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It is the mind that determines what the body can achieve (XX Brain by Lisa Mosconi, Grain Brain by David Perlmutter and Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin). What is the potential limit of a school district’s reading scores? Taxpayers would you like to know that answer? What university department is capable of attempting to find that answer for taxpayers? It is obviously the psychology department coordinated with the physiology department (the End of Mental Illness by Daniel G. Amen).

A psychologist must direct a reading program, others are Incompetently Ignorant (II), are not interested and find mediocre reading ability as acceptable which is plainly empirically evident by reading efficiency scores. There is a direct relationship between reading ability and Academic Attitude Success (AAS) and graduations numbers. Taxpayers, do not rely on school administrators to recognize or demonstrate the importance of reading to the spending of your tax dollars. Reading is the elephant that administers hate thinking and talking about to taxpayers because administrators do not understand it! They don’t read well! Get in their faces( Ask about reading seven words a second for thirty minutes, a book in one evening.). Demand facts. You owe it to the kids. Adam Henry, reading is thee foundation of education, not athletic teams or buildings which administers are desperate to talk about to you.
Any reading program that only tests reading speed and comprehension creates a vacuum of deceptive information that is falsely representing the student’s ability to parents and taxpayers. It should be noted that college reading professors encourage the reading facade (lies).

What research has been done to establish the reading potential of the average eight grade student? An English teacher would speculate with confidence about an eighth grade student’s potential writing ability, but not potential reading ability. Reading professors do not even speak of reading potential because they don’t have the training, and they don’t want to or are not capable of doing the required rigorous scholarship. College reading departments (Most colleges don’t have a reading department.) bring to mind contended cows lounging in a placid pasture chewing their recycled cuds.

How accurately are school distractions factored into reading scores. Taxpayers, why are you so accepting of classroom distractions interfering with learning; it doesn’t matter to you about not getting what you’re paying for? If the STEM program was a STERN or SERIOUS program, the average student would have a better understanding of how to achieve in science, related classes. Taxpayers need to be alert to various types of school coverup propaganda for the same o same o (STEM = Serious Taxpayer Erroneous Motivation).
But the new schools look great. Kids at home do so called school work, snack, music, video art, phone nonsense. Young teachers have grown up doing the same. So! Ivy colleges have lowered grade standards as has the military recruitment standards.
How accurately is student behavior (individual or student body) factored into reading scores?

What is the relationship of the athletic program to reading scores?

You get the point without even asking about the difficult stuff. Taxpayer, a reading program needs a psychologist as well as a phonetics chart, or you are paying to ride a lame horse in a wandering direction. What’s new! Taxpayer, since you mentioned psychology, understand if your school district had a Students Thank Taxpayers celebration day, reading scores would improve! It does not take a doctorate degree to improve reading scores. Common sense things like being polite in the classroom improves reading scores, prevents dropouts (Makes more sense to get a job than sit in a classroom with distractions.). Go to school board meetings and demand common sense, transparent, specific data (Like how many school board members have visited two classrooms for the full class period in last year?). It takes more than tax dollar beautiful buildings to produce tax dollar beautiful students.

Taxpayers, there is more to a reading program than learning to read a little bit better (Escape from the Box by Col. Edward L Hubbard). Life style is about constant learning adapting. How many young women will be raising kids alone? They need to be attracted to books, helpful minds. Ignorant minds may read books, but ignorant minds don’t write books(exceptions). Books will hold them (single Moms) on their path to embrace their future, give hope. Taxpayers, those who do not feel comfortable bowling, do not go bowling. Single Moms need to know/believe they can grab a book and kick butt. That attitude will pass to their little darlings. The world shall be saved by reading. Ignorant dictators, wars shall prevail no more. Lemonade to that one, Taxpayer!

