President Bush Discusses No Child Left Behind & "Reading First"
Remarks by the President in a Conversation on Reading First and No Child Left Behind
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland
1:27 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks, Reid. Thank you all for coming. What he
forgot to tell you is, I've known Reid for a long time. See, when I
was the governor of Texas, I was worried that we weren't using a
curriculum, a reading curriculum that would work. So I said to
Margaret Spellings, who is my domestic policy advisor here in
Washington, I said, who's the best in the country about figuring out
how to teach children how to read. And they said, Reid Lyon. I said,
okay, get him up here -- or get him down here, in this case. He was
here in Washington, he came down and we've had a great relationship
ever since.
Today, we're going to talk about reading and that reading is more
of a science than people think. And the reason we're here at the
National Institutes of Health is because this facility uses federal
taxpayers' money to research, to figure out how to solve problems.
We've got a problem in America. And the problem is, not every child
can read at grade level. So we're here to discuss a strategy to insist
that every child does read at grade level. To me, it's a national --
we have an obligation nationally to make sure of this.
I'll never forget the reading czarina of Houston Independent School
District -- and, by the way, Secretary of Education Rod Paige was the
superintendent of the Houston Independent School District at the time,
he had hired this lady to help teach every child to read. She said,
Governor, I want to tell you, reading is the new civil right. That's
what I think. I think if you cannot read in the 21st century, you
don't have a chance to succeed. And we believe every child can read.
Mr. Secretary, thanks for coming. Rod Paige is a fellow who was on
the front lines of education there as the superintendent in Harris
County District. And I asked him to come up and be the Secretary of
Education, Reid, because he understands the correct attitude about
making sure public schools work. It's really embodied in the No Child
Left Behind Act.
Let me go through real quick what that act says. It says, first of
all, we believe every child can learn. In other words, we need to
raise the bar and raise the standards. It's what I call challenging
the soft bigotry of low expectations. It means basically that when you
walk into a classroom full of the so-called hard to educate, you don't
quit. That's what it means.
Secondly, it says that in return for increased federal spending,
which we've increased federal spending quite a bit here in Washington,
D.C., that we expect results. In other words, the cornerstone of
making sure every child can learn to read is you've got to measure to
determine where they are. And if not, if you're finding children can't
read at early ages, correct it early, before it's too late, and we're
going to talk about that here.
Thirdly, it says that there must be consequences for schools that
won't teach and won't change -- in other words, something has to
happen, other than just posting scores to get parental involvement.
What we now have got is a system where after a period of time if the
schools won't teach a child to read, federal money follows the child,
so the child can get tutoring, for example, or the child can go to a
different public school.
Finally, the cornerstone of good education policy is local control
of schools. We're going to hear from some folks from Alabama and
Arizona who are great teachers, who understand it is really important
for there to be the ability for people to make decisions, to align
authority and response at the local level. Governor Ehrlich is with
us, I'm sure he's glad to hear that the federal government isn't going
to run the schools in the state of Maryland. He's plenty capable of
doing it, along with -- along with the people he's picked to run the
schools and be responsible for public policy, like the Lieutenant
Governor, Mike Steele and Nancy Grasmick, who's the head of the
Education Department in Maryland. I want to thank you all for coming,
Governor. I appreciate you taking your time for being here.
(Applause.)
I also want to thank Elias Zerhouni, who's in charge of NIH.
Elias, I'm proud of the job you're doing. You've got a tough job --
and I picked a good man to do it, and I really appreciate you being
here. I'm glad Claude Allen is here, as well. He's the Deputy
Secretary of Health and Human Services. You're doing a fine job, too,
Claude. I'm proud you guys are here. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)
I'm going to turn this over to Reid here, in a second. But if the
goal is to have children reading at grade level by the 3rd grade, which
is a goal we have set -- and by the way, some people have been
criticizing the No Child Left Behind Act because they say the standards
are too high. I don't think that's too high a standard, to expect a
child to read at 3rd grade when they're in the 3rd grade. As a matter
of fact, you know, I think it is -- I think it is perfectly reasonable
to ask school districts to at least accomplish that. But to do it,
we've got to advance a -- help advance a strategy. I think it is a
proper role for the federal government to help school districts
implement reading strategies that work.
And Reid Lyon has been very much involved in figuring out what
works. And you'll hear him talk about phonemic awareness and phonics
and fluency. I'm going to let him describe what all those words mean.
But really what they mean is there's a way to figure out whether or not
the curriculum being used at the local level can be effective, that's
what he's saying.
And so we put forth a Reading First Initiative across the country.
And part of it, obviously, requires federal commitment, federal dollars
-- we've got $1.8 billion now we're spending on Reading First
programs. We intend to spend $5 billion over a five year period of
time.
So far, we're making good progress. In 2002, all 50 states are
participating in the grant-making process. In other words, they
developed curriculums screened by people like Reid who say, gosh, this
will work. In other words, we don't want to spend money unless people
are using curriculum that works. There's no need to throw good money
into programs that won't work. We've tried that before.
