Promises, PromisesAuthor(s): Kenneth S. GoodmanSource: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 24, No. 4, Testing (Jan., 1971), pp. 365-367Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20196509 .

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Kenneth Goodman is Director of Reading Miscue Research,

Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.

Promises, promises

KENNETH S. GOODMAN

"It's not so much the input that counts as the output"; so

said the San Diego Schools' leading authority on performance contracts in a conversation with this writer recently.

This is a rather remarkable but succinct distillation of the

arguments in favor of performance contracts as a solution to

school problems. Implicit in it are a number of assumptions, a] The ends justify the means. Means are in fact not to be con

sidered except in terms of evidence that they do indeed work.

Validity, soundness of basic premises, theoretical assumptions,

consistency with research, all are to be left to the contractor, b]

Any unplanned, incidental effects on learners are not of impor tance. As long as the ends are spelled out as behavioral goals and

the contractor promises to achieve those goals; never mind the

bed-wetting, self-esteem, anti-social acts, or effects on other areas

of learning. Such concerns are "fuzzy-minded." c] Besides it's

easier to stipulate end products than a program to achieve them.

d] Educators have no input worth considering (other than choos

ing whose promises to believe) and teachers in particular, by vir tue of past failures, have forfeited the right to make educational

decisions. They are to become efficient technicians, trained just

enough to carry through the contractor's program but not enough to interfere with it. In fact a pep rally might be better than in

service training since the main thing is that teachers have faith in

and enthusiasm for the program. Performance contracts in reading represent a fascinating

exercise in logic, a] We do not know how to teach black children

to read, likewise chicanos. b] Furthermore, nothing we have ever

tried has been effective in substantially improving the reading achievement of black and chicano pupil populations, c] There

fore, we will seek bidders to accomplish this hitherto unaccom

plished task, d] We will accept those bidders who make the most

definite promises, stated most unequivocally, e] However, promises can be broken. Hence, we will require them to agree that, if they cannot keep their promises, they are to forfeit part of their profit.

f] A promise made, backed by a willingness to risk loss of payment is a promise kept. Note: if, however, the contractor will not agree

365

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366 THE READING TEACHER Volume 24, No. 4 January 1971

to take the risk, we will accept his promises anyway, h] The un

solved problems of teaching black and chicano children to read

will be resolved.

Since no new input is necessary, implicit in this logic are the

assumptions that: a] Reading programs have been unsuccessful

before because the publishers did not make promises (or at least

sincere ones) b] Threats of loss of profit were absent in past rela

tionships between publishers and educators and/or c] Speculators have been quietly sitting with the key to reading instruction wait

ing for the advent of performance contracting at which point they will surface, make promises, fulfill them and live profitably ever

after and/or d] The solutions to problems in reading instruction

are self-evident and all that is necessary is for a business organiza tion to systematize the instruction, e] Non-profit agencies have

not been able to provide funds sufficient to provide successful

reading programs, but profit making agencies will do so, and

make a profit besides, using the same revenue sources.

The possible applications of the performance contract to other

human problems using this logic are limitless. For example: Crime

?Government agencies sign performance contracts with private

companies to eliminate, or alleviate to a specified level, the crim

inal behavior in a given community. The ends-means or input

output assumption may require that certain prior practices such

as assumption of innocence, right to privacy, constitutional liber

ties be permanently or temporarily set aside. But after all, past efforts have certainly not reduced crime and no one would argue

with the goals. Health?The applications of the performance con

tract to human health problems boggle the mind. A community could enter into contracts for cures to diseases such as cancer.

One can also foresee a governmental agency or citizens group

entering into a performance contract with a patent medicine sup

plier to halt an epidemic. If the contractor fails to meet the objec tives he forfeits his profits. Even an individual might agree with

his physician to a performance contract. For example if he is

suffering from a heart condition the doctor might contract to keep him alive for X years. A sliding scale could be developed whereby the physician receives only part payment if the patient dies in

less than X years. Quacks should not be excluded from bidding since out-put, not in-put is what matters. What could be more

reassuring to a patient, as he goes into an operating room than

that his doctor will receive no compensation if the operation is

unsuccessful. That would surely be a prime example of account

ability. Space?How much more secure those astronauts would

have been at the time of the explosion in their space vehicle if

that vehicle had been built under a performance contract. Further

more, the expense of the huge NASA staff could be greatly

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goodman: Promises, promises 367

reduced if input were no longer a concern and only output mat

tered. We could leave it to the contractor to deal with all input trivia secure in the knowledge that faced with a loss of his profits

he would not promise what he could, in fact, not achieve. War?

The Pentagon, the State Department and three administrations

have not been able to achieve the goal of ending the Viet-Nam war.

Performance contracts could be let which would end the war by a specific date with no more than X American casualties, no less

than Y enemy casualties and no more than W new areas of mili

tary involvement. (Again outmoded considerations such as bans

on the use of chemical and bacteriological warfare might be ig nored as long as the end was achieved). In fact we might contract

out all American involvement in international problems. To be

fair we could give one company the Middle East, another the

Soviet Union; still another could guarantee to cope with Red

China. After that why not divorce, drugs, child raising, The Gen

eration gap. And then, why not?why do we need elected officials?

Why not a performance contract to run the country? Too com

plex? OK we will break it up. Separate performance contract to

run each cabinet level department. Think of the savings on Con

gress alone which has demonstrated by its past performance its

inability to handle the job. The author prefers to bid on the treasury and promise a

balanced budget, lower taxes, and a reduced national debt. He will

get 2 per cent if he succeeds and 1 per cent if he does not.

Accountability: . . .

(Continued from page 304)

supplementing of the local effort by encouraging cross validation

of programs which embody the best of what has been found. The

problem then is to obtain a convincing mass of data to show that a replicable technique has been identified and perfected which

will give results.

Every person intimately involved in the problem of improv

ing reading instruction has a responsibility in this matter. Per

sons in charge of such programs should take a second look at the

evaluative procedures being used locally. Are they sound? Are

the comparisons being made in ways which are statistically ac

ceptable and meaningful? Are these data being analyzed and the results communicated in such a way that the success or the failure of the local effort is clearly demonstrated? Only when positive responses are forthcoming can appropriate action be taken either to correct or drop inept programs and to strengthen those that seem most promising.

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