[Reading-hall-of-fame] Five Shades of Gray

[tsticht at znet.com]

Thanks to all who sent me info re William S. Gray. I ended up not calling
him the father or godfather of Dick and Jane in the following note that I
posted on a couple of adult literacy discussion lists. Thanks again for
your input!

Tom Sticht


11/26/12


Five Shades of Gray in Adult Literacy Education


Tom Sticht
International Consultant in Adult Education


Speaking at numerous workshops around the United States I have asked
participants if they knew who William S. Gray was. Close to 100 percent of
the time the answer has been “no”. But when I show them pictures, almost
all the participants recognize the fictional children which, as an editor
and author at Scott Foresman publishers, Gray helped turn into the American
cultural icons: Dick and Jane!


But Gray did not confine his work to children. His work came in different
shades of interest in adult literacy and he produced some of the
foundational work on adult literacy education during the first 60 years of
the 20th century. Here are five shades of Gray that adult literacy
educators should know about.


Shade#1:Gray-The Educator of Adult Literacy Educators


In 1929, President Herbert Hoover was persuaded to form a National Advisory
Committee on Illiteracy. In 1930 the Committee commissioned Gray to produce
a Manual for Teachers of Adult Illiterates (Gray, 1930;Whipple, Guyton, &
Morris, 1931).


In some 185 pages, the manual offers recommendations for the qualifications
and preparation of teachers and extensive, multiple chapters present
information on how to organize programs, how to teach adults to read,
write, and compute, and how to assess learning progression. (source:
Whipple, Caroline A., Guyton, Mary L., Morris, Elizabeth C. (1931). Manual
for Teachers of Adult Elementary Students. United States Office of
Education, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.


Shade#2:Gray-The Adult Literacy Education Researcher


In 1932 Gray served as first author of what appears to me to be the first
rigorous study of adult literacy education in the U. S. The research
examined the results of four week, residential summer courses on literacy
and other subjects, in separate schools for Whites and Blacks.


The researchers concluded that: Quote: "In summary, the facts which have
been presented in the study show clearly that agencies of adult education
may render invaluable service to adults of limited education. Because of
the very nature of the training provided, an opportunity school of the type
described in this report has unique possibilities of service. Such schools
should be far more widely established. They should supplement the public
school and be supported by public funds.” End quote (source: Gray, William
S., Gray, Wil Lou, & Tilton, J. Warren. (1932). The opportunity schools of
South Carolina: An experimental study. New York: American Association for
Adult Education.)


Shade#3:Gray-The Adult Literacy and Readability Assessor


To find out which aspects of written materials caused problems in
comprehension for adults of limited reading ability, in 1935 Gray teamed
with Bernice Leary, and conducted an early survey of the reading skills of
some 1700 adults around the nation. They developed a reading test
consisting of the comprehension of paragraphs of increasing difficulty and
administered this test and the Monroe Standardized Reading Tests and
determined that the average adult scored just below the 8th grade level.


To determine features of paragraphs causing adults problems in comprehending
the materials Gray and Leary counted numerous features of writing such as
average sentence length in syllables, number of “easy” words, etc. and
correlated them with paragraph comprehension scores. By combining five such
features into a formula, they found a correlation of +.645 with
comprehension scores. This work by Gray and Leary helped to stimulate
numerous other researchers to develop a wide variety of readability
formulas. (source: Gray, William S. & Bernice E Leary. 1935. What Makes a
Book Readable. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.)


Shade#4:Gray-The International Literacy Expert


In 1956, UNESCO published a four year study of literacy by Gray in a report
entitled The Teaching of Reading and Writing: An International Survey (the
information here is taken from the online second edition published in
1969). In his chapter on Teaching Adults to Read he expresses what many
adult literacy educators have found regarding the reluctance of many adults
to participate in adult literacy programs and their changed attitudes about
themselves once they discover that they can learn. He states:

Quote ”
many illiterates look upon ability to read as a superior achievement
and lack confidence in their own ability to acquire the art. They either do
not join literacy classes or are so timid that they make little progress
after they enroll. The fact has been demonstrated repeatedly that once
confidence has been established many of these adults make very satisfactory
progress.” end quote (p.154).


Shade#5:Gray-The Reading Profession Organizational Man


In 1956 the International Council for the Improvement of Reading Instruction
and the National Association of Remedial Teachers were merged to form the
International Reading Association and Gray was elected the first President
of the IRA. In this capacity he argued for attention to the improvement of
reading not just in the primary and middle grades, but in high school,
college and throughout adulthood. He brought attention to the need for
improving reading in the content areas of English, mathematics, history,
science, etc. and for remedial education at the college level.


For over half a century, the IRA has built on Gray’s early work on adult
illiteracy. My personal experience with this work came during 1975-76 when
I had the opportunity to serve as Chairperson of the IRA Committee on Basic
Education and Reading and again from 1979-2003 when I served yearly as the
IRA representative on UNESCO’s International Literacy Prize Jury. Today,
the IRA continues to sponsor initiatives on adult literacy instruction in
the United States and around the world building on the five shades of Gray!


tsticht at aznet.net