Helpful Research on the Science of Reading and Related Inquiries
Reciprocal effects between reading comprehension and emotional cognitive ability, December 21, 2023
This study’s findings highlight the importance of educators regularly assessing and improving children's reading comprehension and emotional cognitive ability, taking into account their levels and needs.
Stories Grounded in Decades of Research: What We Truly Know about the Teaching of Reading, Catherine Compton-Lilly, Lucy K. Spence, Paul L. Thomas, Scott L. Decker, International Literacy Association, November 2, 2023
In response to science of reading advocates, Catherine Compton-Lilly, Lucy K. Spence, Paul L. Thomas, Scott L. Decker caution that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to teaching reading, reminding us that we must be responsive to children's individual needs.
David Pearson Interview Part 1, Dr. Sam Bommarito, doctorsam7.blog, October 2023
In Part 1 of his interview with Dr. Sam Bommarito, P. David Pearson discusses many elements of reading instruction, including the educational implications of reading as a meaning-making process. He emphasizes that the science of reading definition of reading that Emily Hanford references frequently, focused solely on phonics, is a very narrow, small piece of the broader definition.
David Pearson Interview Part 2, Dr. Sam Bommarito, doctorsam7.blog, October 2023
In Part 2 of his interview with Dr. Sam Bommarito, P. David Pearson discusses the misuse of Dibels as a direct guide to pedagogy, clarifying that it’s meant to be used as a progress-monitoring tool, not as a diagnostic assessment. He also talks back to the notion that the 3 cueing system shouldn’t be used, noting that every model of expert reading includes multiple cueing systems.
Donna Scanlon’s NCES presentation on the Use of Contextual Supports in Word Identification and Word Learning., The Nation’s Report Card, October 27, 2021
Dr. Donna Scalon, professor emeritus at the University of Albany’s Department of Literacy Teaching and Learning, details the importance of using context clues in conjunction with phonics to support students in word identification and learning.
Thinking through research and the science of reading, Freddy Hiebert, TextProject.com, October 2023
How Media Misinformation Became “Holy Text”: The Anatomy of the SoR Movement, P. L. Thomas, RadicalScholarship.com, September 24, 2023
Tired of the Reading Wars? Become a Conscientious Objector, Larry Ferlazzo, EducationWeek, September 19, 2023
This is part two of a three-part blog series on how teachers should handle the so-called reading wars in classroom instruction.
How to End the Reading War and Serve the Literacy Needs of All Students: A Primer for Parents, Policy Makers, and People Who Care, P. L. Thomas, June 1, 2020
This book examines the current debate around reading instruction, the influence of the “science of reading” on reading policy, and the history of public discourse about student achievement in reading.
The Science of Reading and the Media: Does the Media Draw on High-Quality Reading Research?, Maren Aukerman, Literary Research Association, December 7, 2022
Maren Aukerman of the University of Calgary dives into the research mainstream media access – and the research they leave behind – when reporting on education. This is the third in a series of articles on the topic from Aukerman. The first two are also helpful and are linked here as well.
“It Works” and Other Myths of the Science of Reading Era, Timothy Shanahan, Shanahan On Literacy, March 4, 2023
Timothy Shanahan, Professor Emeritus and Founding Director of the UIC Center for Literacy at University of Illinois - Chicago, blogs extensively about the Science of Reading and literacy for young children.
Facebook Post: P. David Pearson, March 12, 2023.
P. David Pearson, Professor Emeritus, School of Education, University of California at Berkeley, writes in response to the Washington Post editorial about phonics.
“What Really Matters in Teaching Phonics Today: Laying a Foundation for Reading,” Jim Cunningham, Professor Emeritus, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and a member of the Reading Hall of Fame, 2017
Cunningham writes that the last time the US focused heavily on phonics instruction--through a program called Reading First--even the US government’s own assessment of that program showed almost no results. The “lack of success for Reading First was not because it taught phonemic awareness and phonics/decoding, but because it neglected to teach reading and writing at the same time.”
LETRS Study, 2008.
A 2008 study from The American Institutes of Research, found that although yes, teachers who had taken a LETRS-based PD knew more about literacy development on a test written by LETRS, their students didn’t have significantly higher reading achievement than students of teachers in the control group.
Emily Solari, Yaacov Petscher, and Colby Hall, discuss a meta-analysis that studied the effects of Orton Gillingham, a widely touted program. The results suggested that OG has no statistically significant effect on students with word difficulties, despite its status as the gold standard for kids with dyslexia. In fact, OG doesn’t meet the US Dept. of Education’s standard for research-based teaching. We want to point out that this doesn’t mean OG is not helpful for kids--only that a lot of approaches that don’t yet qualify CAN be helpful. It probably depends on how it is taught and to whom.
