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A chunk of Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed budget zeroes in on what’s called the science of reading method.
Specifically, it includes $64 million for science of reading curricula, $43 million each year for the next two years to offer science of reading instruction for educators, and $12 million to support 100 literacy coaches in schools and districts.
“I truly believe there’s nothing more important than the science of reading, and making sure that every single child in the state of Ohio, as they are learning to read, has the benefit of the science,” DeWine said at a March 23 event. DeWine has been making literacy stops in classrooms around Ohio to learn about how the science of reading method has been implemented in lessons.
The science of reading method incorporates phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, said Brett Tingley, the president of both Parents for Reading Justice and OH-KID (Ohio Kids Identified with Dyslexia).
“Teaching reading should be systematic, explicit, and direct based on the system of processing language,” said DeJunne’ Clark Jackson, president of the Center for Literacy and Learning, a Louisiana-based literacy nonprofit organization.
Meanwhile, some skeptics argue that the science of reading method doesn’t do enough to provoke the kind of thinking that enables deep comprehension in realistic reading situations.
“We must teach comprehension as a multidimensional experience,” wrote educators Jessica Hahn and Mia Hood in Education Week. “We want children to comprehend what’s happening literally in the text (who did what when), but we also want them to be able to analyze how parts of the text (literary devices, figurative language, structural choices) work together to develop ideas. And we want them to interpret the purpose and significance of the text in relation to their lives and to society.”
How children best learn how to read has been debated for decades, and a recent six-part podcast series from American Public Media called Sold a Story has thrust this hotly-debated issue further into the national spotlight.
A little more than half of the states and the District of Columbia have passed laws or implemented new policies related to evidence-based reading instruction since 2013 as of August, according to Education Week. DeWine is hoping Ohio can be added to that list.
Structured literacy
Structured literacy is an approach to reading instruction that applies the knowledge of the science of reading method, and it includes explicit and systematic instruction in foundational reading skills, including phonics. The science of reading says most children need explicit phonics when learning how to read.
“Phonics isn’t the only component of literacy instruction, but it can’t exist without phonics,” said Troy McIntosh, executive director of the Ohio Christian Education Network.
The science of reading method prioritizes this.
“To have a student say that they can comprehend what they’re reading, there’s two components to that, that go hand in hand, and it’s word recognition and language comprehension,” said Lindsey Roush, an assistant professor at Walsh University’s division of education.
Walsh University, a private Catholic college in North Canton, converted all their education courses to be aligned with the science of reading method in 2019, Roush said.
The method focuses on how letter sounds and printed letters work together, she said.
“We want their eyes to stay focused on the word and start from those little points of the sounds to bigger chunks of the word to analyze the word to be able to decode it and understand it,” Roush said.
Which is where phonics comes into play.
“Phonics is a very big part of this in terms of really getting down to those phonemes the letter sounds and understanding which sound each of those letters make, individually, and as they’re grouped together in different formats,” Roushsaid.
Balanced literacy
There is another approach to reading instruction called balanced literacy that does not teach phonics in an explicit, systematic way, but prioritizes students’ comprehension of a text.
Critics of that approach say it’s not based on the science. “It’s not using the foundational skills,” allegedDanielle Fontenot, vice president of program development at the Center for Literacy and Learning.
Balanced literacy incorporates the three-cueing method, which encourages children to read words by asking three questions: Does it make sense? Does it sound right? Does it look right? For example, there could be a picture of a horse on a book’s page and a student may say “pony.”
“When you get to books without pictures your strategy’s not working,” Tingley said.
The science of reading method eliminates guessing, Roush said.
“We don’t want them looking at pictures,” she said.
Whole language is another approach to reading that is more in line with balanced literacy that, as the name suggests, teaches students the whole word instead of parts of the word, Jackson said.
The balanced literacy and whole language methods teach children the “habits of poor readers,” Tingley alleged.
