[CALIBK12] The NEA as a Messenger of Complacency

[Stephen Krashen]

The NEA as a Messenger of Complacency
Substance, February, 2008 (in press)
Stephen Krashen

In his discussion of the suppression of the Sandia
Report in December’s Substance, Gerald Bracey notes
that “ 
 It amazes me that each time someone points
out that the educational sky is not actually falling,
those who say it is lose all capacity for logic and
accuse 
 the non-Chicken Littles of being messengers
of complacency” (p. 7).

Here is another example to add to Bracey’s list: I
recently concluded that the “decline” of reading
habits and ability reported by the National Endowment
of the Arts (NEA) did not take place (Substance,
January, 2007). The NEA director of research and
analysis, Sunil Iyengar, disagreed and concluded a
letter to the editor with: “I urge Mr. Krashen to be
less complacent where American reading habits and
skills are concerned.”

(His letter and my response will be published in
District Administration Magazine, January, 2008; for a
copy, please write me at skrashen at yahoo.com).

Of course, I am not complacent about reading habits
and reading ability in the US or anywhere else. My
major concern is access to books for children of
poverty. These children have little access to reading
material at school, at home, and in their communities,
and have the lowest reading scores. The NEA appears to
be quite complacent about this issue, which is not
mentioned in their report.