Reading wars or reading reconciliation? A critical examination of robust research evidence, curriculum policy and teachers' practices for teaching phonics and reading, January 18, 2022.
Dominic Wyse and Alice Bradbury, both faculty at University College London, examined the research evidence resulting from England’s mandatory phonics-first instruction. In 2012, England instituted mandatory phonics-first instruction. In the 10-year review of that policy, Wyse and Bradbury concluded that no measurable progress had been made as a result of the program.
Harvard EdCast: To Weather the "Literacy Crisis," Do What Works, March 24, 2023
Listen to Catherine Snow, John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, talk about the state of literacy. In this Catherine Snow makes the keen observation “I am, like you, struck by the degree to which people are willing to invoke a literacy crisis, when the data do not support anything like a literacy crisis. NAEP scores, aside from the pandemic then-- but NAEP scores, over the last 10, 15 years have grown-- slowly, but they have gotten better in literacy.” “And it's deeply puzzling to me why we have all of this public discourse about a literacy crisis. If I were deeply cynical, I would say it's probably a useful technique for companies that are trying to sell their programs to get people to buy those programs, if parents and some school districts are very agitated about the so-called literacy crisis.”
The Future of the Science of Reading, July 20, 2020
Rachael Gabriel, Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Connecticut, discusses the issues with how we define science and what counts as relevant science in the reading world.
As Tricky as ABC, April 22, 2023
Colin Barras writes for New Scientist about the Science of Reading movement and what the science really says about reading instruction.
On the latest obsession with phonics, May 23, 2023
In the Washington Post's Answer Sheet blog on May 23, 2023, David Reinking, Peter Smagorinsky and David Yaden discuss the misunderstanding about phonics and literacy instruction in general that is pervasive in the media.
Facebook Post. P. David Pearson, June 11, 2023
P. David Pearson, Professor Emeritus, School of Education, University of California at Berkeley, revisits his initial approach to the “radical middle” in reading instruction and finds it still holds true.
Marie Clay: A Personal Reflection on an Unparalleled Professional Career P. David Pearson, 2023
Written in response to Sold a Story podcast.
Fact-Checking the "Science of Reading": Claims, Assumptions, and Consequences, May 25, 2023 (subscription needed to view discussion)
Rob Tierney and P. David Pearson explore the validity of claims offered by scholars and policy advocates who align themselves with the “Science of Reading.” Specifically, they review key claims that have appeared in both scholarly and popular accounts of the “Science of Reading”—analyzing the evidence, reasoning, assumptions, and consequences associated with those claims. Registration required, and well worth it!
Literacy Experts: There is no “Science of Reading”, May 26, 2023
Diane Ravitch reposts the Answer Sheet blog from David Reinking, Peter Smagorinsky and David Yaden, and adds her own fears that the “Science of Reading” narrative has gone too far.
Have You Heard Ep. 152: The Reading Wars Are Older Than You Think, March 7, 2023
In this episode of “Have You Heard,” a podcast focused on exploring the policy surrounding the nation’s public schools, we hear a deep and factual history of the phonics vs. balanced literacy debate.
The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast: Untangling the Debate Over Reading Instruction, August 20, 2023
When it comes to teaching kids how to read, what is the big debate about? And what does research say we should be doing? In this episode, literacy expert Jen Serravallo and researcher Dr. Kelly Cartwright help us understand the different perspectives on effective reading instruction and what research says teachers and school leaders should be doing now to help kids learn to read.
Radical Scholarship, 2023
Dr. P. L. Thomas, Professor of Education at Furman University, blogs regularly about the Science of Reading, analyzing the history of reading research as well as contemporary research and laws.
Making sense of reading's forever wars, May 2, 2022
Leah Durán, University of Arizona, Tucson, and Michiko Hikida, Ohio State University, analyze the history of the increased emphasis on phonics over the last 70 years, as well as the instructional outcomes of this emphasis, and point to evidence for "an ongoing crisis of equity that cuts across all domains of children's opportunities to learn."
Why Phonics (in English) is Difficult to Teach, Learn and Apply: What Caregivers and Teachers Need to Know , Fall 2022
This article, co-authored by David Reinking and his wife who has been a teacher for decades, dispels any notion that teaching reading is as easy as teaching kids their ABCs. The co-authors very clearly lay out the complexities of phonics in the English language, and suggest implications for teaching.