“The children are the ones who are suffering,” she said. “It’s hard to have someone you love struggle to read. … If you can’t read, you can’t do a story problem. You have a hard time in math, you can’t access science or social studies, so reading is the most important thing.”
Linda Fenner, a founding member of Citizen Advocates for Public Education (CAPEOhio), said she wonders if there is a “global solution or a one-size fits all program” that works best for teaching all students how to read.
“Different kids need different things in order to learn how to read,” she said. “The kids who need the most support really need different things and in different combinations.”
Ohio school districts
It’s unclear which Ohio school districts are using which methods when it comes to the reading curriculum. Ohio law gives local schools and districts sole authority regarding decisions about curriculum, so there is no required state curriculum, said Ohio Department of Education Spokesperson Lacey Snoke.
But one thing is clear — there are Ohio school districts not teaching the science of reading method and DeWine is working hard to change that through his proposed budget.
“This is a problem that we know how to fix,” Tingley said. “And we owe it to these children to fix it.”
Athens City School District in Athens County currently uses what would be considered a balanced literacy approach, but supports DeWine’s science of reading method budget proposal, Superintendent Thomas Gibbs said in an email.
“We have continued to see stagnation in our reading scores and have been internally training and reviewing different curriculum that is more in line with the Science of Reading,” Gibbs said. “The allocation of dollars in the budget to purchase new materials that are in line with SOR and dollars to support the additional time and commitment our teachers will have to put into professional development is necessary and would be a good investment.”
Athens Schools third grade English Language Arts reading scores from the 2017-18 to the 2020-21 school year have been between 9% to 29% for limited scores, between 17% to 25% for basic scores, between 13% to 22% for proficient scores, between 11% to 20% accomplished, and between 12% to 34% for advanced scores, according to ODE.
Ohio’s tests scores
Ohio’s test scores dipped in the latest report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which published in October.
Eighth grade math proficiency dropped from 38% in 2019 to 29% in 2022. In reading scores for the same grade level, proficiency went from 38% in 2019 to 33% in 2022, according to the NAEP data.
Fourth graders saw decreases as well, going from 38% in 2019 to 33% in 2022 in reading scores, and from 38% in 2019 to 29% in 2022 in math.
“I believe that one of the biggest educational mistakes we have made over the last three to four decades is abandoning direct phonic instruction,” McIntosh said. “That has been disastrous for Ohio’s kids.”
“One of those ‘aha moments’”
Roush distinctly remembers being introduced to the science of reading method through Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) professional development training about four years ago.
“It’s just one of those moments, I feel as an educator, like one of those ‘aha moments,’ like, why haven’t we been doing this?” Roush said.
She previously taught for 13 years at McKinley Elementary School, part of Lisbon Exempted Village Schools in Columbia County, and remembers seeing frustrated students struggling to read before the district switched to the science of reading approach.
“If we can prevent that, of course, we should want to do that as educators,” Roush said.
She remembers students looking at a picture in a book that was near the word on a page and say something that might have started with the same letter, but was ultimately incorrect.
“(It) made zero sense whatsoever, because they were just simply guessing by looking for context clues in the pictures rather than trying to decode the word,” she said.
She starting noticing a difference after incorporating the science of reading method in her third grade classroom.
“It started to click with students,” Roush said. “The big thing was seeing them start to problem solve and how to break apart a word. If they came to a word that they didn’t know, they had the strategies to decode that word.”
Educators say it’s worth putting in the time to learn the science of reading method.
“It’s our obligation to do what’s best for students and if we have been doing it one way for so long and it isn’t working, then we have an obligation to our students to know better and do better,” Fontenot said.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David DeWitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on Facebook and Twitter.
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FAQs
Ohio Keeps Talking About the ‘Science of Reading,’ But What Does That Mean? ›
The science of reading says most children need explicit phonics when learning how to read. “Phonics isn't the only component of literacy instruction, but it can't exist without phonics,” said Troy McIntosh, executive director of the Ohio Christian Education Network.
