As literacy scores decline nationwide, many schools are turning to the Science of Reading to rethink how children learn to read. This piece explains the research behind the approach, what it looks like in classrooms, and how parents can reinforce key reading skills at home.
Written by Belal Jonaid
Schools across the United States are struggling with declining literacy rates, with experts in recent years reporting the largest score decline in literacy since 1990 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2022). Indeed reading can feel overwhelming for younger students and a growing body of research suggests previous approaches to how we teach reading may not be the most effective. In place of older strategies, researchers have put forward a new evidence-based framework often referred to as the Science of Reading. What is the Science of Reading and how can it impart crucial reading skills more effectively?
How We Learn to Read
The Science of Reading is an approach to literacy instruction based on a large body of research in education, cognitive science, and linguistics. This method of instruction is grounded in five core concepts, detailed below (National Center on Improving Literacy, 2022).
Phonemic Awareness: The ability of children to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) of spoken words. This skill allows students to understand that words are made of discrete sounds made by individual letters. As such, phonemic awareness forms the basis for phonics instruction.
Phonics: Phonics is instruction on the relationship between letters and groups of letters (graphemes) to make sounds. Teaching kids that letters and letter groups create specific sounds which we can blend together allows for decoding and word recognition.
Fluency: Fluency here refers to reading that reflects understanding. Besides displaying accuracy, this often means reading words and sentences at an appropriate rate and with meaningful expression and intonation. It therefore encompasses far more than just speed.
Vocabulary: Proficiency with vocabulary in this context is knowledge of what different words mean as well as understanding how they are used. A Science of Reading approach treats vocabulary not just as an isolated list of terms to memorize, but as a complex and evolving system of word knowledge built over time.
Comprehension: This is of course the ultimate goal of reading. Students who achieve comprehension can actively construct meaning from text by decoding and being familiar with vocabulary (National Center on Improving Literacy, 2022).
Altogether these five concepts are based on the idea that we learn to read best through a cumulative code-based approach. Instead of simply guessing with context clues or using rote memorization, students are systematically taught to identify and blend the fundamental building blocks of words to build understanding.
In the Classroom
It might be helpful to also go over what the Science of Reading is not. This method is not a specific product or program one can purchase or enroll in. Similarly it is not just phonics, but rather an approach that uses phonemic awareness and phonics as a crucial base for further development. In proposing a set of methods, it is also not complete. The Science of Reading can thus best be seen as a set of insights developed over time, informed by both established and ongoing research in a number of disciplines (National Center on Improving Literacy, 2022).
In practice, this translates to more explicit instruction in the classroom centered around phonological routines. Students are clearly told what will be covered before they begin recognizing and sounding out certain letters and words. Resources like decodable books testing only previously learned sounds and vocabulary help reinforce these skills. Since the Science of Reading favors a cumulative approach, these basic building blocks help pave the way for greater skills such as fluency and comprehension (Reading Rockets, n.d., Science of Reading).
Supporting Your Child’s Reading
Reading is a journey and parents play a key role. Understanding some of the basics behind a Science of Reading approach can help instill strong reading habits at home. Practicing phonemic awareness, building new vocabulary, and encouraging comprehension as a goal, for example, are all ways parents can engage with their children as they learn to read. Communication with a child’s instructors can also ensure parents stay up-to-date and prepared to reinforce key skills learned in the classroom.
With consistent practice in the right areas, every student can become a confident and lifelong reader.
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References
National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). Reading and mathematics scores decline during COVID‐19 pandemic.
National Center on Improving Literacy. (2022). The science of reading: An overview. https://www.improvingliteracy.org/resource/the-science-of-reading-an-overview
Reading Rockets. (n.d.). Science of reading. ReadingRockets.org. Retrieved December 12, 2025, from https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/evidence-based-instruction/science-reading