Oct 19, 2026
Meet Chrissy. She’s a 4th grader who can name every player on her soccer team and who stays after practice to work on corner kicks until the light runs out. She misses, laughs, adjusts her angle, and tries again. In reading group, she’s a different child. She knows...
Sep 16, 2026
Ashley Dirks, principal at Albert City-Truesdale Elementary in Iowa, recently told our partner success team something we often hear from school leaders, but she said it in a way that stuck with me. “We want our students to truly enjoy reading. We want them to pick up...
Aug 21, 2026
Sofia is a second-grader who lights up during her 20 minutes of reading practice on a tablet at school. She does carefully sequenced tasks that shift and adjust as she works. Her teacher monitors her progress as Sofia builds confidence in her literacy skills through...
Jun 23, 2026
For years, we have used the phrase “rich and varied practice” in reading instruction, but often without a clear definition. While explicit, direct instruction is the cornerstone of the Science of Reading, it is through systematic practice that students consolidate and...
May 13, 2026
Meet Richard. He’s a seventh grader who has spent years in and out of reading intervention. If you sit with him in a quiet corner, he can decode most of the words you put in front of him—he knows his phonics rules. But when he opens a social studies textbook? He’s...
Apr 10, 2026
By Carolyn Brown, Ph.D. Introducing a new blog series from Carolyn Brown, where we learn about her origin story and how she became a notable literacy researcher and scientist… I grew up on a farm in rural New Mexico, and I was a curious kid who noticed things. One of...
Feb 4, 2026
One of the greatest privileges in my work is collaborating with passionate teachers who support struggling readers on their journey toward fluency. Every day, I see educators who notice the little things, set meaningful goals, and help students understand why their...
Nov 19, 2025
Meet Olivia.She’s a bright 5th grader who’s been in reading intervention since 2nd grade. She has phonic skills, can sound out most words, and passes her decoding checks. But when she reads connected text?She’s slow, halting, and frustrated. She avoids reading...
Sep 17, 2025
Supporting students to access and use the language and thinking skills necessary for reading success Marcus sits in the back of his 8th-grade classroom, shoulders hunched, eyes carefully avoiding his teacher’s gaze whenever reading aloud is mentioned. His...
Apr 28, 2025
Richard is in 7th grade and has been receiving reading intervention since the 4th grade. He has had explicit instruction in foundational skills and has developed fairly strong decoding abilities. However, Richard still struggles with reading fluently. He finds...
