Have you ever read a paper, found a tool, or heard an idea that made you stop and think, "If we could do this, we'd see truly major changes"? That's how I felt after speaking with education journalist and author Natalie Wexler about her recent book, The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System - and How to Fix It. Despite the heavy emphasis on reading instruction through testing, "accountability" measures, and funding over the last two decades, reading scores have been flat. Students performing at "proficient" levels make up less than one third of the student population. Why is this? The answer appears to lie not in environmental factors or lack of resources, but in our approach to reading instruction. In this episode, Natalie shares why skills-based reading comprehension misses the mark, and new approach that can close the gap.

Connect with Natalie and her writing:

Website: https://nataliewexler.com/

Twitter: @natwexler

Books: The Knowledge Gap and The Writing Revolution

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Special thanks to Scott Holmes for our intro music. You can check out more from him at https://scottholmesmusic.com/.

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Shifting our Approach to Elementary Reading Instruction, with Natalie Wexler, Author of The Knowledge Gap