Oh, the difficult reading stuff to understand reading is not developed in the college reading department (Please spare me the brain work of studying 101 physiology as part of a reading major, Consciousness and the Brain by Sanislas Dehaene). It is amazing how many books about reading are written by college professors (not psychologists) that are nauseatingly repetitious except for one darling special twiggy tweak that the professor insists makes the book required reading (publish or perish). The new developments in college reading departments for the last 70 years are comparable to the new developments in the study of Latin. Most college reading “departments” taste like vanilla topped with a few stingy sprinkles. Elementary teachers are educated to teach reading. Then on reading instruction becomes a moth (not butterfly) fluttering about in the romantic attics of English teachers who really want to be teaching English. Really, the high school kids needing reading “help” well, they are sorta okay. Honestly, teaching English is more noble. English teachers are like museum curators. They are not oriented to a “productive” grab n go reading program (ggrp) which is what the market place requires. English teachers think romantic alien books, wine, chocolate, womb chairs, fireplace, classic music and an exquisite maid capable of a fashionable curtsy. Bottom line: reading teachers (engine mechanics) have to be separate from English teachers. English teachers do not want to or cannot adjust to the methods of teaching reading for today’s demanding academic reading program. Taxpayers, please understand that English teachers teach composition, not reading. Understanding composition helps one’s ability to read.

Taxpayers, do you reckon that English teachers actually read the way they teach reading? Why don’t they teach like they read? Maybe they don’t realize how they actually read. Has any psychology department ever done any research? History teachers read lots of books about dead people, vicarious living. Maybe they need some psychological research, therapy?

Taxpayers, isn’t it odd that so much is known about the reading habits and reading problems of students needing help, and so little is known about the reading techniques of the average students “not” needing help (by definition average needs help)? Do they have cognitive control (CC)? Do they have a sense of cognitive connection (CC)? If so, then the question is how did they manage to achieve competence? Osmosis! Taxpayer, in terms of getting bang for buck, would you like to know how A students read?
Surveys anyone? Do C students have certain reading and study characteristics in common? Do C students have a conscious or subconscious ritual prior to starting to read a book? Are the words they read sticky (Eyes hold on to the words longer than need to for comprehension.)? Sticky word syndrome ENGRAVES itself in which stage of reading development? What is it about the teaching of reading that creates the sticky word syndrome if it exists? Why do some get the disease (holding my teddy bear, teacher’s hand but not all? Do A students have any reading or study characteristics in common? At what grade level do “these” characteristics develop? Do the A students have a love of learning or a love of gold stars? What detailed information about reading is given to parents of children in the fourth grade? What does the school district do about educating the parents of C students about reading? The better a student reads the less time she needs to study but also the more she likes reading.

Taxpayers is it more important to improve STEM scores or reading scores? Taxpayers, do you understand that once you change students’s concept of their reading ability, you have changed their academic self image (Line starting with Self-worth Page 152 Women Men Love Women Men Leave), their motivation, their goals and maybe their even their friends (nerds, jocks, Shakespeare). Reading ability is very important (maybe even as important as STEM) to one’s lifetime contribution to society! Taxpayers, think of reading as a perpetual light switch, a rocket, an engine in perpetuity because that is what reading is. Taxpayer, it is your patriotic duty to encourage others to embrace reading as a dearest friend because it is. What is more worthy, sacred than the ability to communicate with the best world minds?

Professor, have you ever mentioned the rational for practice reading. How many great athletes are there who did not practice? What practice reading (ReadingPacers.com)!Never heard of such a thing, but why not? It is a waste; take a reading class, improve, relapse three months later reading as before because because because stopped practicing. But doesn’t that happen (the relapse) with basketball players also if no practice for three months? Why do people go to church weekly for years? How many times have they heard the same stories, practice tune up?

Level C basketball players who do not make the team will not experience any difference to their lives . Level C reading students not developing level B or A reading ability will experience a difference to their lives via self image and related choices because they won’t read beyond the headlines. Taxpayers can you afford “it”? Taxpayers must demand that average reading ability is not acceptable! Child abuse! Taxpayers, let’s review the numbers for the average teenager brain with reading practice training: 7 words a second is 25200 words an hour plus two 5 minute breaks with 275 words on a page is 91 pages, in 3 hours plus breaks is 273 page book read in a morning or an afternoon or an evening or at least one book a week, for a decade (520 books a doctorate degree). Hey, bragging rights! Em-POW-wa- meant! Level playing field, MaMa!

