Annemarie Palincsar Keynote

Keynote: Changes in the Face of Reading Comprehension Instruction:
Responding to E.D. Hirsch’s Charge
Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar,
Jean and Charles Walgreen Jr. Chair of Reading and Literacy,
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, University of Michigan

In the spring 2006 issue of American Educator, E.D. Hirsch published an article in which he made the following claims: “Content is not adequately addressed in American schools, especially not in the early grades. None of our current methods attempt to steadily build up children’s knowledge; not the empty state and district language arts standards…; not the reading textbooks, which jump from one trivial piece to another; and not the comprehension drills conducted in schools…. These promote the view that comprehension depends on having formal skills rather than broad knowledge.” Hirsch went on to argue that “this neglect of knowledge is a major source of inequity, at the heart of the achievement gap between the poor and non-poor.” Further, he charged that formalism, or the belief that reading comprehension can be improved by acquiring comprehension strategies, is ruinous to reading instruction, sabotaging efforts to raise reading comprehension scores. Is Hirsch right? Are those of us who engage in strategy instruction, in fact, frustrating students’ efforts to learn from text? What are the trade-offs between engaging students in knowledge building and teaching students to be self-regulating in their reading activity, via the use of strategy instruction? How have changes in the face of reading comprehension instruction reflected or deflected the concerns that Hirsh raises in this piece? In this presentation, Dr. Palincsar will trace one story of strategy instruction in an attempt to respond to Hirsch. It is the story of reciprocal teaching. In the course of this presentation, she will discuss the roles of theory and empirical research; in addition, she will talk about possible levers for change that come from focusing on what we know about learning and learning in the experience, and teachers’ practice.

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