plan, grade desig nations for the first three grades are dropped, and a child is al lowed to move at his own speed through a series of "reading levels" until he reaches the level set for completion of the third grade. If it takes him four years or more to do this, he is spared the psychological blow and the un necessary repetition of subject matter he has mastered which results from the old system of forcing him to repeat a particu lar grade. Medford Tribune 2nd Section MEDFORD, OREGON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1957 8 Pages Lindbergh Now Little Recognized 30 Years After Famed Solo Flight New York Girl Wins Pie Baking Contest Chicago (U.R) A blonde, 17-year-old girl from Henrietta. N.. Y., has an appropriate pres ent for President Eisenhower on George Washington's birthday the best cherry pie in the nation. Mary Ann Bartholomay was named the best cherry pie baker in the 48 states. Alaska, Hawaii and Canada Thursday at the "silver jubilee" national cherry pie baking contest here. Her victory over 51 girls in the national championship won her a $500 scholarship, a trip to New York and the honor of pre senting her prize creation to President Eisenhower in Washington. State Office Building At Eugene Considered Salem U.R) Sen. Al Cor bet, Portland Democrat, said yesterday that his subcommittee of the Joint Ways and Means committee is studying a propos al to build a state office build ing at Eugene with borrowed funds. New York (U.R) A tall, nice- looking man in his 50s, wearing old-fashioned h l g h t o p shoes. strolled down Fifth ave. one day not long ago. No one recognized him or paid him the slightes heed. Thirty years ago this city went into hysteria at the sight of the same man. They massed the streets five million strong, shouted themselves weak and gave him the'greatest hero's ac claim in ticker-tape history. The man was Charles A. Lind bergh. His anonymity was the success of an almost fanatic ef fort to escape the public gaze. This is a year of anniversaries for Lingbergh. It was in 1927 that he flew alone to Paris and the adulation of the world. And it was 25 years ago this March 1 that his first-born was kidnaped and killed. Wall Around Family He put a wall around himself and his family after that. The wall is still there and those of his friends whose careless talk puts a chink in it find Lindbergh chill and angry. But enough can be pieced 4ogether to get a pic ture of Lindbergh today. The movie, "Spirit Of St. Louis" based on his book, is soon to be released. He looked in on its making occasionally, mainly to make sure it was absolutely authentic, and had a chance to rehash old times with H. A. (Bud) Gurney, a United Airlines pilot. Stunting Friends It is interesting to talk with Gurney. He knew Lindbergh when they were both fresh kids, barnstorming and stunting over cow-pasture airports in the Mid west. He still calls him "Slim" without a trace of affectation and is surprised that people find Lindbergh taciturn. "Gosh, we went out one day S. Riverside & S. Central y , m e . 1 RSI MAY II I a winner. ya2ge"aVWaBB9Se PDItlTED UltlUEQ LIST AVAILABLE Check FREE Ford Tickets by Feb. 27 - 8 P.M. 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He is one of the few who has flown it. Busy at Pentagon Lindbergh is often seen at the Pentagon. His work is known to deal with advanced types of mil itary aircraft and guided mis siles. President Eisenhower pro moted him to the rank of brig adier general in 1954. Not many people know that Lindbergh shot down at least one, perhaps three, Japanese nianes in World War II as a civilian technician advising Pa cific pilots on getting the most from their planes. He went into that role after resigning. his colo nel's commission. His resigna tion followed his criticism of President Roosevelt's foreign policy as leading toward war. Lindbergh lives now in a big English-style stone house in Dar- ien. Conn., on Long island Sound. It is on a private road where residents pay for their own policemen. The Lindberghs have a green Cadillac ana a Ford station wagon. Their serv ants do the shopping and they are seldom seen in the small town. He and his wife, Anne, had five children in addition . to Charles Jr. They are Jon, mar ried and a Navy officer in San Dieeo! Land, a student at Stan ford- and three younger cnu- dren who attend i the Darien public schools, Anne, 18, Scott, Searchers Find Body Of Navy Jel Pilot Hertford, N. C (U.R) Search ers Thursday night found the body of a Navy jet pilot who bailed out of his plane shortly before it crashed into a garage near a school where 500 children were in classes. His parachute failed to open. The Navy identified the pilot as Ens. William W. Bell of Long ton, Kan. One of the two school bus mechanics working in the garage, J. Van Roach, 57, died Thursday night of bums he re ceived when the F3H Demon jet crashed into the building. Searchers found Bell's body on a farm about four miles southeast of here. The second garage mechanic, Preston Morgan, 28, was in criti cal condition but was expected to live. Seaton Treated for Sciatic Condition Honolulu (U.R) Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton un derwent treatment in Tripler Army Hospital yesterday for a sciatic condition that forced him to cancel his several official ap pointments. Doctors said Seaton will be hospitalized "at least two or three days." They said his condi tion is not serious. POISON OAK? fry a Bottle of ZEMACOL You must be satisfied or rout rwsn cheerfully refunded. Get a bottle re dly at WESTERN THRIFT. 14 and Reeve (a girl) 11. Little Changs j Lindbergh still tips the scales at about 175, not more than two ! or three pounds off his weight 30' years ago. He is balding slightly, his face is considerably j fuller. One of his phobias is against having his picture taken. He has I never smoked nor drunk. ' The admiration of his close friends borders on worship. One compared him with Abraham : Lincoln and remarked that, had he never made his historic 1 flight, he would still have be come nationally famous. 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