The best high school basketball players have teachers/coaches to help them achieve their potential; yet the best academic high school students do not have reading teachers to help them achieve their potential. Why is that college professor? Of course, silly me, an A or B student can’t improve any more, maxed out. Strange even professional basketball players have teachers, coaches. Playing top level basketball is probably more difficult than doing top level reading. Right, professor? Does anyone care to learn what top level reading is? Taxpayer, how about a $100,000 reading tournament for high school freshman. Vegas, how about a side bet? Aw shucks, college professors couldn’t figure out the testing process.

Reading historical factual information helps one to slowly realize that poor/middle class people think/believe all individuals are important which helps them to have a bit of hope, of dignity which is what rich people want them to think; however, rich and/or powerful people think/believe/know some (a few thousand) not all, individuals are important which helps them to have a bit of soothing guilt free insensitivity. As machines have become more important, people have become less important (There are automated milking machines (cows prefer them) replacing workers in dairies. Please don’t say udderly amazing. Some people prefer computer machines to dogs and certainly cats.). Reading is enlightening, enjoyable and painful.
Freedom to read is detrimental to dictatorships, censorship and alien myths. It is the salvation of civilization. Creativity feeds upon/demands info of many many many items for its base of spontaneity, associate aspects of memory. Reading well provides solutions and eradicates ignorant concepts.

If the guys on the corner watching the girls go by were discussing a recent best selling book they had read, maybe the girls would stop. Why- fear of missing out- FOMO!

In an advanced poetry class, as she writes her notes, does the English major think more about how to help her students to comprehend a poem or to remember it? Does she wonder how some people pick a name from a list twice as fast as others? Does she wonder about the recognition time of a fighter pilot identifying enemy airplanes? Did the university education department teach the school superintendent that reading speed and comprehension scores were directly proportional to the graduation rate of her students? How many psychology classes are required for a school district superintendent? Many taxpayers like many educators think psychology and philosophy pertain to people with fuzzy minds (No judge requires a troubled teenager to take a bookkeeping class for rehab.).
If there is a need for some-type of community unity, would psychology and philosophy be of any help in achieving it? Psychology and philosophy, the gooey glue that keeps students on their path to success via reading.

Why do school superintendents not talk to the school board and taxpayers about memory when discussing reading achievement? Answer: To competently discuss memory requires aggressive rigorous psychological scholarship; superintendents do not have it! Why comprehend it if you can’t remember it? “The average sophomore increased her memory score by 2% over the year before.” Taxpayer, ever hear a school superintendent say that at the school board meeting? Well someday taxpayer, you might hear that when classroom distractions are minimized. Distractions influence memory. Hark you all, 101 Distractions Class for superintendents which includes some brief class time discussing the relationship between self discipline and being a successful student. Superintendents need to clearly understand (comprehend) that there should be no need to discuss proper classroom behavior with students after the second grade. Where does the mindset for riots begin? Taxpayers, is that fuzzy school board philosophy!

Stress, distractions, home life, life style and poverty have an effect upon memory. Taxpayer, most test questions are memory questions, not comprehension questions! Taxpayer, there must be order in the classroom which reduces stress which improves memory which most educators think of as comprehension. Therefore reduce stress and/or classroom distractions and improve reading comprehension scores, actuality memory scores. Taxpayer, if you think students are individuals, then you think stress must effect them differently. By getting stress from the elementary classroom, there will be more uniformity in individual learning (Fewer students are left behind, George W. Bush. Does war produce stress, anxiety, background noise? And what about test stress, George W.? Your brothers, Neal and Jeb had an ownership in a test company, right? Remarkable increase in price of tests did not have a direct correlation to increase in reading results. More expensive testing did not improve reading scores, an amazing trove of expensive test data not improving test results nor teacher attitudes.). Capitalistic politicians to the rescue!

Taxpayer, what is the relationship between diet and anxiety. What is the relationship between brain energy and diet? In a learning situation is junk food the comprehensive answer to memory fatigue? Taxpayer, would you want someone on a junk food diet operating for
three hours on yore punkin head? Junk food creates stress. Unknown to scientists junk food caused the extinction of dinosaurs via stress of junk food anxiety.

