|
|
"Open Court" Reading
Open Court is one of the more successful, research-based, phonics reading programs.
Please note that the Illinois Loop is not associated in any way with Open Court, or its
publisher, SRA. We offer this page strictly for the sake of information
about this much-discussed and apparently very effective reading program.
Publisher
Books
-
"Let's Kill Dick and Jane: How the Open Court Publishing Company Fought the Culture of American Education"
by Harold Henderson
Reviews:
-
The Triumph of Look-Say, by Diane Ravitch, Education Next, Winter 2007:
"[Let's Kill Dick and Jane] tells the story of Blouke Carus's heroic but ultimately
unsuccessful attempt to reform American education. Carus founded the
Open Court Publishing Company in 1962 with two aims that did not seem
to be at all contradictory: first, to teach children to read, and
second, to do so while introducing them to classic children's
literature."
-
See a Good Idea. See It Run Into Trouble.
by Paul Beston, Wall Street Journal. November 9, 2006.
"Providing both a history of this remarkable company and a withering
portrait of the education culture, Mr. Henderson's book is more
compelling than any lay reader could reasonably expect. ... Open
Court argued that depriving children of [phonics] skills was the true
act of oppression in a society where the boundaries of opportunity
were drawn mostly by ignorance. A recurring theme of 'Let's Kill Dick
and Jane' is the anti-intellectual rigidity of the educational
establishment, which continually resisted the research-based methods
that Open Court employed."
Articles
-
Eureka! School Reform That Works
by Debra J. Saunders, June 30, 1999. Excerpt:
"Since signing on with an intensive phonics program [Open Court] ...
scores for the Sacramento City Unified School District rose from the 35th
percentile nationally in reading for first-graders two years ago, to the
54th percentile last year, to the 62nd percentile this year. ...
The key to Open Court's success is explicit, systematic direct instruction of phonics for new readers."
-
First-Graders' Scores Surge in Reading Test:
Supt. Roy Romer credits the year-old Open Court program for
raising results to the 56th percentile nationally (PDF)
by Richard Lee Colvin, Los Angeles Times, October 10, 2001. Excerpt:
"The district reported Tuesday that its first-graders are for the first time performing above average in reading and spelling, scoring in the 56th percentile nationally. That figure represents an improvement of 21 percentile points from two years earlier in reading and 18 points in spelling. Supt. Roy Romer and his aides are confident those gains prove that the district's year-old Open Court reading program, with its structured lessons bolstered by teacher training, is paying off."
-
Inglewood Writes Book on Success by Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times, April 30, 2000. Subhead:
"Its elementary schools draw experts studying how poor, minority students get
test scores as high as those in Beverly Hills. Keys include phonics, constant
testing and intensive teacher training." Excerpts:
"Officials say a crucial reform had each school adopt the Open Court reading
program, which uses heavily scripted lessons that combine phonics drills,
writing exercises and children's literature. The lessons dictate virtually
every detail of daily instruction.
Some teachers complained that Open Court robbed them of creativity in the
classroom. Others protested what they believed was a one-size-fits-all approach
for children with a range of abilities. ...
But the schools pushed ahead, significantly boosting training for teachers in
Open Court. ...
[Now,] eight of the district's 13 elementary schools ranked among the top half
of campuses in the state, shattering the crippling link between poverty and low
achievement."
-
Back-To-Basics Reading Shows Big Results:
An Interior community school has turned around dismal reading statistics
by Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun, April 4, 2001. Excerpts:
"A back-to-basics reading program is being credited with drastically
improving the reading skills of primary students in a small B.C.
town. Four years ago, tests showed that almost one-third of students
in Chase primary school were behind in reading. ...
Last May, testing found 93 per cent of children in Grades 1 and 2 in
the Kamloops-area school were meeting or exceeding expectations ...
The difference was a back-to-basics reading program that has won
accolades from the B.C. education ministry.
Called Open Court, it emphasizes skills instruction, an aspect of
language-arts teaching that largely disappeared in the early 1980s
when whole language came into vogue."
- An interesting article on the background of the Open Court program:
Decades Later, Frustrated Father Is Phonics Guru
by Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times, January 10, 2000. Excerpt:
"Alarmed by his son's insipid textbooks, an electrical engineer named
Blouke Carus sat down at his kitchen table in 1962 and transformed
the way children would one day learn to read.
With a stack of reference books at his side, he cobbled the skills of
phonics with classic children's literature--and peddled his program
to schools.
For decades, this frustrated father from Peru, Illinois, was ignored,
even ridiculed. Now he has become the darling of California's phonics revolution,
with schools spending millions for the word drills and writings he compiled.
Carus may not be a household name, but the program he created -- Open Court
-- is becoming a fixture in the state's classrooms. His evolution from pariah
to savior is a lesson in persistence and California's ever changing educational currents. ...
Open Court can now be found in one of every eight elementary schools in the state."
-
Fort Worth School Official Has Confidence In Teaching Method
by Michelle Melendez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 5, 2000.
Excerpt:
"Many school officials believe they have found the best
way to teach children to read -- a scripted method that promises to
make inner-city students competitive with their suburban peers.
The programs stress learning the sounds that letters make, blending
them into words and recognizing common words that break the rules.
By second grade, supporters say, the children will be able to read
almost anything. Eventually, students will understand all the words.
Superintendent Thomas Tocco is so confident in the programs, called
Open Court and Reading Mastery, that 62 of the district's 69
elementary schools are using them in pre-kindergarten through third
grade to varying degrees. ...
Dawn Riley, a third-grade teacher at Nash, said many students in the
past entered her classes unable to read at their grade level.
