Nydra's Word

Spalding Method/Omaha World Herald

Spalding method works
When the Reading First program from No Child Left Behind taught primary teachers the use of proven methods in reading, California Achievement Test percentages advanced.
These results should make the adoption of Spalding phonics a nobrainer for Omaha Public Schools. It’s no surprise that Central Park Elementary School, with 81 percent low-income students and the Spalding method, scored in the 80th percentile on the CAT.
OPS board member Karen Shepard was right to ask for Central Park to be used as a model in 2001. Kudos to Ann Mactier, a former State Board of Education and Omaha school board member, who paid for a few inner-city OPS teachers to be trained in Spalding.
Parents should demand Spalding in their schools, including those in the Bellevue school district (grants or not), and demand Spalding as part of any teacher’s certification.
It’s a shame how long it took the OPS administration to leave whole language behind. It’s no surprise many middle schools are not scoring well. The students lack good reading skills due to inadequate training in elementary school.
It’s sad that we have wasted so many dollars and so many bright futures while steering off course on reading techniques.
For that reason, I’d like to see Spalding taught to more future teachers in college. Let’s reward the performance of those teachers with higher pay when reading skills improve.