Politics and Reading

To the Editor.—

I am writing to express my concerns about the commentary by Strauss printed in the January 2002 issue of Pediatrics. First, in Dr Strauss’ commentary he misquoted Dr Reid Lyon in 1 of the 3 quotes. The other 2 quotes were taken out of context. Second, this commentary was written in a manner that questions the credibility of the work of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development with an important portion of the medical community. It is critically important that pediatricians are informed about reading difficulties and how to recognize the warning signs so we can identify children early.

In this 1-page commentary, Dr Strauss states that Dr Lyon represented the NICHD at the hearing to discuss President Bush’s proposals for yearly testing and for accountability. He then argues that the NICHD’s criteria for funding only reading research proposals that meet rigorous scientific standards is narrow, given the acceptance of descriptive research among educators. He raises questions about whether any scientific evidence exists to demonstrate that testing and accountability improves student achievement. He expresses concerns about the anxiety and stress some children experience from testing.

Dr Strauss’ commentary leaves the reader with the misleading impression that Dr Lyon’s March 8, 2001 congressional testimony was on the topic of testing and accountability. That actually was not the focus of the testimony. Less than 15% of Dr Lyon’s testimony was on the topic of assessment. His testimony was about the long-term outcome for children who experience reading difficulty, how reading develops and why children have difficulty, the effectiveness of early intervention programs, how the President’s Reading Initiative is based on scientific research, and finally—assessment. Dr Strauss makes it sound like Dr Lyon was testifying exclusively about the topic of assessment.

Dr Strauss not only misled …