So taxpayers, it is the middle of March. Why not volunteer to teach or assist reading at one of the local high schools a few days a week to help the average student who has study hall time to become a better reader? Tune them up a little bit to get last chance better grades. Encourage summer reading. I called the school and ask to talk to a counselor. I explained to the counselor my qualifications and my desperate need to illuminate the darkness. The counselor did not volunteer anything about the need for reading help but directed me to the vice principal. I told the same thing to the VP. He explained that in a school of a thousand students, there were fifteen who needed reading help, and an English teacher was teaching them. He was very nice in explaining that the school did not need my help. He did not ask for my phone number to pass on to another school. My neurotic do goodie brain was warped and surprised at the contentment of the status quo. Don’t all C students need reading help? Why are they C students? Are their parents satisfied with C grades? Taxpayers, a lot of questions swim about in the clouds. Only fifteen students in a school of a thousand! Only fifteen would give up, drop out. Taxpayers, is there no relationship between what the average student thinks could be her future goals and her present reading ability? It is easy to enhance reading ability (in 15 hours of class time, bin dar n dun hit) that is useful for a lifetime.
Some kids/adults keep a teddy bear for the holding, touchy feeling, a unity. Some kids/adults write with pencil for the holding, touchy feeling, a unity. A book is a whole thing. “It” is all there (encapsulated) in that book that I hold in my hand, that I control, that I completely see, that my mind plays with the thoughts on its pages, that I put on my shelf, that has a personality, that enhances me, that is my teddy bear. My canvas (painting) is not interchangeable with my screen. That book is not interchangeable with my laptop. Like Dude, there is something about the touch, you know. Ever hold hands, pat a shoulder? Besides all that, the author likes me, got my back, a security feeling. Please teddy bear, make me whole.

Taxpayer, sugar is a savage enemy of your education system (Ya don’t need a dietician! Use common sense if that is not available just ask a four year old if “it”tastes sweet or greasy or processed or salty.). Strangle it gleefully with your barehands. Send Halloween sugar spooks on space flight to the black hole. Be wary wicked witch of trick or treat dungeons, less dark chocolate chains choke chortling chuckles. Easter should be about the bunny rabbit’s friends in the forest, not candy in a basket. Give guilt free colorful candy gobbling gifts to your enemies, school boards. Candy crippled critters crave cookie crunches n catchup and cafeterias.

We can learn more about horses by reading about them for two weeks then we can by living on a horse ranch for two months. Doing both would be enjoyable but are not an adequate education about horses. Video learning is an effective adjunct to reading, as is experience and are teachers. Think of reading a book as an early warning (or warming) system for the video or the experience. Reading is the short cut to the enticing adventure to freedom, exploring self.

The invisible elephant in the reading ant pile is memory. Memory resides in the department of psychology and vacations in physiology department. Pray tell wise learned reading professor how does one honestly discuss reading ability with the parents and the taxpayers without discussing memory? Is it a trifling problem for you to separate the memory questions from the comprehension questions in a reading test thereby enabling you to ethicality, professionally discuss the test results? The student comprehends the number of horses in the herd of eight; but, on the test the student answers seven. Seven is a memory answer, not a comprehension answer. The motorcycle in the street interfered with the correct answer, or maybe it was a tummy without breakfast, but it was not comprehending ability. Taxpayer, pay attention. The teacher explains concept X and discusses concept X with the class, and the class comprehends the concept X. The test contained two questions about concept X. The students got both questions wrong about concept X. Did the test, test the students’s memory or comprehension or motivation? The parents were told it was comprehension. Not discussing memory with parents interferes, obliterates professional ethics. Right, professor? What about being politically correct? Child abuse! Attention deficiency blab blab! Discriminatory incompetence, impotence!

