The reading wars have been going on for as long as I have been teaching. They started well before I began my career 28 years ago in 1994.
Currently, the debate is between the Science of Reading and Balanced Literacy. People argue that there’s a disconnect between research and classroom practices. Balanced Literacy is supposed to address the five components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. Many say that the weight given to each component is not proportional. Others say that phonemic awareness and phonics should be the focus in primary grades. Data shows that there are a large number (65%) of fourth grade students in the US that are not reading on grade level. Statistics show that those students are disproportionately children of color. 82% of Black students and 77% Hispanic students are reading below grade level from the 2019 Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) study.
As someone who has taught as a special educator and a child with dyslexia, I believe I have taught in a balanced way for most of my career. My first grade curriculum has had a strong emphasis in phonemic awareness and systematic phonics instruction. I have used decodable and leveled text with my first graders. Was I always aligning my phonics instruction to reading? Did I use leveled readers too early? Did I always provide timely interventions for my struggling students?
And is it possible that not all balanced literacy classrooms are really balanced? Are some balanced literacy classrooms whole language classrooms in disguise? Are some teachers ignoring the well documented research about how we learn to read and relying on programs and basals? And the biggest question: Do universities and colleges teach students how the brain learns to read and what a quality literacy program looks like?
When many people talk about the science of reading, they’re often referring to the fact that students do not have the necessary phonemic awareness skills to decode? They are referring to systematically and explicitly teaching phonics. Many say that teachers aren’t providing enough phonics instruction, and that’s the reason why we have so many students reading below grade level in the U.S.
When people talk about the science of reading, they often refer to the 3 cueing systems and say that teachers are teaching students to guess a word. They say teachers don’t provide enough language development, which later affects comprehension. Many well known reading gurus say that guided reading and leveled texts should not be used. Instead, students should read decodable texts to reinforce the phonics patterns they’re learning.
Right now I am reading the book, Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom by Jan Burkins and Kari Yates. I am listening to their podcast too. I just finished Equipped for Reading Success by David Kilpatrick, which really gave me confidence that the phonemic awareness curriculum I wrote a few years back is spot on. I’m studying about orthographic mapping and heart words. I’m incorporating it into new units I am writing.
I suggest weighing in and learning about the balanced literacy/Science of Reading debate. I’d love to know your thoughts. What I know we can all agree on is that the statistics are staggering and, in no way, okay. When we know better, we do better. And I know all teachers want to provide the best education for their students. Let’s learn how.
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