Why the Science of Reading is not just another “pendulum swing”
By Lauren Anderson
When Roni reached the word “pond” in the pattern book, she couldn’t read it. “Use the picture to help you,” I prompted the 1st grader. But no matter how many times Roni looked at the picture, or how much time I gave her, she could not produce the word “pond.” It simply wasn’t in her vocabulary as a city kid.
At that moment, as she said every other word she could think of for water, I realized I hadn’t taught her any real strategies to actually read “pond,” to say its sounds and string them together. I had not only failed to teach Roni how to read, but I had also failed her future teachers by giving them almost insurmountable gaps to close.
No teacher wants to feel like a failure, but more importantly, no student should be doomed to fail because teachers don’t possess effective tools to teach them. Only 5% of students learn to read effortlessly, while 35–45% require explicit instruction emphasizing the many different sounds the English alphabet makes. Fifteen percent will need intensive instruction with extensive practice in order to learn to read. Indiana has made a concerted effort to transition the state to teaching the science of reading (SOR), including requiring educator prep programs to teach SOR, mandating literacy endorsements for elementary teachers, placing literacy coaches in our lowest scoring schools, and requiring all schools to use high quality instructional materials aligned to the science of reading. Indiana’s scores improved slightly from 2022 to 2024 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), yet our state’s reading proficiency scores for the last few years are evidence that we must continue to do much more.
The science of reading is the next phase in the evolution of reading instruction, backed by brain science and linguistics; Indiana joins a number of states moving in this direction. Teachers must be partners in the science of reading implementation process in order for this curriculum to be effective. While completing intensive training in the science of reading, I implemented what I learned in my own classroom. At the beginning of the 2024–25 school year, only 41% of my students could sound out and read words. Eighty-three percent of my students were able to do so by the end of the year. I credit this growth to the new methods I’m using. For example, students practice adding, deleting, and changing sounds in words, which helps them pay attention to the differences in spoken words so they are better prepared to learn the subtle differences in spelling. I only wish I knew what I know now to help Roni read the word “pond.”
Seeing and learning from the expertise and experiences of other teachers is powerful; sometimes it’s the best form of professional learning. In my school, teachers observe one another teaching in real time, offering feedback and sharing ideas. The Indiana Department of Education can further incentivize teacher collaboration by continuing to offer opportunities for funded training, building up support and resources for schools to leverage in their buildings, and creating more opportunities for collaboration and best practice-sharing across district lines, while also continuing to secure dollars for implementation.
School-based administrators also must partner with teachers to implement SOR effectively. Because administrators set the culture and tone of a school, they also need to be trained. Currently, there is no state-wide requirement for administrators to complete training in the science of reading, not even in our lowest-performing schools. Administrators need to be trained alongside teachers in order to create the right structure to meaningfully support teachers and students on the path to literacy.
My administrators have helped create a culture of learning in which we all support each other, ensuring literacy teaching and learning is feedback-driven and ever-evolving. When teachers at my school recently expressed a desire for more differentiated literacy professional development, administrators were able to make it happen due to their own depth of knowledge.
Roni is a thriving 6th grader now and has learned to read. When I check in on her, her teachers tell me that she is tenacious in her learning, a leader amongst her peers, and the star of her track team. Maybe 30 years from now, educators and lawmakers across the country will have a different approach to building literacy skills. Maybe we will have discovered new research and science on the best practices in literacy instruction. Even if that’s the case, if the science of reading approach can make a difference for even one student today, we owe it to them to give it our best shot.
Lauren Anderson is a 2nd grade teacher and phonics content leader at KIPP Indy Unite Elementary in Indianapolis and 2024–2025 Teach Plus Indiana Policy Fellow.