It takes brains, effort and time to group test questions. Why bother? Because professor you discussed the test results with parents in terms of speed and comprehension minus memory (Parents relate comprehension results to child’s IQ. Low “comprehension” score does not mean low IQ. Gives parents unnecessarily more stress.). Go review ethical standards professor! It is not ethical to put memory questions and comprehension questions in the same reading test pot (Brilliant college reading professor, aren’t at least 75% of test questions memory questions; even comprehension questions are often memory questions?) then refer to all the questions as comprehension questions. Correction! Professor, if all the test questions were comprehension questions, then you committed no naughty poo poo. Put your hand on your checkbook and swear to it. Parents and taxpayers do you comprehend why a psychologist needs to be directing a school district reading program? Parent, read a story and compose three comprehension questions and three memory questions. Now, did you get some insight into the problem? Taxpayer, your school district does not have a reading program after the fourth or fifth grade except for remedial reading classes which are a product of the first five years of teaching reading (Is that potential comprehension question or potential memory question?). Learning about composition is helpful to reading well, but English teachers are not reading teachers, unless they have studied psychology. Taxpayers, athletic programs are more important to your school district than its reading program. Put the money where the mouth is.

Seriously taxpayer, who do you want to hire for directing your school district’s reading program? Who do you think is best educated to motivate the best reading speed, to motivate the best reading comprehension and to motivate the best reading memory? Most college English departments are guardians of culture. Most English teachers are not interested in research pertaining to neuroscience memory, to comprehension or to motivation. Psychology departments constantly experiment and research the how and why of people (Why We Act by Catherine A Sanderson). English teachers are not interested in how the mind is hardwired. Reading unites the common folks with the best minds which is what English teachers enjoy (uniting) doing. The world is grateful. Isn’t that as important as coaching athletic teams? How much does the reading teacher get paid? How much does the basketball teacher get paid? Reading is for a lifetime wherever, tennis and volleyball are for a level floor with a net. Should a library have a reading instructor? High school libraries have a media specialist. What about a reading drone in a classroom recording blanked out reading stares?

If a high school offer GGRE (grab n go reading efficiency) how many students would sign up for it? Hey, tell the studs it is like driving down Main Street at 70 mph at 2 in the morning. Of course, there would not be an English teacher who would volunteer to teach it (Thank you local university English department.). Taxpayers, please understand a reading program has to have a feeling: a can do, a fervor, a kick ass, a take no prisoners. Hey Slack, want a piece of this, bring it. Hansel and Gretel your witch’s warped broomstick is wondering. Tweety Bird, why you got brakes on this donkey? English plantation, why you got blindsided on exploring reading techniques? Oxygenating, breathing life into reading instruction enhances the English plantation, obviously. Rejuvenation! Ring freedom bell! “Don’t ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.” The …. horns began to blow, and the walls come tumbling down. And when “they” came, they saw the stone was rolled away from the cave entrance. The authors had journeyed forth, inspiring stars reflecting light waves of hope. Emotional contagion is found on page 74 of The Age of Empathy by Frans De Waal.

Taxpayers, hiring tip for the director of your high school reading program (Taxpayers if you don’t have a reading program, why do you have a high school?): 1. Get a social studies teacher, not an English teacher. Contrary to myths, teaching reading is not about teaching English. 2. Who coaches the football linebackers, 3. The picture: A. Linebackers are readers. B. The quarterback is the author. C. The football is the book contents. What is wrong with the picture? Actually, the author wants to cooperate with the reader in getting the book’s contents. The author demonstrates that via the various techniques of presenting the material which English teachers relish discussing in the psychology of writing well. It is what it is. Ambiguity is a nuisance. Rather than football, English teachers would stage “it” as a romantic duel with flashing ferocious fencing feats between author and reader.

The following data is the result of a semester reading class that I taught (I had not taught for a couple of years. I did a few first time experiments mostly pertaining to confidence, non academic touchy-feely stuff. The final results should/would have been better in a future class.) meeting three days a week at a state college. The 20 students were mostly freshmen; 10 were women. Two reading tests were given the first week of class. The results were averaged for each student to establish a base. A test was given every two weeks. The tests were excerpts from fiction books that required 10 to 25 minutes of reading. The final grade test score was the result of one test. Comprehension of the material was not difficult. Keeping names and relationships understood and remembered at faster reading rates is difficult. The test questions were 95%? memory questions, not comprehension questions (Standardized reading tests would state questions were comprehension questions [lying s.o.b.].). No textbook was used because available ones for college students are written by mother goose English teachers. Eagles should write reading textbooks: starving gut, no prisoners, penetrating eyes, speedy wings, grasping talons. I discussed with the students the needed info. The students subscribed to a magazine subscription for six months. They were also required to donate two used fiction books that were kept on classroom shelf for anyone to read in class for practice reading or to take home. Taxpayer, please understand that teaching reading is boring; coaching reading is exciting. Rawhide, gittin thin up, movin thin out!

