Knowledge Party with Natalie Wexler

Episode 048: Knowledge Party with Natalie Wexler

Today on Vrain Waves we have an exciting and somewhat earth shaking interview from Natalie Wexler, education journalist and author of The Knowledge Gap. She walks us through the contributing research and education history that led her to write the book, and some strategies for schools to set the foundation for student success. From her website: “Education journalist Natalie Wexler focuses on two ideas that have solid evidence behind them but have been mostly overlooked by schools and reformers: immersing children from less-educated families in knowledge about the world, and linking that knowledge to writing instruction.”

Connect with Natalie Wexler

Website: nataliewexler.com | Twitter: @natwexler | Books: The Knowledge Gap, The Writing Revolution

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

• Intro (00:58)
  • 4 times less likely to graduate if not reading on grade level by 3rd grade
  • NYT Article: Reading Scores on National Exam Decline in Half the States
  • Typical time spent in 3rd grade on reading: 2 hours; 16 min on social studies, 19 min on science (2012)
  • Reading comprehension cannot be broken down into discrete skills
  • Daisy Christodoulou - Books; (bonus: Check out her stuff on Comparative Judgment for assessment!)
• Natalie Wexler’s view on the Promise of Public Education (5:25)
  • Functioning democracy needs a citizenry that can understand events and how to edit and fact check the information that they’re exposed to
• What is The Knowledge Gap (06:55)
  • We’ve treated reading like it’s a set of discrete skills while letting content knowledge take a back seat
  • Most important factor for successful reading comprehension: how much background knowledge and vocabulary you already have
• The Baseball Study and reading comprehension (09:42)
• 2 Parts of Reading: Decoding and Comprehension (11:27)
  • Cognitive Scientists and Teachers have come to opposite conclusions - decoding needs direct and explicit instruction and comprehension will come along with more exposure to content
  • Language at the Speed of Sight, 271–274
  • Dan Willingham (Vrain Waves Episode with Dr. Willingham)
• Whose knowledge? (16:13)
  • Common core history and content knowledge (18:32)
  • Supplemental materials language on content in common core
• Underestimating student ability and having high expectations (22:10)
• Student choice (24:13)
  • Behavior and content knowledge (26:01)
  • The Matthew Effect in Reading
  • Cognitive Load theory - novices and experts - Slides from Daniel Braithwaite
  • “Leveled texts lead to leveled lives.” - Alfred Tatum
• History of the role of content in reading instruction (28:35)
• Alternatives to leveled groupings (31:08)
  • Listening comprehension exceeds reading comprehension
  • Written language is more complex than spoken language
• The importance of exposing struggling readers to grade level texts (34:07)
• The importance of facts and knowledge in the age of Google (36:42)
  • Burden on working memory (see cognitive...