What is the science of reading Ohio? ›The science of reading method incorporates phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, said Brett Tingley, the president of both Parents for Reading Justice and OH-KID (Ohio Kids Identified with Dyslexia).
What does the science of reading mean? ›The science of reading is a vast, interdisciplinary body of scientifically-based research about reading and issues related to reading and writing. This research has been conducted over the last five decades across the world, and it is derived from thousands of studies conducted in multiple languages.
What does the science of reading believe? ›It says that reading comprehension (RC) is the product of decoding (D) and language comprehension (LC), or RC = D x LC. Learning to read for understanding requires sounding out and recognizing words—decoding—but it also requires making meaning of the words and sentences we hear—language comprehension.
Are science of reading and Orton Gillingham the same? ›The Orton-Gillingham Approach follows the Science of Reading – respecting that the skills needed to become a proficient reader need to be explicitly taught, individualized to the student.
What curriculum is science of reading? ›What are the components of a Science of Reading curriculum? The Science of Reading prescribes instruction for concepts such as word recognition, decoding, phonological awareness, and sight word recognition for younger students.
What grades is science of reading for? ›The science of reading approach can be effective for teaching reading to upper elementary students (typically students in grades 3-5). Here are some specific strategies you can use when teaching reading to upper elementary students using the science of reading approach.
Is science of reading just phonics? ›What's the Difference Between Science of Reading and Phonics? Phonics is part of the science of reading. Phonics instruction refers to the specific skills students learn about letter sounds and symbols. The science of reading is more complex that just phonics.
What are the 5 areas of science of reading? ›The National Reading Panel identified five key concepts at the core of every effective reading instruction program: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension.
What are the 5 components of reading vs science of reading? ›Effective instructional programs and materials emphasize the five essential components of effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Is science of reading good? ›
In short, the science of reading has demonstrated the methods that best help children learn to read, from the earliest steps in spoken language to being able to successfully decode unfamiliar words.
How should science of reading be taught? ›- Learn. Begin to gradually learn all you can about the science of reading. ...
- Stop using the 3 cueing system. ...
- Replace predictable texts with decodable texts. ...
- Teach phonics explicitly and systematically. ...
- Encourage phonemic awareness.
The science of reading, through approaches like Structured Literacy, will help 95% of students become confident, capable readers. For balanced literacy to be effective, it must include explicit instruction in ALL the skills necessary for reading. For students to develop a love of reading, they first must learn to read.
What are the negatives of Orton-Gillingham? ›Another criticism of Orton-Gillingham is that comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary are not in their lessons. This really depends on the program. If you're following IMSE, which is meant to be something you can use with the whole class, they do let you know that you need to include those things in the lessons.
Does Fountas and Pinnell follow the science of reading? ›Fountas & Pinnell Literacy™ is based on the Whole Language theory of how kids learn to read. Fountas & Pinnell's approach is not Whole Language and is not based on Whole Language. Fountas and Pinnell believe that all children need explicit instruction in phonics, reading, and writing.
What is the best reading program for dyslexia? ›The best reading program for dyslexia must be explicit, multisensory, and intensive. The best program available is Orton-Gillingham.
What does science of reading look like in the classroom? ›The “science of reading” is often described as an emphasis on foundational skills instruction—teaching students how to recognize the different sounds in words, how to link those sounds to letters, and how to blend those letters together to read words.
Is science of teaching reading hard? ›The Science of Teaching Reading exam is a 5-hour long test that includes 90 selected-response questions and 1 constructed-response question. The teacher STR exam is extremely challenging and requires a deep understanding of the content specifications.
Is heggerty aligned with science of reading? ›Heggerty is highly recommended by the science of reading teacher group.
