The Science of Reading

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The Science of Reading

The “science of reading” is a term to describe evidenced-based instructional practices that align with what research has revealed about how the brain actually learns to read. It is not one program or curriculum to teach reading. It is the convergence of the wide body of research from the cognitive, communication, developmental, psychological, and neurological sciences about how children learn to read effectively and translate reading skills into other domains.

Thousands of studies have shown that reading is a complex mix of process, skill, and knowledge and must be learned and taught explicitly. Unlike speaking, which the human brain is naturally wired to do, reading and writing must be taught. And, nearly all children can be taught to read given the right instruction, resources, and support.

The Simple View of Reading

The science of reading emphasizes phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension as the major skill areas and necessary components of instruction that will help students become proficient readers. It is based on what researchers called “the simple view of reading,” which outlines that readers make meaning and understand a passage of text by recognizing words (decoding text and converting written words to speech) and comprehending language (understanding what the speech means).

The Simple View of Reading

Evidence indicates that instruction in foundational skills, including phonics, is imperative, especially when children are first learning to read. In instruction aligned to the science of reading, early readers are taught decoding skills systematically so they can learn to crack the alphabetic code of printed words step by step. It starts with phonics taught directly and sequentially, starting from phonemes (the smallest units of sound in the English language), and graphemes (letter or letter sequences that represent these sounds). Students also practice their decoding skills regularly with daily opportunities to apply their new skills to reading real texts. On average, it takes two to three years for a child to learn to decode English, which is one of the most complex alphabetic writing systems in the world.

More Than Just Phonics

At the same time, children need to acquire knowledge of the world and have rich exposure to oral language beginning in the early years to develop good reading comprehension. This is why reading to very young children is crucial. It helps them build their language comprehension and creates background knowledge of the world that is needed for good reading comprehension.

Evidence-based reading instruction emphasizes comprehension-building simultaneously with the development of word recognition, or decoding skills. The use of knowledge-rich instructional materials to deepen students’ understanding of topics like science, math, social studies, history, art, via engaging, culturally relevant texts are also integrated in approaches aligned with the science of reading.

Policies and Practices

The science of reading is also a movement that has gained momentum across the country from people who are frustrated with stagnant reading outcomes, in addition to persisting and widening achievement gaps by income, race/ethnicity, and language. Policymakers, educators, advocates, and parents have called for a renewed push for evidenced-based foundational reading instruction, with 47 states in the last decade passing laws or policies to encourage practices aligned with science of reading. New policies, legislation, and practices are being instituted across the country to ensure that students have access to high-quality instruction and materials based on the science of reading.

Research into how skilled reading develops and the most effective ways to support children in learning to read has debunked several myths associated with reading instruction and what works. The chart below, (adapted from the Arkansas Department of Education), shows practices commonly used in the past that have been shown to be ineffective, together with related practices supported by research to help children become proficient readers.

In the past…	Now we know…
If students showed early signs of difficulties in reading, a “wait and see” approach was used to see if a child might catch up.	Early intervention is key. Science shows that the gaps don’t go away, but typically widen. Three things have been found to work to close the gap in early reading difficulties: phonemic awareness, step-by-step, sequential and intentional phonics instruction, and practicing with texts that contain phonics patterns already covered in explicit instruction.
Students were expected to memorize large numbers of high frequency words to help them read leveled texts.	The brain does not store words based on how they look. When students sound out a word and match it to a spoken word that they recognize, the brain builds muscle memory and can recognize that same word more easily later. So, the use of flash cards for memorizing words is not encouraged.
Students practiced using predictable, leveled readers which follow a pattern that is easily memorized. Students use pictures to guess the words they don’t know which doesn’t help them become stronger decoders.	Most words can be read if students are familiar with the letters or letter patterns contained in the word. If a student comes to a word where the letter pattern is unfamiliar, they can focus on the decodable parts and memorize the part that is irregular.
Parents and teachers thought students would learn to read by being exposed to books in print-rich environments and by reading to the student.	Reading to children has many beneficial outcomes, but decoding is not one of them. Learning to speak is natural; you learn by simply being around and hearing other people speak for a few years. But learning to read is not. Students must be taught to decode words on a page and then how to understand what was read.
Spelling lists were created in many different ways. Word lists may have contained content words from science and social studies lessons, theme words, or may have just been randomly created.	Spelling lists should contain words that follow consistent phonics rules and patterns. For example, when students are studying the v_e syllable pattern, a good spelling list would contain several words that follow this same pattern, such as bake, rope, like, cake, cube, etc.
It was thought that there were many different ways to teach a child to read.	All children learn to read the same way. Students build pathways in the brain that connect speech sounds to print and are able to understand the meaning of the words in the text.