Re: Harry Potter Commentary Beirdd Sun Sep 24 21:48:25 2000 As a teacher of the fifth grade, may I point to something in this article that, I believe, is the real source of the frustration of these parents? That is the Education Department's statistic that 38% of 4th graders are below basic reading level.*p*Ask any teacher and he or she will tell you that the percentage is *under* representative.*p*My school is a normally functioning suburban/urban school in an equally average district with a widely diverse population. Our fifth graders this year have come miserably prepared for fifth grade. For instance, out of 10 reading groups formed on the grade according to those exams that determined the DOE's stats, four contain only students who require remedial reading assistance (about 80 of a class of 260). *p*That's close to the stats, you may say. Actually those represent students who are virtually *illiterate.* To give a better idea of the problem, we teachers on the grade estimate that the students with the *highest* abilities in Language Arts this year are actually at the Grade *Four* level. If the best students are a year behind, what does that say for the rest?*p*The incoming third grade class, BTW, has 52% requiring remedial reading.*p*When parents realize that their children are failing miserably, the natural instinct (after blaming yourself, which I doubt happens much these days) is to blame someone else. The teachers and the "system" have been blamed already. Why not reach out to other, more traditional, enemies, like "witches."*p*To tell you the truth, I think that what has set most of these parents off is that a book that has been promoted (by its virtues or not) as a great way to entice children into reading, and as a necessity on any child's bookshelf, is A BOOK THAT MANY CHILDREN CANNOT READ.*p*Well, maybe by eighth grade.*p*--Beirdd*p*TopazOwl wrote,*br*: The Miami Herald, By Leonard Pitts, 24 September 2000*br*: leonardpitts@mindspring.com*br*:*br*: Here is something to make your day ... miserable.*br*:*br*: The National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of *br*: the federal*br*: Education Department, ranks reading ability at three levels *br*: : advanced, proficient and basic. The center reports that *br*: an estimated 38 percent of the nation's fourth-graders were *br*: "below" basic in 1998. In addition, nearly a *br*: quarter of all high school seniors were unable to perform at *br*: even the minimum level of reading ability.*br*:*br*: So it is easy to understand why concerned parents would *br*: march down to the library and demand that something be done *br*: about ... witches.*br*:*br*: No fooling. It seems that parents and church groups in *br*: Jacksonville,*br*: Florida, recently mounted a crusade against a local library *br*: after it*br*: awarded young readers certificates announcing that they had *br*: completed a term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and *br*: Wizardry.*br*<snipped> Harry Potter Commentary TopazOwl 644 Sun Sep 24 20:07:44 2000