Is Jolly phonics science of reading? ›Jolly Phonics is described by its creators as, “a comprehensive programme, based on the proven, fun and multi-sensory synthetic phonics method that gets children reading and writing from an early age. This means that we teach letter sounds as opposed to the alphabet.
What is a passing score for science of teaching reading? ›
What is the passing score for the TExES Science of Teaching Reading exam? To pass the exam, you must achieve a minimum scaled score of 240.
At what grade should a child be reading? ›Experts say that most children learn to read by age 6 or 7, meaning first or second grade, and that some learn much earlier. However, a head start on reading doesn't guarantee a child will stay ahead as they progress through school. Abilities tend to even out in later grades.
How many states are adopting the science of reading? ›As of May 9, 2023, 31 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws or implemented new policies related to evidence-based reading instruction since 2013.
What does science of reading say about sight words? ›Scientifically speaking, students are better able to recognize and memorize these sight words when they are able to quickly locate and identify the grapheme-phoneme connection rather than just memorizing a series of letters or the word as a whole.
What is the best method of reading? ›The most productive reading techniques are SQ3R, skimming, scanning, active reading, detailed reading, speed reading, and Structure-Proposition-Evaluation reading. Reading techniques are approaches to reading that you can employ to become a better and more accomplished reader.
Does Lucy Calkins follow the science of reading? ›More states are now requiring districts to adopt curriculum that adheres to the science of reading. Lucy Calkins says she has learned from the science of reading. She's revised her materials.
How does the brain learn to read? ›Our brains aren't pre-wired to translate letters into sounds. We learn to read by repurposing parts of the brain meant to do other things — visual processing, language comprehension, and speech production. Researchers have studied these areas using a type of brain imaging called functional MRI (fMRI).
What are the 6 basic reading skills? ›Because of the importance of these components, they have become known as the 'Big Six': oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.
How can I improve my reading fluency? ›- Record students reading aloud on their own. ...
- Ask kids to use a ruler or finger to follow along. ...
- Have them read the same thing several times. ...
- Pre-teach vocabulary. ...
- Drill sight words. ...
- Make use of a variety of books and materials. ...
- Try different font and text sizes. ...
- Create a stress free environment.
The four main research areas within the Science of Reading are education, psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience. The Science of Reading comprises five key components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
In what order do you teach reading? ›
The Reading Pyramid: Understanding the Process of Building Strong Literacy Skills. There are five critical components that develop a strong reader: 1) phonemic awareness, 2) phonics, 3) fluency, 4) vocabulary, and 5) comprehension.
What is the first step in teaching reading? ›Phonemic awareness is the first step in learning how to read. It is the understanding that words are made up of individual sounds, called phonemes. Phonemic awareness enables readers to hear the individual units of sound in words, identify them, and use them both in speech, and later, writing.
How can I improve my reading skills in science? ›Exposing the students to how the word looks and sounds ahead of time will also increase their fluency and reading speed. It is also beneficial to spend some time understanding the use of word parts.
Why don t they teach phonics anymore? ›After several decades of so-called reading wars, where dubious theories led educators to abandon the phonics method in favor of a variety of divergent — and often unsuccessful — literacy learning techniques, a growing number of states and districts are right back where they started.
Where did the science of reading come from? ›As far back as the 18th century, the term “Science of Reading” can be found in a study on the science of linguistics that focused on the proper pronunciations of holy texts. American educators borrowed the term when teaching the correct pronunciations of words in student primers.
How can you tell the difference between reading literacy and illiteracy? ›“A person is literate who can with understanding both read and write a short simple statement on his everyday life. A person is illiterate who cannot with understanding both read and write a short simple statement on his everyday life.
Why is Orton-Gillingham so good? ›A key tenet of Orton-Gillingham is that it is multisensory. This means that reading instruction engages all of a student's senses to help learning – including seeing, feeling, hearing and moving – which ultimately then improves retention.
