Dr. Stanley Goldstein - Author and Psychologist

A December 10, 2024 Wall Street Journal article reflected on the inadequacies of America's students ("In a Test of Adult Know-How, America Comes Up Short The least-educated workers are falling behind on basic skills such as reading a thermometer and planning a trip.") To explain the problem with America's students' literacy, look to early-life parenting. When first read to and then with as toddlers, almost all children will learn to read on their own since the child's mind has the innate ability to induct the nature of reading just as it does the language grammar of the nation into which they are born. No formal teaching of reading is needed. But, sadly, some children do not experience a "good-enough" (not perfect!) parenting. Culture matters too, whether parents prize education and achievement, but these are not popular political talking points. Nor should teachers be expected to re-parent their students.