0001|                       HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 35
    |
0002|     43RD LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 1998
    |
0003|                            INTRODUCED BY
    |
0004|                             MIMI STEWART
    |
0005|     
    |
0006|                                   
    |
0007|     
    |
0008|     
    |
0009|     
    |
0010|                           A JOINT MEMORIAL
    |
0011|     REQUESTING THAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION STUDY
    |
0012|     METHODS FOR TEACHING READING SKILLS TO CHILDREN IN PRIMARY
    |
0013|     GRADES AND THAT THE COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION STUDY HOW
    |
0014|     PUBLIC POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ARE TEACHING
    |
0015|     LANGUAGE ARTS SKILLS FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN IN PRIMARY
    |
0016|     GRADES.
    |
0017|     
    |
0018|          WHEREAS, it is of great importance that children in
    |
0019|     primary grades learn basic reading skills; and
    |
0020|          WHEREAS, it is necessary for institutions of higher
    |
0021|     education to focus on preparing pre-service teachers with
    |
0022|     knowledge and skills necessary to work with children in
    |
0023|     primary grades so they can learn to read; and
    |
0024|          WHEREAS, research shows that if schools delay
    |
0025|     intervention until age seven for children experiencing
    |
<center>- 1 -</center>

0001|     difficulty, seventy-five percent will continue to have
    |
0002|     difficulty; and
    |
0003|          WHEREAS, poorly developed knowledge of spelling and
    |
0004|     spelling-sound correspondence is found to be the most
    |
0005|     frequent, debilitating and pervasive cause of reading
    |
0006|     difficulty; and
    |
0007|          WHEREAS, young readers must develop accurate word
    |
0008|     recognition, and research verifies that they are much more
    |
0009|     likely to do so if they receive reading instruction that
    |
0010|     includes phonics; and
    |
0011|          WHEREAS, research indicates that strong phonological
    |
0012|     skills lead children to demonstrate effective reading
    |
0013|     comprehension and expanded vocabulary skills in third grade
    |
0014|     and beyond;
    |
0015|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
    |
0016|     STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the state department of public
    |
0017|     education study types of teaching strategies used to teach
    |
0018|     reading skills to children in primary grades and determine
    |
0019|     what children in primary grades should know by the time they
    |
0020|     reach the third-grade level; and
    |
0021|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state department of
    |
0022|     public education study the level of knowledge of first-year
    |
0023|     teachers of primary grades to teach phoneme awareness,
    |
0024|     concepts of print and the letter-sound relationship through a
    |
0025|     systematic sequential approach; and
    |
<center>- 2 -</center>

0001|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state department of
    |
0002|     public education study the current research available
    |
0003|     regarding reading and language skills of children in primary
    |
0004|     grades; and
    |
0005|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state department of
    |
0006|     public education study intervention strategies available if a
    |
0007|     child in a primary grade is not reading; and 
    |
0008|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission on higher
    |
0009|     education study methods, including those based on structural,
    |
0010|     systematic sequential approaches, for teaching reading skills
    |
0011|     to children in primary grades; and
    |
0012|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that as training is designed, the
    |
0013|     state department of public education give attention to areas
    |

0014|     of beginning reading in which the research base for successful
    |
0015|     practices is becoming clearer; and
    |
0016|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state department of
    |
0017|     public education ensure that in-service professional
    |
0018|     development should include enough theory and up-to-date
    |
0019|     research to provide teachers with the rationale for specific
    |
0020|     instructional changes in the ways they currently teach
    |
0021|     reading; training in understanding phonemic awareness and ways
    |
0022|     to teach it; phonics instruction that is dynamic, systematic
    |
0023|     and reinforced through connected text; and instruction in the
    |
0024|     use of appropriate diagnostic tools; and
    |
0025|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the education departments of
    |
<center>- 3 -</center>

0001|     public post-secondary educational institutions report to the
    |
0002|     legislative education study committee by October 31, 1998
    |
0003|     regarding the research used to improve methods for teaching
    |
0004|     reading skills to children in primary grades; and
    |
0005|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
    |
0006|     transmitted to the state department of public education, the
    |
0007|     commission on higher education and the legislative education
    |
0008|     study committee.
    |
0009|                                  
    |
0010|     
    |
0011|     
    |
0012|     
    |
0013|     
    |
0014|     
    |
0015|     
    |
0016|     
    |
0017|     
    |
0018|     
    |
0019|     
    |
0020|     
    |
0021|     
    |
0022|     
    |
0023|     
    |