READING REFORM FOUNDATION HISTORY
Reading Reform Foundation of New York became a legally recognized not-for-profit organization in 1981.
Reading Reform Foundation of New York has become an organization with a suite of offices in New York City, a full-time staff of 5, and a part-time staff of 35 training consultants who work in public school classrooms twice a week, or 60 times, all the academic year.
READING REFORM FOUNDATION BELIEFS
Reading Reform Foundation of New York has adhered to its original mission: to improve reading instruction.
Reading Reform Foundation's excellent courses and training give teachers the knowledge that most of the English language is predictable and logical if one understands the phonetic basis of the language and its approximately two dozen spelling rules. Teachers learn that these tools to unlocking the written and spoken language can be taught to children in step-by-step ways.
Our beliefs were expressed by the highly respected Harvard professor Dr. Jeanne Chall in her book, The Reading Crisis: Why Poor Children Fall Behind, (Harvard University Press, 1990). Dr. Chall wrote, "The needs of low-income children are not essentially different from those children of middle-class homes. Indeed, our findings suggest that low-income children benefit most from programs that work best for most children... a combination of structure, challenging and direct teaching, and practice in the reading of many books on a wide variety of topics..."
A Teacher Writes:
'I participated in a training session for Reading Reform in July. I am currently receiving your training in my classroom. One of my students has an identical twin that is not receiving Reading Reform instruction.
The one in Reading Reform is making more progress identifying letters and the sounds they make. He is also beginning to blend sounds and read simple words.
Good Teaching = Good Learning