Science of Reading

What is the Science of Reading?

The Science of Reading is an interdisciplinary body of evidence that explains how people learn to read, why some students experience difficulty, and which approaches to instruction and assessment are most effective. This research spans fields including education, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience.

The Science of Reading is not a specific program or curriculum. Instead, it provides evidence educators can use to make informed instructional decisions. It emphasizes the importance of both decoding—the ability to accurately read printed words—and language comprehension, which allows readers to understand the meaning of those words and texts.

There are five pillars of the Science of Reading:

1. Phonological & Phonemic Awareness
2. Phonics
3. Fluency
4. Vocabulary
5. Comprehension

The Science of Reading vs. balanced literacy

The Science of Reading reflects more than 50 years of research, much of which has since debunked the effectiveness of balanced literacy, the popular 1990s approach to teaching reading. Balanced literacy married the art of phonics with whole language strategies. However, the pedagogy also promoted independent discovery of reading strategies like meaning-based cues. For instance, with “three-cueing,” students would use semantic, syntactic, and visual cues to guess a word’s meaning versus relying on decoding skills. Such reliance on context can (and often does) mask gaps in skill development and hinder long-term success.

Recent declines in reading scores have shone a spotlight on the fact that reading is not a natural process for children to learn. US reading scores have reached their lowest in 30 years, steadily declining since the mid 2010s, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Therefore, teachers must adopt a much more explicit and systemic approach to teaching the foundational skills in decoding and reading comprehension to achieve the rigorous goals outlined in states’ English Language Arts (ELA) standards.

Why the Science of Reading matters

The Science of Reading is not a program to adopt; rather, educators can trust in the body of evidence that deconstructs how and why specific models of instruction work when it comes to learning how to read and write. This research not only unpacks ELA pedagogy, but cross-correlates with the science of brain development. With such targeted instruction, educators can better support students with diverse learning needs such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, or auditory processing disorder.

The Science of Reading actually was introduced as a concept in the American Annals of Education and Instruction during the 1830s. Yet, it wasn’t until the last ten years or so that it became a topic of debate. Currently, only about 35% of graduating students are reading proficiently, meaning that the vast majority are below grade level. 

States in response have started to pass legislation requiring public schools to use evidence-based reading instruction. Forty-four states plus the District of Columbia have such legislation in place, which requires schools to adopt approved research-based curricula, review and revise instructional materials and methods, and provide meaningful professional development for teachers.¹

Change, however, takes time. While school communities may see some short-term improvements, true sustained and measurable gains in student achievement can take three to five years to see, and that is only with consistent implementation. Thus, the sooner districts invest in the Science of Reading, the faster schools will move towards closing the literacy gap.