For Superintendent Candidate, Reading Is Fundamental Literacy Is Building Block For Education, Says Former Elementary School Teacher

As a young teacher, Marilyn Howard wanted to know why some youngsters in her classroom had special difficulties learning to read.

So she started applying for research grants.

Soon, her school was doubling as her research lab. In her classroom and in others, teachers helped figure out why some youngsters had such trouble with reading and how they could be helped.

“We showed that yes, indeed, we could work early and could work preventively.”

Howard’s years of research - during which she continued to teach - eventually came together into a ground-breaking doctoral dissertation that still is quoted in education literature.

It identified specific problems children have in figuring out and putting together sounds from letters on a page - and ways to correct those problems.

“When I was doing this, we didn’t know what to call this - now it’s in all the major literature as phonemic awareness. I was calling it segmenting and blending.”

With the right help, Howard said, children can be fluent readers by second grade - and they should be.

After 28 years of teaching, Howard moved up to the principal’s office and has been a principal for 10 years. Now, she’s running for state superintendent of schools, touting herself as “the only nonpolitician in the race.”

In her campaign literature, along with statements that education prevents incarceration, a pledge to work for better school buildings and talk of a focus on bringing different groups together, Howard includes this statement: “She knows how to teach children to read!”

Reading is one of the first keys, she believes, to her overall goal for education: “preparing all of our children for productive and satisfying lives.”

If elected, Howard also wants to bring “a spirit of respect for each other” to the functioning of the state’s educational system. “It’s time for collaboration,” she said.

Raised on a farm in south-central Idaho, Howard always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She taught Sunday school and Bible school while in high school, then went to the University of Idaho and earned an education degree with a double major in elementary and secondary education.

That allowed her to teach at various levels from kindergarten to high school. While working as a teacher and teacher trainer in Arco, she helped set up a series of night classes for the community.

“My dad took fly-tying; my mom learned to knit. Everybody took ground flight school.”

As part of the same effort, she helped poll the community to see what was missing. The answer: a senior citizens center.

“That’s how I became a founding member of a senior center at a very young age,” she recalled with a laugh. “If you are alert to the needs of a community, you can find solutions.”

Howard has kept that in mind throughout her career. Now, at the elementary school where she’s principal in Moscow, her student body includes speakers of 36 languages. That “adds to the richness of the school,” she said.

While the diversity is celebrated at her school - the school’s T-shirt has West Park School written in 36 languages - those youngsters are learning English quickly.

“The reality is the interaction with other children creates that need to speak that really pulls language along,” Howard said. “It’s a language-rich environment.”

She also oversees a preschool at her school for children with developmental delays.

“There’s a tendency to think, ‘What’s wrong with this kid?”’ Howard said. “If we really pay attention, sometimes we’re somewhat humbled to find out what’s going on.”

Howard’s school also has been adopted by a fraternity, is part of a Rotary Club mentoring program and welcomes university teaching students seeking a chance to help out in a classroom.

If she wins the superintendent’s job, she wants extra focus on making sure children can read fluently early on, curriculum that is relevant to current and future needs, safe and up-to-date buildings and adequate funding.

She says the state Department of Education needs rebuilding to be more responsive.

Asked the greatest accomplishment of her career, she doesn’t hesitate. “Raising two kids to responsible adulthood with strong values,” she said. “They’re kind, they’re productive.”

Wiping away a proud tear, Howard said, “What else matters, you know?”