[Krashen] Irrational decision by Modesto City Schools

[Stephen Krashen's Mailing List]

Sent to the Modesto Bee, Feb. 26, 2008

Modesto City’s plan to eliminate junior high school
librarians (“Almost $12M gone from Modesto schools
budget,” Feb. 23) is irrational. The research
consistently shows that the presence of a credentialed
school librarian is related to higher reading scores,
as is library staffing in general and the quality of
the library collection. 

It is hard to understand how this evidence can be
ignored when we are so concerned about test scores and
the use of scientific evidence as the foundation of
school practice.

See for yourself: Check out the work of Keith Curry
Lance (available on the internet) and Jeff McQuillan
(his book: The Literacy Crisis: False Claims and Real
Solutions), as well as many, many other studies.

Stephen Krashen, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California