Science(s) of Reading

Check back often. We have more information coming!

 What's New?

Free access and download to this text, Fact Checking the Science of Reading: Opening Up the Conversation

"Rob Tierney and P David Pearson explore the validity of claims associated with the Science of Reading as they have appeared in social media, the popular press, and academic works.

The book offers a comprehensive review of these claims—analyzing the evidence, reasoning, assumptions, and consequences associated with each claim—and closes with ideas for moving beyond the debates to greater consensus or accommodation of differences. The book is a must read for educators involved in teaching reading, as well as parents, policy makers, and other stakeholders."

Access the entire book here

 Where do we stand?  by Deb Zarling, WSRA Past President

Literacy Is A Complex Process

Check These Blogs from Highly Respected Professors of Literacy

Teaching-Reading.com with Dr. Andy Johnson

Radical Scholarship with  Dr. Paul L Thomas

doctorsam7 with Dr. Sam Bommarito

Dyslexia

ILA Dyslexia Research Advisory

ILA Dyslexia Advisory Addendum

"An Examination of Dyslexia Research and Instruction With Policy Implications"

Peter Johnston, Donna Scanlon, Literacy Research Association

The Nation's Report Card Webinar

Research Support for Science of Reading’s Contextual Supports in Word Identification/Learning

with Donna Scanlon

Recent ILA Webinar:

Fact-Checking the "Science of Reading": Claims, Assumptions, and Consequences with Robert Tierney

and P David Pearson (available for a small cost until Nov 25, 2023)

Teaching Readers NOT Reading with Dr. Peter Afflerbach

Learning to Read Words: It’s Not Just Phonics with Dr. Donna Scanlon

• Milwaukee, Central, and Northeast Reading Council's November 3, 2022 Webinar 
• Learning to Read Words: It's Not Just Phonics Document of Research

Literacy Teaching and Children's Development with Dr. Peter Johnston                              

• Milwaukee, Central, and Northeast Reading Council's April 20, 2023 Webinar

 What We Know About The Teaching Of Reading: Moving Beyond Universal And One-Size-Fits-All Approaches

• Milwaukee Area Reading Council/WSRA  January 11, 2024 Webinar

Articles and Position Statements

From the National Education Policy Center: The Science of Reading Movement: The Never-Ending Debate and the Need for a Different Approach to Reading Instruction by PL Thomas

From Literacy Research Association: The Science of Reading and the Media: Is Reporting Biased? by Maren Aukerman 

From NCTE: The Critical Story of the "Science of Reading" and Why Its Narrow Plotline Is Putting Our Schools and Children At Risk by Dorothy C Suskind

Research Articles: Access to research is critical

**New: Legislating Phonics: Settled Science or Political Polemics?  David Reinking, George Hruby and Victoria Risko, Teacher's College Record, Volume 125, Issue 1

“Reinterpreting the development of reading skills,” Scott G. Paris, Reading Research Quarterly David Reinking, George Hruby and Vicotoria Risko, Teacher's College Record, Volume 125, Issue 1 Vol. 40, No. 2 April/May/June 2005, International Reading Association (pp. 184–202)

Reading First Impact Study

National Reading Panel Report

The following are the International Literacy Association’s research articles from two different issues on the topic of the Science of Reading. To access these articles, you must be an ILA member with the Reading Research Quarterly subscription or a WSRA member. As a member, request the group login information at [email protected]. Include your name to be verified as a WSRA member. 