Taxpayer, I had average brain, had average grades, walked in those average shoes. But taxpayer, I had desire and practiced; that team of work horses does not produce average reading ability. Taxpayer, the ignorant think of practice as merely doing the same thing over and over. Wrong! You can’t put your finger in and out of the same flowing river twice. Body learns, adjusts each time. The mind/desire consciously and subconsciously seeks perfection each time. The only waste with practice is not doing it. It requires self discipline to practice. Taxpayer, center your reading program on self discipline, practice and desire, 1, 2, 3. The mind like a hound dog will seek the trail.

Beginning average test score words per minute (wpm) was 250 ending average score 75O wpm. The beginning average “comprehension” score 67%. The ending “comprehension”
score was 83%. Speed times comprehension equals reading efficiency (r e) score. What was reading efficiency score change from beginning score? Divide final r e by beginning r e. (4.49?). Was that a comprehension question or a memory question? Taxpayer, sorta looks like a maybe your high school is leaving some good work horses (call them lame C students) in the barn which is partly your fault. Taxpayer, sorta looks like maybe your high school is oblivious to hitching up to a wagon load of potential which is partly your fault. Be a shame if a couple of those horses were friends of yours who lacked the confidence to apply for training or college. You might call them future taxpayers who could lend you a hand. Taxpayer, were you a C student impatiently stomping in the barn (can’t write snorting)?

Taxpayer, what you need to understand is the crux of the teaching of reading is what is happening between the brain via the eyes and the printed page. That space invites the English teacher to become a fairy godmother and do her magic. The space relates to speed, comprehension and memory. She has to unite students with the author, a bridge of trust. Picture intense wild-eyed hound dogs baying up the hollows tracking the trails!

Taxpayer, are you starting to realize that at least 80% of tests questions are memory questions; then are you not realizing that the philosophy of education has to change? What teaching reading method facilitates long term memory? Does a taxpayer want to know that teaching/testing for memory answers is different than teaching/testing for comprehension answers? If 80% of the questions are memory questions, then the ethically correct educators should say it is a memory test. Yes___ No___ That question is a comprehension question. Yes____ No____

Taxpayer, I think we can have an important discussion about reading if we invite psychologists to join us or at least read their books about the brain and mindset. Let’s try to remember to do that, comprender, Señora? Result? Students will get a more meaningful education.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy by Jayme Albin and Eileen Bailey

Taxpayer, in summary, if you do not have an intrinsic reading program, you have a neurotic mule having nightmares bedding down on your tax dollars. Your school district must have a stated reading philosophy that is supported by reality. Example: all high school graduating seniors of average intelligence shall have the wherewithal to believe that he/she can conquer/dominate 80% of books. 80% is a grade of C! Do school boards really think that taxpayers are ignorant enough to believe that only, only, only fifteen students in a school of a thousand students (About 500+ have a C grade average.) need reading “coaching”? Yes or No? Either answer means the school board has a problem! And not answering the question or BS generalizations means they even have a greater problem.
Deferring to the superintendent for an answer is driving with a flat tire; superintendents don’t like reading, obviously by test results. It is easier to default to a STEM program than to have a qualified reading program, again obviously. The school board has a teddy bear, the superintendent, again obviously. The students have a teddy bear, cell phone, again obviously. Education has a teddy bear, administrative choking constipation, again obviously.

United States has propensity to fear/protect the anarchy of individual wants (not needs) over the respect for the good of the majority. Respect for the classroom is a reflection of society.

Taxpayer, at the risk of being dramatic, other than love, reading is the pathway to make us whole via fusion, affirmation and validation. Those are three goals that reading can provide a student for a successful life (It is not fair to expect a standardized English teacher who does not have the training to make it happen.).

Veni vidi vici – Julius Caesar
I came I read I created I conquered – author. The different homely odd sized seeds grew, flourished and united into a flowering meadow.

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg