The New York Times reports that 10 NYC schools (Education Week says 11) will be trying the new literacy program developed by Core Knowledge Foundation, which was established by E.D. Hirsch Jr., the well-known proponent of the power of broad knowledge to facilitate learning. The early literacy program, which includes skills as well as information-rich texts, also will be piloted in seven other school districts nationally.

Most NYC elementary schools use the "balanced literacy" approach championed by Lucy Calkins, a Teachers College professor whose Reading and Writing Project trains teachers in NYC as well as across the country. Calkins advocates a "workshop" approach to reading and writing that teaches children how good readers and writers work. It has often been criticized for lacking substance. The Times' story quotes Calkins as saying that she hoped the Core Knowledge schools would continue to teach children to revise their writing and to develop inference skills in their reading. She also said, however, that "this could be calling us to a new and better balance."

The blog on the Core Knowledge Web site has a entry in which a progressive educator "confesses" that he had wrongly rejected the Hirsch approach. It's interesting because it illustrates the reaction of many educators who fear overemphasizing knowledge for fear that it undercuts understanding. Strange, I know.

Core Knowledge also has a pre-kindergarten curriculum.

Journalists might look into pre-kindergarten programs or elementary schools in their area that are using the Core Knowledge approach. Are the kids bored? Do their heads hurt?