Critique of Every Child will Read.Education

The article’s title, “Every Child Will Read – We Guarantee It” by Craig Wheaton and Stephen Kay, which appeared in the October 1999 edition of Educational Leadership definitely got my attention. As a Middle school Special Education teacher I am often faced with the children who haven’t learned to read for so many different reasons. This article described the inception, implementation and results of the 1,000 Days program. It is a network of schools that have committed to teaching all children entering at Kindergarten to read by 2nd grade, which has been calculated to be 1,000 days.

The article describes in great detail and emotion the founding of the program. The program was the inspiration of the principal of Scott Lane Elementary School in California’s Silicon Valley, who remains unnamed in the article. However, it is clear that this man is an impassioned and dedicated principal, with some political flair. He put two concepts together, first that there are 1,000 d...