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The book The Literacy Hoax is going to talk about how America went from gradual improvements from 1957 to widespread decline starting at mid-1960’s. Paul Copperman starts explaining why the children now don’t have basic academic skills and why kids read two or more grade levels below the grade they are attending. This introduction tells, but doesn’t explain, why work in classes and standards dropped and grade inflation began. Paul Copperman started doing research on historical l profile of reading achievements at the United States.
America when from gradual improvements to widespread decline because of money and sources which stopped flowing to school so enrolled kids didn’t successfully learn basic academic skills. When there wasn’t enough money educational standards and basic academic skills began to decrease. Even traditional classes, work demand and the standards dropped. An average student in the early 1960’s were assigned 50 percent less reading and writing.
With this, even textbook literature had to be rewritten to reach children’s reading level and that meant one or more years of a reading level. With this grade inflation started to be seen in high school and college students report cards but their academic skills began declining. Skills, assignments and standards down and with grades up the American education system began to lie to students and parents about their studies. At America public schools and colleges enroll over fifty million students every year and claims the majority of them are told they have excellent education.
The students and parents believe in their report cards, their teachers, counselors and professors when students are told they are doing excellent school work but the fact is many of the student suffer when the educational system lies to them. For example, Paul Copperman found young white male named Peter Doe in June of 1972 who graduated from a public high school in San Francisco. His school records show that he had average grades and a average IQ when he was attending public school. Peter never had any discipline problems and attended school regularly so he achieved his goal to pass on to the next grade level every year.
His parents complained that Peter didn’t have good reading skills but the school officials told the parents of Peter to not to worry because he was at an average reading level and did not have any special problem. But when Peter graduated from high school and found a job selling shoes. He was fired in less than a week for poor reading skills because he couldn’t do the minimal amount of paper work his job required him to do. Peter tried to sue the district because he found out he read at a fifth grade level graduating from high school but his case was dismissed by the California Supreme Court. 0 percent of entering students form San Francisco’s public two year colleges read at a fifth grade level and cannot maintain a job or even do well at the military for poor reading skills. Paul Cooperman started to do researches and he said “the purpose of this research was to develop an historical profile of reading achievements in the Untied Sates, especially since 1960. ” He stared to get frustrated from lack of progress and decided to seek advices from experts. He began to look form test such as the Stanford Achievement Test of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS).
When he contacted Lynn Berntson from Houghton Mifflin’s West Coast he found out he personally had interest from Paul’s research. Lynn information states that academic skill at the elementary and secondary levels had declined after the mid 1960’s. In June of 1975 Paul started writing chapter one and it is his report on the skills declined affecting youth. He spend two years investigation the success of the skills decline. Chapter two and analyzes changes in course work and curriculum from preschools to university levels.
Paul Copperman said “chapter three and four provide a blueprint for effective education at any time and any place. ” He explains now anybody who watches the television news or reads newspapers or magazines are aware of the decline in reading , writing, and learning skills at public schools. When Paul Copperman was done with his research he discovered Harnischfeger completed their at the same time but beat him to print by three years. Paul just hopes Literacy Hoax is a great attempt from readers to find it informative, entertaining and useful.