Criticism of these methods has a long history. Rudolf Flesch’s 1955 book Why Johnny Can’t Read advocated for phonics-based instruction, followed by Jeanne Chall’s The Great Debate and the National ...

Rudolf Flesch's scorching 1955 best seller Why Johnny Can't Read turned the pendulum back toward phonics in the 1960s. By the 1980s, the glory decade for whole-language, the pendulum had swung again.

As the debate raged back and forth, one supervisor finally blurted out: “But if we approve this book, other people will think we are giving in to Rudolf Flesch.” If 1955 was notable for ...