We don't often find ourselves saying this, but be sure to check out Valerie Strauss's blog post in today's Washington Post. An impressively long list of very impressive researchers and literacy experts come to a vigorous defense of NCTQ's reading standards, criticized by a group of reading professors in that blog last month.  

Wrote the group: "Goodman and ... others accuse the NCTQ of keeping the Reading Wars alive, and in one respect they are right. NCTQ uncomfortably shined a light on those aspects of reading that these critics prefer to minimize."

Responding to the charge that NCTQ's standard is too narrowly focused on the five components of effective reading instruction, they also state that "It would be possible to score well on the Review but still do a very poor job preparing teachers to teach reading. What would be impossible is to neglect these five topics and still do a good job preparing teachers to teach reading."

Special thanks to Steve Dykstra and Mary Newton from the Wisconsin Reading Coalition and Marilyn Jager Adams for coordinating this effort.

Check back later this week to find out how you can sign your support for scientifically based reading instruction.