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Science of Reading Overview

The Science of Reading: What it is

The Science of Reading is a comprehensive body of research that encompasses years of scientific knowledge, spans across many languages, and shares the contributions of experts from relevant disciplines such as education, special education, literacy, psychology, neurology, and more. The Science of Reading has evolved from a wide span of research designs, experimental methods, participants, and statistical analyses. This conclusive, empirically supported research provides us with the information we need to gain a deeper understanding of how we learn to read, what skills are involved, how they work together, and which parts of the brain are responsible for reading development. From this research, we can identify an evidence-based best practice approach for teaching foundational literacy skills called Structured Literacy. 

David Kilpatrick stated, “We teach reading in different ways; they [students] learn to read proficiently in only one way.” The Science of Reading (SoR) has demystified any wonder of how we learn to read and offers evidence backed by science to confirm that there is one right way to teach reading.

 

The Science of Reading: What we know

  • The SoR helps us understand the cognitive processes essential for reading proficiency. It describes the development of reading skills for both typical and atypical readers.
  • The SoR has debunked various methods used over the years to teach reading that were not based on scientific evidence. 
  • Most reading difficulties can be prevented in young, at-risk students. In other grades, studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of intensive phonemic awareness training, intensive phonic decoding training, and opportunities for repeated practice with reading controlled text. Intervention in these skills leads to efficient orthographic mapping and the highest degree of success.
  • Teaching whole-word memorization is limited, and learning phonics empowers students with an exponential effect.
    • If a child memorizes ten words, then the child can read ten words. But, if the child can learn the sounds of ten letters, the child can read…
      • 350 three-sound words
      • 4,320 four-sound words
      • 21,650 five-sound words
  • Reading development can be divided into three stages:
    • Letters and sounds: Letter-sound knowledge is essential for both phonic decoding and sight-word learning. 
    • Phonic decoding: Early phonological awareness skills enable the development of letter-sound knowledge and should be targeted for direct instruction through first grade. Advanced phonological awareness skills should continue to be assessed and practiced through third grade to ensure that a solid orthographic lexicon is established. 
    • Orthographic mapping: Understanding orthographic mapping allows teachers to support students who struggle to read. Orthographic mapping is the process that occurs when unfamiliar words become automatic sight words. The research on orthographic mapping explains how students develop this vast sight word bank for accurate and automatic word retrieval and also why students with reading problems struggle to develop this skill. 
  • Phonics and phonemic manipulation must be proficient to allow for students to build a sight word bank or orthographic lexicon. To support this, students need sufficient practice and review in decoding and encoding, knowledge and application of concept skills, and exposure to decodable text. 
  • Comprehension is the ultimate goal for reading. It is driven by two broad skill sets that are identified in the Simple View of Reading (SVoR).

                                                                     SVoR-2.jpg

 

  • The Simple View of Reading (SVoR) is further detailed in Scarborough’s Reading Rope, which highlights the essential components of reading.

                                                         scarboroughs-reading-rope-3.png                                                                                                                                                                                        Image Courtesy of www.learninga-z.com      

  • Phonics is an important component in early, effective literacy-based instruction.
  • Learning to spell is far more complex than just memorizing words. Encoding (spelling) is a developmental process that impacts fluency, writing, pronunciation, and vocabulary. 
  • Most teachers have received little knowledge about language structures that are used in reading, speaking, and writing. The SoR has compounded information but has yet to make it into the professional development of all teachers.
  • Students with reading difficulties present on a continuum of severity and require highly skilled teachers who have the knowledge and expertise to provide intervention based on the SoR.
  • The findings of the SoR translate into practices called Structured Literacy™. Structured Literacy is an approach to teaching reading that is based on the Science of Reading.

The Science of Reading has proven that a Structured Literacy approach is a necessary foundation for reading success.

Source: IMSE Journal, January 14, 2021