“The thing that surprised me most about my teacher preparation program was that we never talked about how kids learn. Instead, we were taught how to structure a lesson and given tips on classroom management… I assumed that I would eventually learn how the brain worked because I thought that studying education meant studying how learning happens.” — Dr. Michael Mercanti-Anthony, School Principal

The recent focus on the science of reading has revealed that educators also need to know about the science of learning and how children learn. Unfortunately, teachers are not typically taught about the science of learning in their pre-service education or in-service professional development.

The distinction between the benefits the science of reading affords educators and what the science of learning is waiting to afford educators is critically important to student outcomes and teacher effectiveness.

How can these learning principles help students and teachers in the classroom now with automatic word recognition and fluency development in reading?

Are your students having difficulty getting to fluency even when they have had explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics?

Teachers and administrators are left wondering why so many of their students can’t move to automatic word recognition, fluency, and comprehension given their systematic early skills development, based on practices from the science of reading. The development of fluency can benefit directly from the science of learning. Robust principles of learning that are effective in the development of motor, perceptual, language, and complex cognitive skills have been translated into the area of reading. In fact, these principles lead directly to a different structure for practice than is often recommended by the science of reading. These principles of learning, embedded into structured practice, have been shown to facilitate learning that not only “sticks”, but creates the neural circuitry for automatic retrieval. “How” students learn is critically important for retention, generalization and automatic skill development. Integrating the principles of learning into instruction and practice could be transformative for the development of reading proficiency.

It’s Time to Learn How We Learn

The science of learning is just as robust as the science of reading. Both represent bodies of research extending over the past 50-60 years. Specific principles of learning have been identified, studied, and proven to help learners retain, generalize, automatically retrieve, and apply information.

The Science of Reading:

• Emphasizes the role of explicit, teacher-directed instruction to teach symbol-to-sound relationships and orthographic patterns in foundational learning skills.
• Recognizes the need for multi-tiered support for many struggling students, especially for dyslexic/neurodiverse learners; second language learners; those who come to school less prepared with language and literacy backgrounds; and those who had poor early reading instruction.

The Science of Learning:

• Reveals that learners often cannot transfer foundational knowledge, gained through explicit instruction, to automatic and fluent behaviors without structured practice that activates long-term memory and automatic retrieval. Without appropriate practice, fluency is compromised, and consequently, so is reading comprehension — and students’ confidence and desire to read is diminished.
• Brings a framework for learning complex reading skills. This framework acknowledges the value of explicit instruction to teach elemental knowledge (e.g., letter-sound correspondences and patterns) but also addresses the implicit learning processes that support retention, generalization, and automatic retrieval of information. Both systems are essential for students to develop and execute the complex skills required for automaticity and fluency in reading.

The Science of Reading Fluently: What Comes After Systematic Phonics Instruction?

Transitioning Foundational Skills to Fluency

The broad definition of the science of reading (see the Defining Guide, The Reading League) includes multiple aspects of reading and research across many disciplines. However, the primary focus of the science of reading has been on teacher-directed, explicit instruction of foundational literacy skills. While significant gains have been seen in phonics knowledge, the transfer of that knowledge to reading fluency has been difficult to achieve in many circumstances, as have gains in reading comprehension.

Because readers need to uncover subtle, and not so subtle, statistical patterns in the mappings between letters and sounds, practice conditions of high exposure and variability should boost the acquisition, retention, and retrieval of this knowledge. The Varied Practice Model (VPM) is a learning model that provides structured practice with high exposure to carefully controlled contrasts in variable tasks and contexts. This practice leads to better retention, more flexible recall, and automatic retrieval. The VPM emphasizes interleaving content, varying the tasks, assessing with immediate feedback, and incorporating “desirable difficulties” throughout learning. This practice approach has found support in a wide range of training settings, from motor skill learning to concept learning, suggesting that these fundamental learning principles generalize across domains.

WordFlight’s online curriculum consists of 24 structured units organized around the Varied Practice Model so that students encounter the content from multiple perspectives. The
teacher-facilitated instruction provides a wealth of resources, including poems/passages, curriculum packets, and daily lesson plans to reinforce the development of automatic word recognition skills, improve reading fluency, and deepen and extend learning to new contexts that include vocabulary, comprehension, and writing.

