The Science of Teaching Reading
Recently, the science of reading has been gaining attention. Ed Week magazine has published a series of articles over the last several months about the topic. Read here to learn more about this article series – “How Students Learn to Read – What the Science Says”.
In addition, Emily Hanford of American Public Media (APM) has done a series of podcasts about dyslexia and how children learn to read. Her latest report, “At a Loss for Words”, can be heard here.
CORE has also published a blog by Kareem Weaver, Member of the Oakland, CA NAACP Education Committee. In his blog, Mr. Weaver points out that nearly 80% of inmates are functionally illiterate and 47-50% have dyslexia. His blog can be read here.
Those who question these articles assume that those who write these articles define reading as “decoding” the words rather than a process for “making meaning.” This is a false assumption. For the record, none of these commentators nor CORE narrowly define reading as “decoding the words”. We all understand reading is a very complex process that involves both the ability to decode the words on the page and the ability to understand the words, sentences and passages that are read.
Finally, we’re looking forward to hearing Dr. David Kilpatrick, author of Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties, speak about how the nature of a child’s reading difficulty impacts assessment and intervention. This free webinar will be November 13 at 4:00pm ET. You can register here. If you’re not able to attend the live webinar, go ahead and register so that you’ll receive the recording.