Recent in-depth reporting on the science of reading has sparked an urgent conversation about literacy instruction in this country.
Thanks to the work of groundbreaking journalists like Emily Hanford and her Sold a Story podcast and editors at publications like Education Week and their comprehensive spotlights on literacy, the science of reading is getting the attention it deserves. We’re rounding up recent articles, including reports on the latest research. We’ll update this post as new articles are published.
Sold a Story—How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong
Emily Hanford, American Public Media, October 2022
Emily Hanford’s groundbreaking journalism on the reading crisis has become a riveting set of stories in this must-hear podcast from American Public Media.
A Novel Idea: The History of the Science of Reading Movement
Iowa Reading Research Center, July 2023
In this eight-episode documentary podcast series, host Meg Mechelke explores the history of literacy instruction in the United States, starting from the Age of Enlightenment and progressing to the development of controversies and debates that are still happening today.
Two-Thirds of Kids Struggle to Read, and We Know How to Fix It
Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, February 2023
New York Times Opinion Columnist Nicholas Kristof tackles the topic of reading instruction from a human rights perspective in this February 2023 column.
Spotlight on Science of Reading
Education Week Editors, March 2020
A collection of Education Week articles hand-picked by their editors for insights on the methods teachers are using to teach reading, what the science says about early readers, and how classrooms are overhauling reading instruction.
To Move Past the Reading Wars, We Must Understand Where They Started
Sarah Schwartz, Education Week, August 2023
Education Week reporter Sarah Schwartz delves into the history of instructional approaches and explores how research methods in linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience influenced our understanding of how skilled reading works.
How the Phonology of Speech is Foundational for Instant Word Recognition
David A. Kilpatrick, Perspectives on Language and Literacy, Summer 2020
David Kilpatrick explains how we need to teach phonological awareness and letter-sound correspondence to a level of proficiency or automaticity.
Connected Phonation is More Effective than Segmented Phonation for Teaching Beginning Readers to Decode Unfamiliar Words
Selenid M. Gonzalez-Frey & Linnea C. Ehri, Scientific Studies of Reading, June 2020
We can teach early readers to decode words without a break in the speech stream (“gggeeettt”) as opposed to /g/ /e/ /t/. This study prompted changes to our Orton-Gillingham Kindergarten Scope & Sequence, the order of letter-sounds, and how we teach our earliest readers to decode words.
The Brain Basis of Fluency Development: Implications for Assessment and Instruction
Jane Ashby, Ph.D., A/AOGPE, and Melissa L. Farrall, Ph.D., SAIF, OGA Winter/Spring 2020 Newsletter
Literacy experts Jane Ashby and Melissa Farrall cover the cognition and neuroscience behind fluent reading and clarify misconceptions about reading fluency.
Teaching Reading to African American Children: When Home and School Language Differ
Julie A. Washington and Mark S. Seidenberg, American Educator, Summer 2021
Some children’s language skills differ in important ways from the classroom language variety, and teachers rarely receive sound guidance on how to enhance their literacy instruction to meet these children’s needs. Literacy experts Julie Washington and Mark Seidenberg share ways to modify instructional practices to benefit African American English speakers.
Teaching Phoneme Awareness in 2023: A Guide for Educators
A guide that addresses the effectiveness of different approaches for teaching phonemic awareness to struggling readers in Grade 2 and beyond, drawing on what we currently know from scientific research, teacher experiences, and observations in clinical teaching settings with struggling readers.
A Guide for Schools Looking to Adopt the Science of Reading
Peggy Price, M.Ed., F/OGA, OGA Winter/Spring 2023 Newsletter
Not all phonics, Orton-Gillingham, or Structured Literacy programs are created equally. Orton-Gillingham Fellow Peggy Price, the Director of the Stern Center’s Orton-Gillingham Institute, offers practical tips and advice for evaluating literacy programs and their scope and sequences.
What Research Supports Orton–Gillingham?
Margie B. Gillis, EdD., Understood.org
An expert explains if there is evidence to support Orton-Gillingham and outlines the differences between literacy instruction programs and approaches.