In part 2 of this series, I talked about the common challenges educators are facing in the classroom, and the culture and technology shifts individuals can make to support struggling fourth grade readers. But no educator operates in a vacuum. What are some systemic shifts that we can make to support students’ whose early grades were disrupted by the pandemic?

1. To be effective with these older struggling readers, we must shift our thinking and approaches about reading interventions to scale new interventions to reach more fourth graders as soon as possible.

It is critical that basic foundational skills are assessed and if components are missing for today’s fourth graders, they must be developed as effectively and efficiently as possible. Although these skills require specific instruction and practice, this work cannot be at the expense of developing grade-level vocabulary, thinking, and knowledge building—all essential to reading proficiency. We must integrate instructional practices to build knowledge around grade-level content through listening, discussion, and interacting with peers and teachers for all students—even those who are still working on their foundational reading skills.

Cognitive scientist Mark Seidenberg recently urged that:

1. we need to focus interventions on the alphabetic principle and phonics, enabling “real reading” as quickly as possible rather than spending hours on phonemic awareness proficiency in a number of tasks;
2. we need to provide many meaningful, engaging experiences that develop oral language, which predicts reading comprehension;
3. explicit instruction requiring progression through a specified scope and sequence is not appropriate for all students, and
4. implicit learning is critical to language development, learning, and reading and should be supported in classroom instruction.

2. Rethink technology’s role in instruction.

Optimize teacher time and impact by creating more opportunities for engagement and interaction. This is where technology can be used to provide targeted practice opportunities to fill in gaps in basic reading skill development.

Equip educators with knowledge and tools based on the principles of learning science, rather than accepting only traditional methods of reading instruction. (I talk more about this in part 2). Intervention tools based on learning science focus on instruction and practice that make skills and concepts “stick” by improving retention, retrieval, and generalizability. These research-based tools will assist teachers provide interventions that target the reading skills that many fourth graders lack.

3. Focus on fourth grade teachers.

Have they had training in teaching foundational reading skills and the Science of Reading? The National Center on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) found that pre-service teacher programs exclude phonological awareness and phonics. Provide teachers and reading interventionists with professional learning that gives a deeper understanding of the principles of learning that “make learning stick.”

Quality training will include webinars or courses for learning principles that go across domains. Teachers need to understand instructional examples of the role of contrasts, why variation of tasks and contexts is important, what it means to interleave content and why it is effective, what and when is feedback effective, what “desirable” difficulties look like, and why elaboration helps the retention and retrieval processes.

4. Build and support the environments and instruction to enhance text comprehension.

Text comprehension enhances knowledge in multiple domains, increases curiosity, builds empathy for others, and supports the development of a self-image as a reader and a learner.

• Meaningful in-person, small-group instruction that incorporates principles of learning helps students apply and generalize their knowledge and skills in real-world reading contexts and very importantly, allows them to interact and connect with peers.
• However, a blended approach that incorporates purposeful technology to personalize and accelerate skill learning makes small group instruction more successful. It also provides time for teachers to meaningfully engage in small-group instruction. This time allows students to integrate and practice their newly developed skills, along with their peers.

Structure and a systematic approach to literacy and learning sets expectations for students and increases efficiency. Teachers have no classroom time to waste, and students not only crave structure but flourish when they know what is expected and they deliver. Students need interventions that allow them to be successful and make efficient use of instructional time and engage with peers. Encourage and support educators to:

• Monitor student performance and make adjustments as needed.
• Have students take responsibility for their journey to becoming a proficient reader.
• And, as always, celebrate students’ progress and successes every day!

We all feel the weight of the challenge ahead for educators and students. Let us help you take the first step to helping students. You can identify students who have deficits in critical reading skills with our free screener: learn.wordflight.com/free-screener

By Dr. Carolyn Brown, Chief Academic Officer

In part 1 of this series, I talked about the urgent reading challenge faced by fourth graders who experienced school closures during their early learning. In this blog, I’ll share what I’ve been hearing from teachers trying to sort through these issues in their classrooms. When asked to describe their most difficult roadblocks to improving reading, I consistently heard common observations, which I’ve grouped into four themes.

