ABSTRACT
The real common ground includes the common understandings that reading is not simple, and there are no simple answers or solutions that can be applied to all children and situations. Many of the researchers have indicated that the high-stakes testing we have been experiencing has been very negative, and the results have negatively informed and affected the contexts and practices of instruction in classrooms. There is far too little teacher autonomy in public schools, federal and state governments have become too involved and dominant in classrooms, and the use of government prescribed tests has resulted in numerous inappropriate decisions regarding student literacy instruction. Instead of being guided by the conclusions of more than a century of literacy research, classroom reading instruction is more often influenced by what communities believe, the power relationships that exist in politics and business, and government mandates and goals.
