In his final chapter of Readicide Mr. Gallagher discusses how the American educational system is moving away from its creative spirit which has made if an economic world leader for almost a century. Mr. Gallagher postulates that the overemphasis on standardized testing is leading to the decline of creativity among our youth. To bolster his argument he analyzes the educational systems of a number of emerging countries like: China, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. These nations, Mr. Gallagher asserts, are moving away from the standardized testing model and, "started education reforms aimed at fostering more creativity and innovative thinking among their citizens." The chapter goes on to say that all is not yet lost. If schools concentrate on the 50/50 approach to teaching young readers, the tide of readicide can be curtailed before it overwhelms our educational system.
The assertion Mr. Gallagher presents in this chapter seems full of holes. He uses a lot of subjective reasoning without backing his claims up with any real facts or figures. I think it is incorrect to make a connection between American creative hegemony on the world stage to a decline in comprehensive reading skills among our youth. Culturally American has always prided itself on its innovative spirit and competitiveness. I do not think that this is any less true today that it was fifty years ago. American history is full of creative innovators who did not receive today what we would call a "formal education" (Henry Ford, Bill Gates, the Wright brothers etc.), and yet these individual's creative sprit was never curtailed by their lack of a formal education. They are and will forever remain among the most important innovators of our time. Having said this, I still agree with Mr. Gallagher original hypothesis that America's overemphasis on testing is contributing to the decline in comprehensive reading skills among our youth, and that this is a trend that must be reversed to save a generation of young readers.
