During our class assignment last week about truth, I wrote very little on the subject. My few sentences reflected that, in my opinion, truth is fact based on time-proven research and study. Kristen later mentioned that "to get truth, we need more than one perspective." That made perfect sense and also seemed consistent with my view.
Today I looked through a book by Michael Pressley--Reading Instruction That Works: The Case for Balanced Teaching (2006). He's a well-regarded researcher on the subject and this text is a great read--very thorough and very well-written. Judging from his references, Pressley must have consulted every article and study on literacy. I flagged numerous pages as potential wall coverings--they all seemed so important and insightful. Then I came to the topic of Vocabulary. Pressley states early on that there's "considerable doubt" that "increasing a reader's vocabulary will improve his or her comprehension very much." Continuing, he writes that the connection between vocabulary knowledge and comprehension has more to do with "general intelligence" (p. 220).
I thought there'd be a "gotcha, only kidding" immediately afterward, but no. I must have read the section three or four times, certain at that point that my eyes had failed me. But there it was, a position from a known expert in the field that contradicted everything I'd read last year for two (research-based) papers. It's astounding, and to say I'm unconvinced is putting it mildly. I know what I think is true, and I'll stay with my belief.
Since posting the above, I've learned that Michael Pressley died from a terrible illness in 2006, the year this book was published. He was 55 years old.
ReplyDeleteThe chapter on Vocabulary is credited to both a school psychologist and (at the time) a doctoral student. Other chapters have additional authors as well. Perhaps this work was completed when Mr. Pressley was too ill to oversee it. In any case, the issue I was so overwrought about seems less important now.