Customer Reviews

Effective Literacy Instruction: Building Successful Reading and Writing Programs

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I concur with Burke's comments and regard Dr. Langer as one of the most reputable scholars in the field of English education to date.

Please disregard the other reviewer. This book is essential reading, serving as the foundation for most of what is recognized as best practice in teaching middle and high school English language arts. Judith Langer's Excellence in English Project, which identified the core elements of effective literacy instruction and includes a detailed examination of professional development in effective "beat the odds schools," is the culmination of a long-term national study of literacy instruction in rural, suburban, and urban districts. Her idea was to examine those that were "beating the odds," despite qualities that suggested they should not, and examine what they did to achieve those results. Her work, along with Arthur Applebee's, has profoundly influenced my teaching and writing (see "The English Teacher's Companion" and "What's the Big Idea?" by Jim Burke). The reviewer above who gave the book two stars has no context for her ideas yet, as that student is still in school. In addition to this book, I regularly consult Judith's other books on literacy and eager await results on her national study of secondary writing instruction in the United States. The other reviewer's dismissal of this book as "not groundbreaking" only serves to emphasize the degree to which that reviewer does not realize that Langer's work always breaks new ground. Such a comment from the reviewer is like saying Donald Graves or Donald Hall are saying nothing new when they wrote about the writing process--when in fact they are among the first to identify and explain it to us in ways we could use to improve our own practice. This is what Judith Langer does in her work in general and in this book in particular.

I bought this book for a class presentation in a teaching literature course. The book didn't say anything groundbreaking, and it wasn't an engaging read. I also thought the author was mistaken on a few of her judgments, such as when she praised a group activity that allowed students to ridicule one of their groupmates for not getting his work done. In this same group, students "vented" to each other in Spanish right in front of the ridiculed student-- who was Chinese and could not understand them. There was a lot of research that went into the book, but I do not recommend reading it.