Demystifying the Reading Landscape

A version of this article by Ellen Ballock, Ph.D. and Priscilla Nelson ‘74, Ed.D. of the Herschend School of Education originally appeared in the fall 2024 issue of STILLPOINT magazine.

What’s all the buzz about the science of reading? From newspaper headlines, social media feeds, and education associations to civic action groups and state legislators—it seems everyone has something to say about reading instruction. Is there really a literacy crisis in the United States, or is this media hype? Is the science of reading a silver bullet to change the educational landscape, or the next here today-gone tomorrow fad? Is it a new teaching approach, or is it the shiny new packaging for old-fashioned phonics?

First, let’s acknowledge that concerns about literacy are well-grounded. In our current Information Age, the bar for proficient reading is higher than ever. Adults need to be able to read materials with higher complexity than any previous generation, even in the context of jobs that didn’t used to require much reading at all. For example, plumbers and mechanics must now be able to read and interpret complex technical manuals. Illiteracy restricts access to education, employment and economic opportunities, contributing to income inequality and social exclusion. Furthermore, there has long been a link between illiteracy, delinquency, violence, and crime. Failure to read proficiently at the end of grade 3 has been linked to loss of interest in school, dropping out and poverty.

According to results of the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often nicknamed the Nation’s Report Card, many children are at risk. About a third of U.S. 4^th, 8^th, and 12^th graders cannot read at a basic level, and only about a third read proficiently. Persistent disparities in reading achievement between different demographic groups heighten the concerns, causing some to frame literacy as one of the major civil rights issues of our time. There is an urgent need for a collaborative effort to empower all children with the literacy skills needed to thrive in the world as adults.

The Science of Reading

Within the field of education, few debates have been as contentious as those surrounding the teaching of reading. In past decades, various ideologies, strategies and fads have surfaced, each promising to revolutionize literacy education. Yet, each has fallen short. Could the science of reading really prove different? Herschend School of Education faculty are convinced the science of reading provides a true beacon of hope, because it is not an ideology, strategy or technique. Rather, the science of reading is an immense body of scientific research conducted using experimental and quasi-experimental designs across a variety of academic disciplines, including neuroscience, cognitive psychology, linguistics and education.

This body of research is growing exponentially and now includes technologies like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that actually allow us to look at what is going on inside the brain and how that changes over time (or not) in response to particular types of reading instruction. As a result, researchers now understand what it takes to train up a reading brain and have come to agreement that all but 5% of children can become proficient readers with evidence-based instruction.

More Than Just Phonics

You may wonder: Is “science of reading” just a new spin on the phonics exercises you remember working through in the primary grades as you learned to read? While phonics is a crucial part of reading, it's not synonymous with the science of reading. Instead, the science of reading recognizes skilled reading as a complex process, involving multiple factors working together to support both word recognition and language comprehension.

Let’s hone in for a moment on just that first piece: word recognition. Proficient readers can decode words quickly and accurately. Explicit, systematic phonics instruction does lay important groundwork for decoding (and spelling) words, because it helps children connect the sounds heard in oral language to the letters or combination of letters used to represent those sounds in written language. But start with phonics, and you’ll be missing an even more foundational skill essential for word recognition: phonological awareness. This is an awareness and sensitivity to the sounds of oral language. It’s difficult to map written symbols with the sounds they represent, if one struggles to isolate those sounds auditorily. On average, it takes about 17 hours of instruction, just 15 minutes per day throughout kindergarten, to develop phonological awareness.

What does this instruction look like? Here’s one example. Imagine a teacher holding up two pictures, one of a mat and one of a cat. Listen as the teacher says, “Mat. Cat. Mat and cat rhyme. Say mat. Say cat. They rhyme.” She then continues, “Say mat. Say cat. Now say sat. Does sat rhyme with mat and cat? Do cat and cab rhyme? Do sat and bat rhyme?”  As lessons progress over time, the teacher would focus on other aspects of phonological awareness, such as alliteration, syllables, and eventually the smallest unit of sound, the phoneme. When children can identify the individual phonemes in words, such as the three phonemes in wish—/w/ /i/ /sh/, then they are fully ready to connect letters to sounds.

Phonological awareness relies on the brain’s ability to process sounds. The phonological processing system is one of several neural networks that must become coordinated to process spoken and written language. Interestingly, it turns out that brain wiring differences in this phonological processing system are one distinguishing feature of dyslexia. Phonological awareness, specifically the ability to segment individual phonemes, is one early indicator of whether a child is at risk in reading. Screening for phonemic awareness allows us to identify children who may need extra instruction with multisensory practice and targeted feedback. This extra practice can train the brain, building stronger neural pathways, preparing children with a stronger foundation for reading, and preventing reading failure.

Reading for All

Nelson Mandela once said, “It is not beyond our power to create a world in which all children have access to a good education.”  Advances in the science of reading mean this is true in the world of literacy. We can truly imagine a time in the not-too-distant future when all children can read proficiently. All education programs should prepare highly qualified teachers. And Gordon has led the way for over 30 years. 

Herschend School of Education faculty have an even higher motivation. As Christ followers, faculty are committed to living out the commands of Scripture in Micah 6:8 that we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. It is in light of this commitment that faculty continue learning from this body of research as it advances to prepare teachers to live out the significant call to teaching all students how to read and prepare for future opportunities.