'Now, they are coming in reading much better. So now we can focus on
comprehension instead of putting the cart before the horse,' Riley
said."
-
Herding Cats: LAUSD's literacy czar's teaching teachers how to teach reading,
and kids are responding marvelously.
by Jill Stewart, December 27, 2001. Excerpts:
"Now something amazing is happening in L.A. Unified and in the school
districts of a handful of other California cities ...
Superintendent Roy Romer and his chief literacy and reading czar,
Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Ronni Ephraim, are turning
the grade schools around. Dozens of schools are enjoying big, fat,
double-digit leaps in reading, math and language test scores -- the
first really good news in the 10 years I have covered Southern
California public-education issues.
Everybody knows why, too. Thousands of local teachers have been shown
how to actually teach reading to small children. ...
Before I explain how Ephraim and others figured out how to herd cats,
a bit of background: Training teachers how to teach reading is
something that our overly theoretical, highly politicized,
left-oriented and arrogant teaching colleges have failed to do for
years (yes, I mean you, UCLA, USC, Cal State Northridge, Cal State
Long Beach, Cal State Riverside, et al.). Pop into any one of them
today, and you will still hear whole-language theory taught like a
religion.
In part to undo this damage, L.A. uses Open Court, a step-by-step
curriculum that teachers follow each day. Open Court has no script but
does use rigorous phonics, frequent repetition and (horrors!)
memorization, blended with fun activities and great storybooks. Kids
love it."
Midwest Schools Using "Open Court"
From: rdyarrow (Mary Damer)
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999
Subject: Midwestern Schools that successfully use Open Court Phonics program
Today I received a list of schools in the Midwest regarded
as "successful Open Court sites." I'm not sure what the criteria
determine whether a school makes this list, but in the past I've
been asked to point the way to schools that effectively use
phonics programs and so wanted to pass this on.
Since so few Midwestern schools use explicit phonics programs
like Open Court (in contrast to haphazard "salt and pepper"
phonics thrown into Whole Language-based programs), having
a list of some models to visit might be helpful for some of
you who are looking for examples to point out to your school boards.
SRA Midwest Region - Successful Open Court Sites
Illinois
Carthage Elementary School, Dennis Castleberry, Principal
600 Miller Street, Carthage, IL 62321, 217/357-9202
Hamilton School, Dr. Mila Strassburg
1650 West Cornelia Ave., Chicago, IL 60657, 773/534-5484
Oriole Park School, Gail Szulc
5424 North Oketo, Chicago, IL 60656, 773/274-2826
Ray School, Cydney Fields
5631 South Kimbark, Chicago, IL 60637, 773/535-0970
Smyser Elementary School, Jeannie Gallo/C. Lynch, Principals
4310 North Melvina, Chicago, IL 60634, 773/534-1201
Walsh Elementary School, Dr. Ronald Clayton/N. McDonough, Principals
2031 South Peoria, Chicago, IL 60624, 773/534-7950
Mokena Elementary, Kaye Pedziwater, 1st grade teacher
11244 West Willowcrest, Mokena, IL 60458, 708/478-1203
Early Education Center, Nicky Boodey, Reading Coordinator
880 West Nippersink, Round Lake, IL 60073,
847/740-7248 or 847/270-3135 or 847/546-7456
North Elementary School, Dr. Dania Pelech, Principal
410 Franklin, Waukegan, IL 60085, 847/360-5481
St. John's Elementary School, Elizabeth Skinner, Principal
125 East Seminary Avenue, Wheaton, IL 60187, 630/668-0701
St. Michael's Elementary School, Sr. Carol Ann Smith, Principal/Jan White, Teacher
314 West Willow, Wheaton, IL 60187, 630/665-1454
** Freeport Catholic School, Freeport, IL (added to this list as of December 2003)
Indiana
Stephen C. Foster Elementary School, Sharon Heathcock
653 North Somerset Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46222,
317/226-4267
Kansas
Shawnee Mission, Dr. Kevin Singer, Curriculum
7235 Antioch Road, Shawnee Mission, KS 66204, 913/993-6200
Michigan
Mesick Cons. School District
P.O. Box 275, Mesick, MI 49668, 616/885-1234
Plainwell Community School District, Bob Van Dess, Curriculum
600 School Drive, Plainwell, MI 49080, 616/685-5823
National Heritage Academy (NHA), Todd Avis, primary contact
* anyone wishing to visit these sites should contact Todd Avis at 616/222-1700
NHA Endeavor Campus*, Tom Stout, Principal
380 North Helmer Road, Springfield, MI 49015,
616/962-9300
NHA Paragon Campus*, Candi Thayer
3750 McCain Road, Jackson, MI 49201, 517/750-9500
Minnesota
Hermantown Elementary
5331 West Arrowhead Road, Hermantown, MN 55881,
218/729-6891
Earl Brown Elementary School, Randy Aoch
5900 Humboldt Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55406,
612/561-4480
Minnehaha Academy, Kathy Johnson
4200 West River Parkway, Minneapolis, MN 55406,
612/721-3359
Missouri
St. Joseph Cathedral School
518 North 11th Street, St. Joseph, MO 64501, 816/232-8486
Ohio
Carrollton Exempted Village School District, Rose Seck, Curriculum
252 Third Street NE, Carrollton, OH 44615, 330/627-2181
Fairland Local School District, Teresa Johnson, Principal
10732 State Route 7, Protcorville, OH 45669, 740/886-6209
Wellington School District, Nancy Fischer, Principal
305 Union Street, Wellington, OH 44090, 440/647-3636
|