1. Behavioral issues:
   More students than ever before are exhibiting behavioral challenges. They act out in class, are less focused and engaged in instruction, have poor self-esteem, and can’t seem to get into the rhythm of daily classroom routines and activities. Even the excitement usually found in social interactions with peers in small group activities is missing.
2. Wide range of gaps in reading skills:
   Students are bringing a wide range of gaps in reading skills, from basic decoding skills to comprehension, and it is difficult to know what they need and how to provide the instructional support necessary to get these students on grade level. The students are frustrated, know that they are struggling and don’t want to take any risks in front of peers.
3. Core instruction and intervention practices are failing to reach these students:
   These students aren’t ready for grade-level core instruction, and the intervention tools and practices are not working. Even with sustained, coordinated efforts students are not making adequate progress.Most of the professional development about the Science of Reading is implemented at the earlier grades. However, this isn’t just an elementary school challenge. Upper-grade teachers must understand and implement it too, especially for those children who lack basic skill development.
4. Unproductive time on technology
   Technology programs that served as a primary source of reading instruction during the pandemic have continued as a way of life in the classroom but don’t seem to be improving student performance. Although it can facilitate classroom management, technology often seems to just “babysit,” especially for students with very low skills. Many technology programs are not improving academic performance of these struggling students. Additionally, social disconnection with peers and teachers only gets worse.

Do you see any of these trends showing up in your classrooms?

Building a sense of belonging is an essential first step to creating a learning culture that invites everyone to participate—students and teachers alike.

Learning to read is hard. Making students feel supported, comfortable, and like they belong helps. Start with small actionable steps each day that acknowledge successes in reading, increase the social engagement of students and teachers, and provide opportunities to express kindness and caring about each other. A few suggestions include:

1. Establish clear expectations for building a positive classroom culture. Set weekly goals as a group for respect, responsibility, and kindness towards one another and celebrate them daily as they are exhibited.
2. Encourage students to express their feelings of success and frustration as they engage in reading lessons or activities.
3. Work with your colleagues to make sure each student has at least one stable relationship with a caring adult. Check in individually with those students every day. Be aware and sensitive to the needs of students who have experienced elevated levels of trauma and continued anxiety.

Create a reading instruction plan that celebrates successes every day.

1. First, be sure you have the appropriate tools to evaluate each student’s basic foundational reading skills (e.g., decoding and automatic word recognition) that should already be in place by fourth grade, but maybe be lacking because their learning was disrupted by the pandemic.Unfortunately, most tools don’t go into this level of detail beyond early elementary grades. To help schools fill this gap, WordFlight offers a free diagnostic screener to identify if students’ foundational reading skills are proficient, at some risk, or at high risk. Sign up here.
2. Provide honest feedback to your students, explain what they are missing and how a plan will be put into place to improve their reading skills. Emphasize that the students missed important steps during the time when school was disrupted and they need to spend some time catching up. Emphasize that this is not their fault. Also, use the data to bring parents and caregivers into a partnership to support students. Recent research found that families vastly overestimate how well their students are doing in school, especially after the pandemic closures, despite receiving regular reports.
3. Provide practice opportunities that allow students to “learn by doing” in a variety of reading activities. Present the right instructional tasks to provide students with many successful practice opportunities. By increasing their confidence that they can successfully participate, engagement will increase and they will take more risks in the learning process.

How do you know if technology is helping?

When implementing new technology, consider carefully whether the technology is purposefully developed and shown to move students forward to develop specific competencies. Technology can be a powerful aid if it supports the classroom instruction, goals, and structure. In addition, it should be based on learning theory that provides useable data for you so you can be more effectively engaged in facilitating learning in the classroom.

For example, new approaches from learning science are designed to help struggling readers retain, generalize, and automatically retrieve information.

• It turns out that students need to experience content in a variety of contexts to remember and use their knowledge in new situations. They learn to derive patterns in word recognition, syntax, morphology, and semantics— all critical to language development and reading.
• Learner-centric technology can efficiently target gaps in basic word level reading skills by systematically structuring practice across varied words, tasks, and contexts. This structured practice enables students to develop automatic word recognition. The required exposures and practice would be virtually impossible for a teacher to deliver to each student.

This is an example of using principles from learning science, embedded in technology, to help students develop foundational skills, such as decoding and automatic word recognition, so they can advance to fluency and reading comprehension.

Now is a perfect time to integrate principles and practices from learning science into reading instruction to optimize learning. We can use learning science and technology together to combat the challenges of caused by COVID-19 disruptions for fourth graders who are struggling to read.

Changing the way we think about classroom culture and technology are just some shifts we need to make to help struggling readers. In part 3 of this series, I’ll talk about other shifts that need to happen at the school, district, and system levels.

