ABSTRACT
Never has there been a time in our history when reading has captured the attention of state and federal policymakers more than now. Nationwide we have seen a tremendous increase in state legislation around reading and phonics (Paterson, 1998, 2000). This change is not only represented at the state level, but also at the federal level. We experienced the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and Reading First legislation, which increased U.S. federal reading funding from $300 million in FY 2001 to more than $900 million in FY 2002. NCLB links this increased funding to “scientifically proven methods of reading instruction” (NCLB, 2003, p. 2). These changes mark a significant shift taking place not only around reading, but also around the role of elected officials in defining how to teach. Traditionally, issues of pedagogy or how to teach specific content has been left to the educational experts (i.e., teachers, administrators, higher education). These more recent trends in policymaking, however, take a different approach-one that pushes against constitutional rights for local control.
