Recently, the science of reading has garnered much attention in elementary schools across the U.S. The science of reading is a body of research on learning to read that has been accumulated through systematic inquiry. Seth A. Parsons and Joy Dangora Erickson argue that the way the science of reading is being implemented is missing a key…

Reading instruction has been the subject of significant controversy for more than five decades, and Kappan has allowed advocates of many different types of reading instruction to make their cases in the magazine's pages. Teresa Preston chronicles the history of the reading wars as they played out in Kappan. Researchers and scholars have debated…

Motivating today's adolescents to read is a challenge. Martha Abele Mac Iver, Marcia H. Davis, and Douglas J. Mac Iver discuss the kinds of literacy instructional practices that address what we know about adolescent motivation. They also review several evidence-based literacy interventions designed to engage and motivate adolescent readers that…

Children's development as readers is a complex and multifaceted process. Rather than emphasizing individual components of reading instruction, Melanie R. Kuhn and Katherine A. Dougherty Stahl argue that it is more effective to view the reading process as a reciprocal or interactive one in which readers' development in one component of reading can…

Despite training in phonics and phonemic awareness during literacy methods courses, preservice teachers indicate having a limited understanding of how to apply these two critical components of reading in their own classrooms. As preservice teachers enter the classroom, they will need support from principals, literacy professionals, and colleagues…

To make progress in improving students' reading comprehension, we need to rethink the very nature of reading comprehension -- it's not a skill and it requires background knowledge. James Kim and Mary Burkhauser explain that, to help students apply what they learn from one reading task to another reading task, educators should consider developing…

The science of reading has captured the attention of educators, policy makers, and the public. Elfrieda H. Hiebert recounts some of what she's learned from her recent exploration of the topic. She has found that research evidence tends to fall into three categories: research that provides unequivocal conclusions, research that holds promise for…

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light many of the essential nonacademic functions of U.S. schools, such as meals, mental health support, and opportunities for students whose families lack resources. Yet, as Derek Gottlieb and Jack Schneider explain, schools continue to be evaluated primarily on students' academic outcomes. They call for a…

Recent stories raising the alarm about students' poor reading skills and calling for greater attention to the "science of reading" represent the latest round in the ongoing "reading wars." Going back at least as far as the 1950s, scholars, pundits and policy makers have debated which teaching strategies are most successful at…

Because reading is not a natural process like language, young learners must be taught to read. Knowledge about how the reading brain develops has critical implications for understanding which teaching methods to use and helps reconceptualize previous debates. In this excerpt from "Reader Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World",…

Middle schools were designed to promote exploration in the curriculum in a way that is appropriate for young adolescents. However, this vision has not been fully embraced, and many middle schools still function as junior versions of high school. Gary Weilbacher explores the history of the middle school movement and describes how the…

Current conversations about children's literacy have focused on the need for more phonics and decoding instruction and have sidelined the importance of children's language development, argues George Hruby. Language development involves more than the ability to decode written language. The ability to understand the meaning of those words is also…

As information is becoming easier to access and harder to evaluate, literacy teachers face new challenges in helping students become astute independent readers. Building on the ideas of Lewis Mumford, the authors argue for embracing the role of the generalist--or "expert information seeker" who is able to identify and evaluate different…

The 2020 PDK Poll of the Public's Attitude Toward the Public Schools finds that more than half of adults consider public education highly important in their choice for president. And regardless of political party, most Americans agree that the administration in Washington should focus on attracting and retaining good teachers to the profession and…

Incorporating movement into elementary school lessons in reading, math, and other subjects can boost students' interest and academic learning while also helping them meet recommendations for daily involvement in physical activity. In a recent study, researchers found that students in classrooms where movement was integrated into regular lessons,…