Date sent: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 16:13:13 -0600 (CST)
From: LindaP (Texas)
Subject: Texas-spelling books- where are they???

Dear loop members:

It's going on two years past the date of this article- and still no spelling books.

I wouldn't care if they used the 'old' books- a spelling book is a spelling book! The teachers were not declining using them because they were 'old'- they were told the books were not necessary in the whole-language integrated curriculum.

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9:51 PM 11/9/1995

Schoolchildren to get approved spelling books

By KATHY WALT

Copyright 1995 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN -- For the first time in eight years, Texas schoolchildren will have access to new spelling books stamped with the approval of the State Board of Education.

The action by board members on spelling books Thursday reverses a decision just two years ago to abandon phonetics in favor of a whole-language approach to reading, spelling and grammar.

"The new, more conservative element on the board feels like the more traditional approach, separating out grammar and language arts and spelling into separate components, reading into a separate component ... is an approach that has more beneficial long-term results than the so-called integrated approach," said board member Robert Offutt of San Antonio.

Two board committees unanimously voted to order spelling books, but the full board must still vote on the issue.

The "whole language" concept is based on the theory that children will learn to spell as they learn to read and write without being required to memorize spelling words.

Offutt said the decision represents a change in education philosophy and emphasizes the back-to-basics approach that Gov. George W. Bush urged during his campaign last year and which the Legislature emphasized last session.

Some Texas schools, including many in Houston, have continued to use years-old spelling books.