That's a valid question. I changed it because my point in submitting it was to draw attention to this part of the article:
The change started with the Department of Education under the Bush administration, he explains, which wanted to see a much heavier focus on the basic tools of reading, like phonics and spelling.
So I guess the question is... is this due to a reduction in kids' ability to read or is it that we've just realized now that we're focusing on the wrong thing?
HN is a pretty specialized group so the fact that RR inspired a lot of people here isn't great data.
The change started with the Department of Education under the Bush administration, he explains, which wanted to see a much heavier focus on the basic tools of reading, like phonics and spelling.