Topic: Critical Literacy

10-second review: Argues for going beyond basic reading and math skills to an emphasis on critical literacy.

Comment: Here is an example of critical literacy: What’s wrong with the following assumption from the U.S. Department of Education’s (2010) A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and secondary Education Act: “And the countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow.” P. 146.

To what “crisis” in education is the Act referring? “The United States has slipped in the world rankings to 11 out of 32 developed nations in college completion rates for individuals ages 25-34.” Is that all there is? Bill Gates was a college drop-out and he out-competed the rest of the world. It’s not the quantity, but the quality of individuals which creates competition.

I know I am oversimplifying, but I have given at least one critical response to the assumption that because college completion rates are lower than ten other developed countries we are behind in education. It’s the freedom to compete that sets the United States apart from the rest of the world, not attendance at college. RayS.

Title: “Critical Literacy, Educational Investment, and the Blueprint for Reform: An Analysis of the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.” Ernest Morelli. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (October 2010), 146-149.