And so the grant programs seem like they're going well. The
screening process is going well. There are 1,000 districts that now
get Reading First grants. There are 3,600 schools getting Reading
First grants. There's been 73,000 teachers trained in the curriculum
that works. Part of making sure that a Reading First program works,
part of making sure that children can read at the grade level by the
3rd grade is to make sure you've got teachers who can teach by the 3rd
grade -- teachers who can teach curriculum to make sure children can
read by the 3rd grade. One-point-two million students are being
affected.
By the way, Ralph Regula is with us today, as well. I just saw
Ralph sneak in here. Mr. Chairman, thanks for coming. He's a strong
advocate of the Reading First program. He's a United States
Congressman from the state of Ohio. The fact you're here, Mr.
Chairman, says a lot about your interest. (Applause.) You're probably
wondering when I'm going to stop talking. You know how we are when we
get a mic.
As well, I just want you to know, and we've discussed some of this
today, we've got a early Reading First program, which really starts in
the pre-K period, as well as -- and you're going to hear an interesting
program called Striving Readers Initiatives. This basically says that
if you don't hold people to account early in the system, it is likely
people are going to get shuffled through the schools without being able
to read. And we're beginning to find out that's the truth, and we're
finding people in junior high and high school who can't read. We need
intensive intervention programs. At the very minimum, when a kid gets
out of high school they ought to be able to read. And you'll hear an
interesting program developed by this good man to my left here, about
how to be successful.
What we're talking about is making sure we meet an obligation in
our country to give people the chance to succeed in this great
country. And I'm telling you we can do it. I have seen incredible
progress. We test for a reason, because we want to know. And the
reading scores are beginning to go up. And I believe it has a lot to
do with the research that Reid Lyon has done here at the NIH facilities
here. I believe that when you can figure out the key to reading and
convince people to use the proper strategy, every child can learn to
read. I refuse to accept anything less than that. I refuse to lower
the bar for kids.
And so, therefore, my job as the President is to continue to
challenge and push and insist on high standards. And we're making
progress. Reid, I'm really proud of the work you do. He's about to
tell us -- what do you do? (Laughter.) And how do you do it?
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: You know, people are going to say, well, that
sounds good. How do you know it works? And, as you know, I'm a
how-do-you-know-it-works kind of guy. Reid mentioned there is a
debate. Governors are very familiar with the reading curriculum debate
and there are some very strong opinions about what might work, what
might not work. I'm the kind of fellow that says, you ought to be able
to figure it out pretty clearly.
Why are you so certain that your attitude is the right attitude?
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Good. This is based upon science, is what I'm
telling you. And if you've got something that works, then it makes
sense to spread the news. So that's what we're talking about here:
How do we make sure the research that has been done here in Washington
is shared around the country?
We've got another expert here in reading, the Professor and
Director of the Center of Research of Learning at the University of
Kansas -- Don Deshler is with us. I first learned of Don when Laura,
who is very much involved with reading, she was a school librarian, she
loves to read, she believes every child can read, she believes every
child must read, and she also understands that there is some need for
some serious intervention programs in certain schools. So she met Don
in Florida. And she came back and she said, you're not going to
believe this guy, he's got a fabulous program. I said, okay, we'll put
him on the stage and see if he can explain it. (Laughter.)
Tell us what you do.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: I was going to say, so what do you have to do to
get the Michigan school to -- did you design a curriculum, did you have
teacher training, what was it?
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, thanks. Gosh, glad you came. (Laughter.)
Glad Laura told me about you. (Laughter.) I love your attitude.
(Laughter and applause). What he's talking about this initiative, the
Intervention Initiative, to make sure junior high students and high
school students at least have the capacity to read is something I've
sent up to Congress, Mr. Chairman. We need to get it funded. He's
got a program that works. The role of the federal government is to
fund the capacity for districts to take the program, implement it, and
make it happen.
I agree with you, that because of the reforms that are now in
place, high schools are going to start seeing a more literate
population. The problem is, we've got a gap, and we've got to make
sure that we do everything we can to intervene and help those kids. If
you can't read, it doesn't matter. That's just as simple as that. I
mean, I know that doesn't sound very nuanced or sophisticated, but it's
true. It's the absolute truth.
And we're here talking about making sure everybody can. Governor,
I want you to pay attention to this program because I bet you there's
some schools in the state of Maryland that could use a little
intervention, particularly at the junior high and high school level.
This works. And this good man here has taken a scientific approach to
developing a curriculum, which is relatively easy to implement, I would
guess. I mean, it --
PROFESSOR DESHLER: Good teaching, I believe, is a challenge, and
it requires hard work. But if we follow known principles of
instruction, the payoff is enormous.
THE PRESIDENT: I'm glad you brought up Michigan, because Faith
Stevens is with us. She is the Reading First Coordinator for the whole
state, right? That's a big job. I'm really glad you're here. How's
it going? Are you implementing the Reading First Initiative?
