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Lawsuit saves massive reading experiment

Reposted by Christopher Peak

AERA @aeraedresearch.bsky.social · Aug 21

From @clpeak.bsky.social -- If it hadn’t been for legal action, the results of the largest study on reading might never have been released. But in response to lawsuits, the Department of Education said it would voluntarily reinstate the contract for the study: www.apmreports.org/story/2025/0...

The Trump administration tried to kill the largest reading experiment ever funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm — just months before the yearslong study was complete. The administ...

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Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Aug 25

A lot of what we know as the science of reading was funded by the federal government. We’ve spent the last few months reporting on what the Trump administration’s cuts mean for that research. Listen here (or wherever you get podcasts): www.apmreports.org/episode/2025...

Episode 14: The Cuts

N.Y.C. Schools Change How Reading Is Taught, and Test Scores Rise

Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Aug 11

New York City’s third-grade reading proficiency shot up nearly 13 points — to 58% — on this year’s state standardized test. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/n...

Truly Shifting to Science of Reading Sometimes Takes ‘Balanced Literacy Rehab’

Reposted by Christopher Peak

Emily Hanford @ehanford.bsky.social · Aug 1

Excellent summary of the intellectual history of "cueing." These are ideas and citations @clpeak.bsky.social and I spent years poring over to make Sold a Story. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

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Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Aug 7

"Adopting a new curriculum is only a first step. Real change is like training for a marathon: buying the right gear doesn’t build endurance." www.the74million.org/article/trul...

McQuillan: Even with new curricula and good intentions, old teaching habits die hard. How to break the cycle and improve literacy outcomes.

www.the74million.org

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Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Jun 23

Research doesn't support using "multisensory" instruction to teach reading, but it's being legislated. "Not that doing multisensory things is going to be harmful," one expert said, but don't expect "those are going to make the difference." www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

Many elementary school classrooms incorporate touch and movement into reading lessons. But research on the practice is inconclusive.

www.edweek.org

Fewer Parents Are Reading Aloud to Their Kids. Why That Matters

Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Jun 16

In 2014, 11% of children ages 0 to 2 in the UK spent one to three hours a day on a screen. By 2019, that percentage rose to 42%, according to the National Literacy Trust. www.edweek.org/teaching-lea...

Pleasure reading is the best way for emerging readers to maintain their skills in the summer. Getting parents on board can be challenging.

www.edweek.org

Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Jun 2

Success for All, the school reform model featured in Sold a Story, received $13.5 million from an anonymous donor to expand to 150 more schools. www.the74million.org/article/scie...

School Reform Program, Known for Science of Reading Approach, Looks to Grow

Anonymous donor gives Success For All, featured in ‘Sold a Story’ podcast, $13.5 million to add 150 more schools.

www.the74million.org

Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · May 27

NPR and three public radio stations sue President Trump, alleging his executive order to cut off federal funding violates the Constitution and their First Amendment rights. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/b...

NPR Sues Trump Over Order to Cut Funding

Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College

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Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · May 15

“We’re talking about an entire generation of learning perhaps significantly undermined here,” one college professor said, of students’ reliance on ChatGPT. “It’s short-circuiting the learning process, and it’s happening fast.” nymag.com/intelligence...

ChatGPT has unraveled the entire academic project.

nymag.com

Trump Officials Blame Mistake for Setting Off Confrontation With Harvard

Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Apr 19

Harvard officials were shocked that such an important letter — bearing the logos of three government agencies, with signatures of three top officials at the bottom — could be sent by a mistake. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/b...

An official on the administration’s antisemitism task force told the university that a letter of demands had been sent without authorization.

The Pandemic Is Not the Only Reason U.S. Students Are Losing Ground

Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Apr 7

For years, the country’s lowest-scoring students were steadily improving on national tests. Starting around 2013, something changed. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/u...

For years, the country’s lowest-scoring students were steadily improving on national tests. Starting around 2013, something changed.

5 Podcasts Where Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

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Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Mar 31

Sold a Story was featured in this weekend’s New York Times: “This American Public Media podcast lays out how a deeply flawed teaching method took hold despite having been widely debunked by cognitive scientists.” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/a...

These twist-filled shows can offer a real-world escape from the drumbeat of news.

When schools buy new reading programs, they look to EdReports. But some of its reviews don’t line up with science.

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Reposted by Christopher Peak

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · Mar 12

We need state curriculum maps for all states ASAP, to support researchers and parents, alike.

My latest article includes links to info from the five states that have published curriculum maps, as well as a few additional sources from @clpeak.bsky.social and more.

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Reposted by Christopher Peak

Emily Hanford @ehanford.bsky.social · Mar 6

New today from @clpeak.bsky.social. A look at a EdReports, one of the most powerful gatekeepers influencing the instructional materials schools buy. www.apmreports.org/story/2025/0...

Even though EdReports is only a decade old, it has quickly become a powerful force in the educational publishing industry. Many schools rely on its reviews when they decide which reading programs to b...

The Outlier: Steubenville, Ohio

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Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Mar 11

Sold a Story has a new mini-series. We found a high-poverty school district where nearly every kid can read well. They’ve been teaching the same way for 25 years. But a new law, inspired by our reporting, put that at risk. All three podcast episodes are out now.

Emily Hanford @ehanford.bsky.social · Feb 20

What if I told you that in a small, rust belt city, where abandoned buildings line the streets, kids are doing better in reading than in some of the richest school districts in America? www.youtube.com/shorts/KsBNf...

YouTube video by APM Reports

www.youtube.com

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Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Mar 11

NYT: The Education Department announced on Tuesday that it was firing more than 1,300 workers, effectively gutting the agency that manages federal loans for college, tracks student achievement and enforces civil rights laws in schools. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/u...

Education Department to Fire 1,300 Workers, Gutting Its Staff

The layoffs mean that the department will now have a work force of about half the size it did when President Trump took office.

Musk’s Team Must Produce Documents to Comply With Open Records Laws, Judge Says

Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Mar 11

DOGE is likely subject to FOIA, a federal judge ruled. The agency had argued it was acting as an advisor to the president, putting its records off-limits until at least 2034. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/u...

A federal judge in Washington ordered Elon Musk’s team and the Office of Management and Budget to begin releasing internal documents “as soon as practicable.”

Podcast Episode · Sold a Story · S1 E11 · 31m

Reposted by Christopher Peak

Emily Hanford @ehanford.bsky.social · Feb 20

A new episode of Sold a Story is available now.
Episode 11: The Outlier
There's a school district in eastern Ohio where virtually all students become good readers by the time they finish third grade. How did they do it? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...

11: The Outlier

podcasts.apple.com

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Reposted by Christopher Peak

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · Feb 11

"If contracts tied to IES and NCES are indeed terminated, and its research becomes unavailable online, a trove of data gathered over many decades about the state of education in the U.S. could become difficult to access." www.npr.org/2025/02/10/n... @npr.org

Trump administration targets Education Department research arm in latest cuts

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is responsible for gathering data on a wide range of topics, including research-backed teaching practices and the state of U.S. student achievement.

www.npr.org

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Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Jan 30

The divide between academic haves and have-nots on the nation's report card was historic: Lower-performing fourth and eighth graders posted the worst reading scores in over 30 years. www.chalkbeat.org/2025/01/29/n...

Struggling students just posted their worst NAEP reading scores in 32 years

The National Assessment for Educational Progress results show a dispiriting and growing gap between students who are academic stand-outs and those who struggle. Reading scores also fell. But fourth gr...

www.chalkbeat.org

Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Jan 30

The declines in students' reading scores started before the pandemic, continued during it and have persisted since. www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

American Kids Are Getting Even Worse at Reading

New national test scores indicate a continuing slide in reading skills.

www.wsj.com

NPR and PBS Stations Brace for Funding Battle Under Trump

Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Dec 27

Republicans in Congress have tried to defund public media for decades. Could they finally make good on their threat? www.nytimes.com/2024/12/27/b...

Republicans in Congress have tried to defund public media for decades. With the help of Elon Musk, could they finally make good on their threat?

Lawsuit calls reading curriculum 'deceptive' and 'defective'

Christopher Peak @clpeak.bsky.social · Dec 4

Attorneys in Massachusetts just filed a class-action lawsuit against Heinemann and its authors Calkins, Fountas and Pinnell in state court over what they allege are “deceptive” and “defective” reading programs. www.apmreports.org/story/2024/1...

A class-action lawsuit filed in Massachusetts claims that the educational publishing company Heinemann falsely advertised its products as “research-backed” and “data-based.”