Does Orton-Gillingham really work? ›It's true that the Orton–Gillingham (OG) approach is well-regarded in the field of dyslexia. But there's no research that supports the claim that it's “the best” way to teach kids with dyslexia. One of the reasons for the lack of research is the fact that OG is an approach, and not a program of instruction.
Why is Orton-Gillingham the best? ›Orton-Gillingham is one of the oldest approaches to help struggling readers, dating back to the 1930s, and it explicitly teaches letters and sounds, and breaks words down into letter patterns. It also emphasizes multisensory instruction.
Why is Fountas and Pinnell ineffective? ›They have no idea their kids aren't being taught to decode. Given that these books are not calibrated for grade level, or by decodable pattern, but rather by the appearance of being easier or harder, the assessment says nothing about the kids' progress.
What is the controversy with DIBELS? ›
Many argue that DIBELS measures individual skills, rather than the students' ability to read for comprehension and meaning. While the Retelling sub-test asks the students to regurgitate as much information as possible from what they have read, there is no measure of comprehension involved at all within DIBELS.
What are the 4 components of a balanced literacy? ›The five components of balanced literacy include read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, and word study.
What reading program is best for struggling readers? ›There are several excellent online reading programs for struggling readers. ABCMouse, Book Adventure, and Reading Eggs are the top three programs that are most helpful for early and poor readers. These programs offer a variety of activities and lessons that can help children improve their reading skills.
Is Reading Eggs good for dyslexia? ›Programs like Reading Eggs, which use explicit and systematic instruction, can make a huge difference in how successful children with dyslexia learn how to read.
What text is easier to read for dyslexia? ›Use sans serif fonts, such as Arial and Comic Sans, as letters can appear less crowded. Alternatives include Verdana, Tahoma, Century Gothic, Trebuchet, Calibri, Open Sans. Font size should be 12-14 point or equivalent (e.g. 1-1.2em / 16-19 px). Some dyslexic readers may request a larger font.
Is Fountas and Pinnell science of reading? ›Fountas & Pinnell Literacy™ is based on the Whole Language theory of how kids learn to read. Fountas & Pinnell's approach is not Whole Language and is not based on Whole Language. Fountas and Pinnell believe that all children need explicit instruction in phonics, reading, and writing.
How much does science of reading cost? ›Now you can trust that it is a science of reading-backed course, and it is open to the public twice a year. We're actually opening it on October 10th, 2022. The cost of the course's regular price is $309.
Is the wonders reading curriculum based on the science of reading? ›Grounded in the Science of Reading. Drawing upon decades of literacy research, we built Wonders to deliver high-quality literacy instruction backed by the Science of Reading.
Is hooked on phonics science of reading? ›Application: The Hooked on Phonics Learn to ReadPre-K levels were developed on the basis of scientific reading research that supports phonemic awareness. The principles of phonemic awareness are woven throughout these first two levels of the Learn to Read program.
Does heggerty follow science of reading? ›Heggerty is highly recommended by the science of reading teacher group.
Is the Science of reading test hard? ›
The Science of Teaching Reading exam is a 5-hour long test that includes 90 selected-response questions and 1 constructed-response question. The teacher STR exam is extremely challenging and requires a deep understanding of the content specifications.
How many hours is the Science of reading training? ›In this 10-hour self-paced online course, participants will learn strategies to enhance their instructional practices in reading with any curriculum materials. Participants will be introduced to multisensory strategies and activities for phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, reading comprehension, and vocabulary.
How should Science of reading be taught? ›- Learn. Begin to gradually learn all you can about the science of reading. ...
- Stop using the 3 cueing system. ...
- Replace predictable texts with decodable texts. ...
- Teach phonics explicitly and systematically. ...
- Encourage phonemic awareness.
Fundations is what we use everyday to teach phonics and writing. Literacy Footprints focuses on reading skills and includes short books based on your child's reading level. Wonders focuses on the 5 essential components of reading (phonics, phonemic awareness, comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary).