"What I see is a lot of activity," said the 74-year-old California school board member, who is perhaps the nation's foremost reading reformer, "but not activity that's clearly focused. Furthermore, there's been no change at all in the [teachers] colleges. So, frankly, I would have been shocked if there had been major improvement."
But Joseph is hopeful. In the Baltimore area a few days ago to speak to the Maryland branch of the International Dyslexia Association, the self-described pit bull - she stands about 5 feet tall and speaks her mind freely - said there's plenty going on in her home state besides the power crisis.
The California State Board of Education, of which Joseph is the senior member, has established tough, phonics-oriented standards in reading instruction.
In January, the board will approve millions of dollars in textbook purchases, and Joseph said major publishers are offering books that promote "strong, systematic, direct" instruction. That's a major change for the better, Joseph said, but not unexpected in light of California's huge influence in the textbook market.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles and Oakland have joined Sacramento in tossing out the "whole language" philosophy and adopting phonics-based reading programs.
For Joseph, January's textbook adoption will culminate a decade of campaigning that began when she discovered that her grandson (who lives with her in Menlo Park) couldn't read his schoolbooks. If the pendulum has swung nearly all the way along the arc from whole language to phonics, we can thank - or blame - Joseph.
In her Baltimore talk last month at a Timonium hotel, called "One Woman's Initiative," Joseph urged members of the dyslexia association to join her campaign. Keep a close eye on reading textbook adoptions like the one going on in Baltimore County, she urged. Follow the money from federal reading initiatives "to make sure it's spent on programs driven by research evidence." Put pressure on college and university education schools, which she said appear to be impervious to reform, at least in California.
Above all, she said, don't be afraid to speak out. "Ten years ago, we were working in unfurrowed ground, but now lots of things are growing. No one dreamed it would be this difficult."
One woman asked Joseph whether the "people who don't get it are obstinate, evil or ignorant."
"All of the above," Joseph smiled. "But mostly they're uninformed."
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