The first two episodes of @ehanford's Sold a Story, season 2, are excellent. It was great to hear about Engelmann's background. I can't help but wonder whether, coming from outside of the field of education, and not having been influenced by the education echo chamber, contributed to his ability to design such an effective program. Engelmann believed that all children could learn, and all children could be taught. If a child didn't learn, the problem was with the instruction, not the child. "His lessons were intense, fast-paced, tightly structured, and his way of teaching was CONTROVERSIAL." Engelmann gave us a program in the late 1960s that would help all children learn to read and learn math. And decades later we have teachers saying this: "Everyone is repeating this mantra of inquiry learning is best. And the majority of our kids are two to three levels behind" "I've literally been told by my district that I should not be teaching math. I should be facilitating math." What an enormous mistake we have made as a society by allowing educational philosophies to take precedence over actual student learning. I hope Emily Hanford's new season brings widespread attention to this. It's not just reading! As I've said before, I believe what's happening in education is one of the biggest scandals out there. It will take not just educators, but parents, policymakers, and the public, to recognize what's happening and demand better education for children. Thank you @ehanford!