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Great job. Thank you. You know, one of the
interesting comments I've heard, and I'm confident others who are
involved with public policy when it comes to education have heard, they
say, you know, all you're doing is teaching the test -- don't test,
because all you're doing is teaching the test. Listen, if you teach a
child how to read, they will pass a reading test.
I've heard every excuse in the book why not to measure. But if you
can't measure, how do you know? And you heard the great deal of
satisfaction from that teacher as a result of correctly utilizing an
accountability system to make sure that she was doing the right thing,
that she was able to impart her love. And the joy as a result of
teaching a child to read was evident in her statement. As a matter of
fact, tell her "thanks" for teaching, tell her "thanks" for being also
agile enough of mind to be willing to change, if change is needed. We
can't be risk-adverse when it comes to making sure every child learns
to read.
Speaking about teachers, we've got Janice Kantor with us. She came
all the way from Phoenix, Arizona, for which we are grateful.
Welcome. She is a Reading First literacy coach. It's kind of an
interesting title, isn't it? When I went to Sam Houston Elementary
School in Midland, I don't remember any literacy coaches. (Laughter.)
I remember a football coach. (Laughter.) But I think it's a really
interesting evolution that we've got literacy coaches, which should say
to people that reading is more important than athletics. They're both
important, but we better make sure they read.
So what does a literacy coach do?
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Fabulous. Thanks for coming. Pretty strong
spirit, isn't it? I really appreciate that. Thank you for being
here. You know, I think one of the things we have to address is why
teacher colleges aren't teaching reading teachers how to teach in the
first place, so you don't need to retrain. (Applause.)
Maybe that's another project for you, Reid. (Laughter.) Maybe
it's my project. But thank you for retraining teachers. Listen,
teachers are a really loving people and they care deeply about their
profession and their desire to pass on knowledge, and sometimes they
just don't have the skills to be able to do so. It's got to be
frustrating. It wasn't frustrating if you didn't measure, because you
didn't know. But then when you start using the accountability system
that all of a sudden points out that, oops, maybe I ought to get a --
find a new skill so I can do my job.
We've got Cynthia Henderson with us from Montgomery, Alabama. I'm
really glad you're here. Cynthia is a kindergarten teacher. And she
went to the Reading First training program. And why don't you tell us
what that was like. As I understand, it was slightly intimidating to
begin with. Is that an accurate assessment?
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, benchmark means -- explain to -- benchmark
means they met expectations.
MS. HENDERSON: They met every expectation for the entire year.
THE PRESIDENT: And so what she's saying is she just kind of sent
these little fellows and ladies off to a glorious future because
they've got the foundations for reading.
MS. HENDERSON: And you know, because I work at a school that --
where most of the children that are enrolled there are either on
poverty level or below poverty level, it means so much to me because
some of them are going to be the first ones in their families to even
attend college.
THE PRESIDENT: There you go.
MS. HENDERSON: It is so exciting that they're so excited about
reading. (Applause.) And I think it's all about changing a school,
that changes a community, that changes a whole city, that changes a
state, that changes a whole nation of readers. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: There you go. I agree. (Applause.) One of the
things that's very important -- one of the things very important in the
measurement system is to do what I call "disaggregate the data." Some
districts didn't like measuring specific groups of people because you
could pass the standards if you put every -- lumped everybody
together. But that didn't tell the whole truth about who was learning
and who wasn't learning.
And so as part of the new accountability system, the No Child Left
Behind Act, we break out based upon race. It's really essential we do
that. It's really important. If you don't do that, you're likely to
leave people behind. And that's not right. There's a learning --
there's an achievement gap in America that will be closed. It must be
closed and will be closed. It won't be closed unless you're honest
about the achievement gap, unless you're able to see clearly who needs
help and who doesn't need help.
What you heard here, teachers and coaches and implementers who
understand that the accountability system must be used as a tool to
make sure that the curriculum being used, the techniques being used,
the strategy being used, works. That's what you're hearing.
If you heard -- they said, we look at the test results per child.
Inside the classroom, that's good. But schools and districts need to
look at the test results per child, as well, and not try to gloss over
the reality in certain school districts by lumping everybody together.
This act is called the No Child Left Behind Act because we want to make
sure no child is left behind. Not, it's okay that some get left
behind. That's not the spirit of the law.
I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have. This is a -- again,
we came here because the discussions we were having were based upon
sound science, not guesswork. And like you, sir, I am incredibly
optimistic that we're getting it right here in America. We're getting
it right because smart people have help. Policy-makers understand what
works. We're getting it right because people are continuing to devise
strategies to help children who need continued help. We're getting it
right because we're providing resources to make sure teachers get
retrained with curriculum that works. We're getting it right because
we've got fabulous teachers in the classroom -- coaches and teachers, I
might want you to know -- whose spirit can lift the room here at the
NIH with just a -- with just a few words.
And, listen, we will meet the goal here. We have an obligation to
meet the goal to make sure every child can read at grade level,
starting by the 3rd grade. And there's no doubt in my mind this
country will do it. We're on track. And I want to appreciate those
who put us on track, and who keep us on track, for being here today.