Are standardized tests killing reading? A review of Readicide by Kelly Gallagher

I am just finishing a year as the Literacy Support Teacher at my school, so I have been steeped in literacy for months. That makes it the perfect time to do some professional reading about the role of an teacher in a world full of standardized tests.

The book I am reading is Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher.  Gallagher has been writing about reading for years and I have an earlier book of his, Deeper Reading, on my summer reading list.

In Readicide, Gallagher contends that educators are killing the love of reading.  The most immediately relevant to my role as LST is Gallagher's well-reasoned argument that the emphasis on developing test-takers over lifelong readers is contributing to the death of reading.

The emphasis on the results of the OSSLT is bad.  I think it can be misleading to publishing them like they define a school which, in my opinion, ignores the real use of the test.  The test should be used to identify students' weaknesses so we can offer them direct help (in the wise words of a fellow LST).  But, I also know the pressure on the students and LSTs in the weeks leading up to the test, to cover every angle, close every gap, know every trick.  So the question I have been struggling with, I mean really struggling, is how to help students prepare for the literacy test without losing sight of the real goal, true and lifelong literacy. 

I think Gallagher sums it up:  "... if students are taught to read and write well, they will do fine on mandated reading tests.  But if they are only taught to be test-takers, they will never learn to read and write well." (26)

As I finish my stint as LST and return to the English classroom, I now see my role more clearly.  I am going to go back to teaching kids to read and write well (I am a better reader than writer).  And, I am going to use Gallagher's suggestions to do so.  I will let you know how it goes.

My summer professional reading list

As June is only a breath away, I am looking forward to our summer break. I love the first week of summer, when I spend days reading for pleasure. We are often at our camp in the Bay of Islands for the July 1 weekend. The camp is the best place on earth to do some reading (at least partially because there is not much else to do but clean up the island and swim). My sister and mother are both "English Majors" like me, so there are always great books sitting around the cabins.

I usually start hording books for this reading frenzy just after March Break, but this year, I have done a great deal of reading for pleasure. I have some theories as to why I have already finished much of the cache of books intended for the summer, but that is the subject of another post. I can tell you that the reason is, sadly, not a bunch of free time...

So, to fill the gap, I recently ordered a number of books to do some professional reading. I have finished one book already (I said I was reading a lot). I thought I would share what I have chosen, and then note a bit about each one as I finished them - more as a record for me than anything else.

So here they are. I am feeling unusually optimistic that I have a few good titles.

1. Readicide: How schools are killing reading and what you can do about it by Kelly Gallagher
2. Attention, Please! How to make speaking in class presentable, enjoyable, and memorable for all by Kathleen Gould Lundy
3. Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom by Rick Wormeli
4. Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12 by Kelly Gallagher
5. Grammarama! by Les Parsons
6. The Writing Circle by Sylvia Gunnery
7. Pulling Together: Integrating inquiry, assessment, and instruction in today's English classroom by Schnellert, Datoo, Ediger & Panas

I welcome any suggestions and I will let you know how it goes.