The Science of Reading: A Handbook: 18 (Wiley Blackwell Handbooks of Developmental Psychology)

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The Reading League is a non-profit organization focused on the mission to advance awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-based reading instruction. National Assessment Shows More K-12 Students Struggling to Read (25 minutes; published Nov. 1, 2019)

All of us who are literate—and it is worth remembering for a moment that many even in the developed world are not—have, of course, learned to become so. Reading, as one of its first scientific investigators pointed out, is not natural. No nonhuman creature has ever done it, as far as we know. And yet, “this habit,” as Edmund Burke Huey marveled in 1908, “has become the most striking and important artificial activity to which the human race has ever been moulded.” Huey was surely right in that arresting realization. And the questions that forced themselves upon his mind in consequence of it were surely the appropriate ones too. Since reading is unnatural, he asked, “What are the unusual conditions and functionings that are enforced upon the organism in reading? Just what, indeed, do we do, with eye and mind and brain and nerves, when we read?” Apparently simple, these questions are in fact deep and complex; and they are extremely difficult to answer. They require not only sophisticated psychological and physiological concepts but stances on such matters as the mind-body relationship and the nature of knowledge itself. All of science and philosophy, we might almost say, are implicit in them. That is surely why, Huey observed, in ancient times reading was accounted “one of the most mysterious of the arts,” and why its operation was still accounted “almost as good as a miracle” even in his own day. And yet, starting in about 1870, generations of scientists did take on Huey’s questions. The Science of Reading is about the rise and fall—and subsequent rise again—of the enterprise these scientists created to answer them. The second edition of The Science of Reading: A Handbook has been extensively revised to reflect contemporary theoretical insights and methodological advances. It is now available online with print and e-versions coming soon. Samur D, et al. (2018). Does a single session of reading literary fiction prime enhanced mentalising performance? Four replication experiments of Kidd and Castano. DOI: The Simple View shows that a student's reading comprehension (RC) score can be predicted if we know their decoding (D) skills and language comprehension (LC) abilities. Successful decoding and comprehension of written text result in true reading comprehension results. Of course we want kids to love reading. But they’re more likely to enjoy it when they can learn it with less of a struggle. And advocates of the science of reading approach say their structured methods are more successful. It’s possible to ground kids in phonics and teach them to love books, at the same time. Where can I learn more?

Oral language development in the preschool years is the essential foundation of reading development. Oral language development comprises children's ability to use vocabulary and grammatically correct sentences when they speak, as well as receptive language (understanding what others are communicating). Oral language development is considered a biologically primary skill; however, children exposed to more complex oral language in the first 5 years of life will arrive at school with a wider vocabulary and more comprehensive ability than those who have not been so exposed (Snow 2021). Where children start school with limited oral language, early intervention is essential for ensuring they catch-up with their more experienced peers. The simple view of reading The Reading League and the National Committee for Effective Literacy issued this joint statement (2023): Understanding the Difference: The Science of Reading and Implementation for English Learners/Emergent Bilinguals (ELs/EBs) (opens in a new window).

We should also stop seeing comprehension taught via leveled reading groups, where each group visits the teacher for round-robin reading through a new text “at the right level.” Instead, we should see use of a rich, complex text for all the students in a class. We should hear multiple reads of the same text, beginning with teacher modeling and moving to student practice. We should see partnering for repeated readings to develop fluency. We should hear the voices of students and the teacher in high-quality conversations about the text that focus on language, structure, and deepened understanding. Where can we learn more? Learning to read proficiently is critical to a student’s entire education and predictive of future education, health and employment outcomes. The 5 specific reading sub-skills of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension should be taught explicitly and systematically so all children become capable readers. Explicit teaching of these important skills is not yet consistently happening in Australian schools. It is important teachers and school leaders are supported to implement this evidence-based approach if all young Australians are to achieve the success in reading they deserve. References Five from Five (2020). Primary Reading Pledge: A plan to have all students reading by the end of primary school. MultiLit Pty Ltd. Emily Hanford, educational journalist has researched reading instruction across the US. Her findings sparked conversations about The Science of Reading and how we can improve reading proficiency in the US.The science of reading is the converging evidence of what matters and what works in literacy instruction, organized around models that describe how and why. Investigating sexual orientation concealment and psychological distress in an ethno-religious LGBTQ+ Jewish group and non-religious LGBTQ+ group