Using Context as an Assist in Word Solving: The Contributions of 25 Years of Research on the Interactive Strategies Approach

Donna M. Scanlon,  Kimberly L. Anderson

The Sciences of Reading and Writing Must Become More Fully Integrated

Steve Graham

It’s Time to Be Scientific About Dyslexia

Julian G. Elliott

The Cognitive Element Model of Reading Instruction

Peng Peng,  J. Marc Goodrich

What Research Has Revealed About Readers’ Struggles With Comprehension in the Digital Age: Moving Beyond the Phonics Versus Whole Language Debate 

Patricia A. Alexander

Building Content Knowledge to Boost Comprehension in the Primary Grades

Sonia Q. Cabell,  HyeJin Hwang

Interconnected Infrastructure for Improving Reading Instruction

Sarah Woulfin,  Rachael E. Gabriel

Lost in Translation? Challenges in Connecting Reading Science and Educational Practice

Mark S. Seidenberg,  Matt Cooper Borkenhagen,  Devin M. Kearns

Reading Wars, Reading Science, and English Learners

Claude Goldenberg

Does English Have Useful Syllable Division Patterns?

Devin M. Kearns

How the Reading for Understanding Initiative’s Research Complicates the Simple View of Reading Invoked in the Science of Reading

Gina N. Cervetti,  P. David Pearson,  Annemarie S. Palincsar,  Peter Afflerbach,  Panayiota Kendeou,  Gina Biancarosa,  Jennifer Higgs,  Miranda S. Fitzgerald,  Amy I. Berman

When Did You Learn It? How Background Knowledge Impacts Attention and Comprehension in Read-Aloud Activities

Tanya Kaefer

A Confluence of Complexity: Intersections Among Reading Theory, Neuroscience, and Observations of Young Readers

Catherine F. Compton-Lilly,  Ayan Mitra,  Mary Guay,  Lucy K. Spence

Bringing the Science of Reading to Preservice Elementary Teachers: Tools That Bridge Research and Practice

Annemarie H. Hindman,  Frederick J. Morrison,  Carol McDonald Connor,  Joseph A. Connor

Beyond Decoding: A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Language Comprehension Interventions on K–5 Students’ Language and Literacy Outcomes

Rebecca D. Silverman,  Erika Johnson,  Kristin Keane,  Saurabh Khanna

What Constitutes a Science of Reading Instruction?

Timothy Shanahan

Disrupting Racism and Whiteness in Researching a Science of Reading

H. Richard Milner IV

Contesting Science That Silences: Amplifying Equity, Agency, and Design Research in Literacy Teacher Preparation

James V. Hoffman,  Michiko Hikida,  Misty Sailors

How the Science of Reading Informs 21st-Century Education

Yaacov Petscher,  Sonia Q. Cabell,  Hugh W. Catts,  Donald L. Compton,  Barbara R. Foorman,  Sara A. Hart,  Christopher J. Lonigan,  Beth M. Phillips,  Christopher Schatschneider,  Laura M. Steacy,  Nicole Patton Terry,  Richard K. Wagner

Rethinking the Role of Knowledge in the Literacy Classroom

Courtney Hattan,  Sarah M. Lupo

Aligning the Science of Reading With Adaptive Teaching

Margaret Vaughn,  Seth A. Parsons,  Dixie Massey

Expanding the Knowledge Base in Literacy Instruction and Assessment: Biliteracy and Translanguaging Perspectives From Families, Communities, and Classrooms

Silvia Noguerón-Liu

Resisting Positionings of Struggle in “Science of Teaching Reading” Discourse: Counterstories of Teachers and Teacher Educators in Texas

Melissa Mosley Wetzel,  Allison Skerrett,  Beth Maloch,  Tracey T. Flores,  Myra Infante-Sheridan,  Jessica Murdter-Atkinson,  Vickie Charlene Godfrey,  Allie Duffy

Broadening the Lens on the Science of Reading: A Multifaceted Perspective on the Role of Academic Language in Text Understanding

Emily Phillips Galloway,  Janna Brown McClain,  Paola Uccelli

Translational Science: A Road Map for the Science of Reading

Emily J. Solari,  Nicole Patton Terry,  Nadine Gaab,  Tiffany P. Hogan,  Nancy J. Nelson,  Jill M. Pentimonti,  Yaacov Petscher,  Sarah Sayko

The Science of Reading Progresses: Communicating Advances Beyond the Simple View of Reading

