Page 9 - Reading Level News Today

countries these days. the turnout so far has been pretty good according to the electoral commission. we expect to hear more when the polls close. theyre expected to close in about two hours. possible extensions to that. so far we are told more voters than expected have turned out. >> whos on the ballot today? >> well, that is one of the key issues here, gary, is people are overwhelmed by the choice. thousands of candidates are running in this election for the national congress. most of...

Worse and worse and worse and the stakes for not changing this culture are going higher and higher, and you see that obviously in places like greece and spain right now perhaps more than a lot of other places. >> absolutely on many levels. but do we get the politician we see deserve? they want to get reelected. i do think there is a bit of worry here, though. fundamentally, when you look at the figures, americans now have an average reading level of 7th grade, i believe, so politicians at some l...

Investment to say focus on teacher assessment. >> but the -- right, but the nuance has always been on, okay. what do you do when you grade a student here? do you grade -- have they moved up from -- from one reading level to another reading level or are they on a fourth grade reading level? see what i mean? sometimes teachers -- this is where i think the nuance of the argument gets lost, which is, are you grading a teachers merit pay based on, is the student reading at a specific grade level that...

Poorer district, we have a higher percentage of special education students, who are required to take the same test as a student without disabilities. so even if my students make a gain from a first grade reading level to a third grade reading level in one year, im still a failure as a teacher. even though i moved them -- yeah. and, you know, i think a lot of the public -- they dont understand whats going on. >> no, they dont. >> and thats why -- >> and the talking culture thats out there, agains...

Even a child with learning disabilities or severe disabilities, is measured the same way. and in a district like ours, the poorer district, we have a higher percentage of special education students, who are required to take the same test as a student without disabilities. so even if my students make a gain from a first grade reading level to a third grade reading level in one year, im still a failure as a teacher. even though i moved them -- yeah. and, you know, i think a lot of the public -- th...

Kids arent performing good enough? doesnt that infuriate you? thats the overwhelming narrative were hearing from the right wing in this country. >> sure. they want to say were the problem and theyre judging our success on student scores. of course, theyre also -- the student scores are coming from a state standardized test, where even a child with learning disabilities or severe disabilities, is measured the same way. and in a district like ours, the poorer district, we have a higher percentage ...

Well see you in iowa in a couple of days. coming up next, the nfl pro bowl rosters are out. i know you dont care about that, but its interesting because tim tebows name is in the frconversation. were pleased to recognize another of our innovators in the classroom. heres a fifth grade teacher who started an independent reading program that in just three weeks has boosted test scores. >> my name is erin cottman, and im a fifth grade reading teacher in atlanta, georgia. >> give them to me -- >>...

This would give the children the opportunity to pick books that would be on their reading level. and instead of mrs. cottman mandate what theyre going to read, we did choices. we got some test scores back and they grew 10 percentage points. for me, thats great. im going to make them good readers and lifelong readers, i have to let them make the choice. progresso. it fits! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? ive been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay...

Umbrella term for a variety of movements. in the case of egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which decried al-qaeda as a perversion of islam. >> glenn: anyone who has a fourth grade -- stop, stop, stop. incant -- i cant take it. stop. anybody who h a fourth grade reading level knows that that is not true. the muslim brotherhood has the name of a religion in the title, so its secular. wow, thats a tough one. however, clapper may not -- maybe he has had a stroke or something. stump...

In the case of egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which decried al-qaeda as a perversion of islam. >> glenn: anyone who has a fourth grade -- stop, stop, stop. incant -- i cant take it. stop. anybody who has a fourth grade reading level knows that that is not true. the muslim brotherhood has the name of a religion in the title, so its secular. wow, thats a tough one. however, clapper may not -- maybe he has had a stroke or something. stumped. the director of national intelligenc...