Align Early Grades Instruction to the Science of Reading

According to the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress, 65% of fourth graders are reading at or below basic levels. Research on the science of reading provides insight into how educators can effectively teach students to read by focusing on foundational skills in the early grades, yet this information is often underemphasized in teacher preparation programs and can be overlooked in many reading approaches. To combat the disconnect between this scientific evidence and current educational practice, districts must strive to turn generalist teachers into literacy experts by providing them with the knowledge that higher education often does not.

Read our narrowing the third-grade reading gap research brief to understand the neurological complexity of learning to read, build consensus around the importance of the science of reading, and cultivate advocates for evidence-based practice across the district.

Often, teachers simply implement the reading program their district and school leaders have adopted with the hope of improving reading outcomes. But many are unaware that these instructional materials may be misaligned to the science.

It can prove difficult to discern quality in a crowded curriculum market, and few districts have a systematic approach for identifying and selecting a high-quality, evidence-based program or curriculum. There is guidance available—resources and curriculum selection rubrics can help your district evaluate the quality of potential instructional materials.

To see significant improvements in students’ reading outcomes, teachers should understand the essential skills students must master in the early grades and the instructional approaches that support that mastery. This requires that district leaders garner support for reading reform at the school level and that they facilitate ease of implementation for their teachers and instructional coaches as they work to change their practice.

The Science of Reading Implementation Guide offers tools, templates, and resources to support teachers, as well as district and school leaders, as they implement science-based reading reform.

Nearly all classrooms—even those with the highest quality tier 1 reading instruction—will have a small group of students in need of additional time and support while learning to read. Most elementary educators use broad grouping metrics, such as reading levels, to organize students for small group instruction. These metrics tend to generalize reading skills and overlook the specific deficits that may be holding a student back.

Districts that are achieving large-scale reading success use a skills-based grouping approach instead. These districts have helped teachers redesign small groups by first identifying and then targeting the exact reading skill deficit a student is struggling most to overcome.

Research shows that, on average, students lose one month of learning throughout the summer months, putting students at risk of regressing in their foundational reading skills. While this summer slide phenomenon can impact all students, this learning loss is most acute for students of low-income backgrounds and can widen already existing equity gaps.

High-quality summer programs are one way to combat summer slide, but even the best programs are often unable to yield their intended results because of a lack of student engagement or attendance throughout the program. Districts that have successfully mitigated summer learning loss have aligned their summer programs to the science of reading and have bolstered their recruitment and enrollment efforts to increase student attendance.