Anticipation Guide for

Readicide-How Schools Are Killing Reading And What You Can Do

About It
Chapter One
The Elephant in the Room
Question or
Statement
Do you
Agree or
Disagree?
Page
Number
Were you
Right?
Reflection
The
overemphasis on
testing is playing
a major role in
killing off
readers in
Americas
classrooms.
Yes #7 Yes Schools are more
interested in
raising state-
mandated test
scores than in
developing
independent
readers,
Being held
responsible
really means one
thing to
classroom
teachers-teaching
to the state and
federally
mandated exams.
Yes #10 Yes Teachers must
choose between
teaching all
standards
shallowly or
sacrificing some
standards to
teach others
deeply.
Teaching to the
test is not a
problem as long
as it is a shallow
test.
No #12 Yes Teaching to the
test can be
beneficial as long
as the questions
facilitate critical
thinking and
learning.
The sheer
number of
standards is the
biggest
impediment to
implementing
standards.
Yes #11 Yes In order to teach
all the
benchmarks in
one states
standards,
schools would
have to change
K-12 to K-22.
In a massive
attempt to
prepare all kids
for college and
the workforce, a
readicide
curriculum
actually sets
them forward.
No #21 Yes In the pursuit of
filling in bubbles
correctly,
students miss out
of learning skills
that will help
them become
better citizens,
such as
creativity,
common sense,
wisdom, ethics,
dedication,
honesty, etc.