Why does the average U.S. college freshman reads at a seventh-grade level, according to an educational assessment report? How have we gone from Noah Webster's public school system to a socialist/progressives taken over the public school system? What happened to the proper teaching of phonics? How does Common Core fit into the current scheme of things? This and more with my conversation with Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld in episode 53. Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld was born and educated in New York City. Dr. Blumenfeld graduated from The City College of New York in 1950 and worked for ten years in the book publishing industry. He has also tutored and taught in private schools and as a substitute in public schools. Dr. Blumenfeld is one of the world's leading authorities on the teaching of reading and in 1986; he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Bob Jones University. Dr. Blumenfeld has spent much of his career investigating the the decline in American literacy, the reasons for the high rate of learning disabilities in American children, the reasons behind the educational establishment in America's support for sex and drug education, the reasons why so many children are labeled ADD, and why the school system refuses to use intensive phonics in reading instruction and memorization in mathematics instruction. He has spoken on education all over the world and is recognized internationally as a leader in the intensive, systematic phonics movement. Dr. Blumenfeld has authored of 11 books on education, including: "Is Public Education Necessary?" "NEA: Trojan Horse in American Education," "The Whole Language/OBE Fraud" and "Homeschooling: A Parents Guide to Teaching Children" among many others. Dr. Blumenfeld has had articles published in in the New York Times, Herald Tribune, Commentary, American Opinion, Ideas, Reason, Inquiry, American Education, Vital Speeches, Education Digest, American Legion Magazine, Conservative Digest and  Boston Magazine. Books by Dr. Blumenfeld Alpha-Phonics: A Primer For Beginning Readers How To Tutor NEA: Trojan Horse in American Education Homeschooling: A Parents Guide to Teaching Children The Victims of Dick and Jane Is Public Education Necessary? New Illiterates and How You Can Keep Your Child from Becoming One The Whole Language/Obe Fraud: The Shocking Story of How America Is Being Dumbed Down by Its Own Education System