Nell K. Duke,  Kelly B. Cartwright

Beyond the Simple View of Reading: The Role of Executive Functions in Emergent Bilinguals’ and English Monolinguals’ Reading Comprehension

Ana Taboada Barber,  Kelly B. Cartwright,  Gregory R. Hancock,  Susan Lutz Klauda

What Matters

Kathryn H. Au,  Taffy E. Raphael

Advancing the Science of Teaching Reading Equitably

Bryant Jensen

What Matters Most? Toward a Robust and Socially Just Science of Reading

Maren Aukerman,  Lorien Chambers Schuldt

Can the Evidence Revolution and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Improve Education Equity and Reading Achievement?

Hank Fien,  David J. Chard,  Scott K. Baker 

The Trouble With Binaries: A Perspective on the Science of Reading

David B. Yaden Jr.,  David Reinking,  Peter Smagorinsky

The Science of Reading: Four Forces That Modified, Distorted, or Ignored the Research Finding on Reading Comprehension

Peter Dewitz,  Michael F. Graves

Conflict or Conversation? Media Portrayals of the Science of Reading

Deborah MacPhee,  Lara J. Handsfield,  Patricia Paugh

Where Is the Evidence? Looking Back to Jeanne Chall and Enduring Debates About the Science of Reading

Peggy Semingson,  William Kerns

Learning Letters: Evidence and Questions From a Science-of-Reading Perspective

Theresa A. Roberts

The Effects of a Whole-Class Kindergarten Handwriting Intervention on Early Reading Skills

Karen Ray,  Kerry Dally,  Kim Colyvas,  Alison E. Lane

Reading From Multiple Documents: The Role of Text Availability and Question Type

Raquel Cerdán,  Ignacio Máñez,  Marian Serrano-Mendizábal

Informing the Science of Reading: Students’ Awareness of Sentence-Level Information Is Important for Reading Comprehension

Elizabeth MacKay,  Elise Lynch,  Tamara Sorenson Duncan,  S.Hélène Deacon

Pages: S221-S230
First Published: 20 April 2021

Reading Volume and Reading Achievement: A Review of Recent Research 

Richard L. Allington,  Anne M. McGill-Franzen

The Contribution of Play Experiences in Early Literacy: Expanding the Science of Reading

Muriel K. Rand,  Lesley Mandel Morrow 

Phonological Awareness Materials in Utah Kindergartens: A Case Study in the Science of Reading

Kathleen J. Brown,  Kelly C. Patrick,  Matthew K. Fields,  Grace T. Craig

Why Sociocultural Context Matters in the Science of Reading and the Reading of Science: Revisiting the Science Discovery Narrative

Diana J. Arya,  Andrew Maul

Elementary Teachers’ Knowledge of Foundational Literacy Skills: A Critical Piece of the Puzzle in the Science of Reading

Alida K. Hudson,  Karol A. Moore,  Bing Han,  Poh Wee Koh,  Emily Binks-Cantrell,  R. Malatesha Josh 

Examining Teacher Preparation for Code-Related Reading Instruction: An Integrated Literature Review

Laura S. Tortorelli,  Sarah M. Lupo,  Barbara C. Wheatley

Teaching Reading Is More Than a Science: It’s Also an Art

David D. Paige,  Chase Young,  Timothy V. Rasinski,  William H. Rupley,  William D. Nichols, Meghan Valerio

Methodological Issues in Literacy Research Across Languages: Evidence From Alphabetic Orthographies

Timothy C. Papadopoulos,  Valéria Csépe,  Mikko Aro,  Marketa Caravolas,  Irene-Anna Diakidoy,  Thierry Olive 

Understanding Within- and Cross-Language Relations Among Language, Preliteracy Skills, and Word Reading in Bilingual Learners: Evidence From the Science of Reading

Alexandra Gottardo,  Xi Chen,  Michelle Ru Yun Huo

Is the Science of Reading Just the Science of Reading English?

David L. Share