By Dr. Carolyn Brown, Chief Academic Officer

Elija held back tears as he tried to continue sounding out words. He was too frustrated to go on. As a fourth grader, he knew something was wrong and he felt like it was his fault that reading wasn’t getting easier. His teacher was also discouraged and felt unsuccessful. Elija and his teacher aren’t alone. Fourth graders across the country are experiencing reading problems that are remarkably similar and appear intractable.

Post-pandemic, as we were working with many educators we began seeing a consistent and disturbing pattern in our WordFlight screening data. While children in grades 4-6 are generally showing declines in proficiency in foundational reading skills, we saw the greatest downward shift in the 4th graders. Working with teachers and administrators to better understand the instructional needs of these students allowed us to hear first-hand about the accompanying behavioral and self-confidence issues that are surfacing. In the fall of 2023, we are seeing more 4th graders struggling with automatic word recognition than we usually see in 2nd graders.

Although the schools vary in size, location and populations served, educators are struggling every day to address the learning and behavioral barriers holding these students back. Today’s fourth graders are different from any other generation. These students were in the latter half of their kindergarten year when the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools across the country. No other cohort has ever experienced such a universal disruption in learning. 

While the impact of the pandemic was widespread and all districts suffered, national data show that the decline in test scores was not equally distributed (NAEP, 2022; AnnieCaseyFoundation). Schools that serve the most vulnerable children (those from high poverty, of color, with special needs, who are English learners and those with dyslexia), lost even more ground. These most vulnerable students already needed more effective instruction well before the pandemic hit. 

The pandemic has placed a bright spotlight on the failures and clear inequalities in our educational system and is forcing a reckoning. It is simply not good enough to go back to pre-pandemic days. Years of research have clearly documented that students who aren’t reading at grade level by third grade are at greater risk of continuing to struggle academically, dropping out of school, and ultimately compromising their potential and success as adults. The pandemic exacerbated a problem that has been growing for decades. The evidence reported from the Harvard and Stanford collaboration at the district and state levels (https://educationrecoveryscorecard.org) reveals the problem is bigger than we thought, is resistant to change, and has huge implications for our nation. 

These children lost much more than half of their kindergarten year in school. They lost their way as comfortable and confident learners. There is no question that disrupting the development of their early reading skills was devastating to their academic progress. Their abrupt departure also separated them from teachers and friends who were woven into the social and emotional fabric of their learning environment and their view of school. Students’ routines were disrupted, they were socially isolated, their caregivers experienced major hardships like job loss or food insecurity, and heartbreakingly, some young students experienced the loss of loved ones. As a result, many students are dealing with the effects of trauma and mental health challenges, which are also taking a toll on their academics. 

Four years later, the country is facing an urgent challenge that calls for immediate attention. Both teachers and students need help. The disastrous impact of the pandemic on reading scores has opened the doors to go beyond old and ineffective pedagogical models. Educators who are working side-by-side with these children can see that we’re standing at the edge of a precipice. They, too, feel they have lost their way and need help. 

Old approaches won’t work

These struggling 4th graders and their younger peers in earlier grades are desperate for something beyond “more of the same”. The usual core instruction and intervention tools and practices are not working for today’s fourth graders. Districts have tried and failed. Currently, researchers are urging educators to provide more instructional time and lower teacher-student ratios (eg, models of tutoring, after-school and summer school). However, it is imperative that we bring actionable, innovative and more effective approaches to classrooms that make learning more efficient, relevant and generalizable. It is time to bring the “science of learning” to children as they develop reading foundations.

As stated by NYC elementary principal, M-J Mercanti-Anthony, in a recent article published in the Hechinger Report, “The discovery of the science of reading has led to the larger, more practice-shattering realization that educators know very little about the science of learning itself. ….Now that we are being bombarded by headlines about students’ pandemic learning loss, perhaps we should focus on what we educators never learned.” 

Call to action

It is time to rethink what is necessary for change — for both teachers and students. First, we need a clear understanding of what has been missed. Then we must be willing to rethink organizational structures, instructional models and classroom practices. Next, educators need to better understand the conditions that promote and optimize learning and be provided the professional development and tools to enact change. To do this, we need to embrace a new narrative that targets “learning principles and processes” to make learning more efficient and effective for all students. 

The Anatomy of New, Effective Reading Interventions 

What will help these students? Stay tuned for my next blog where I’ll talk about effective solutions and strategic planning that integrate the science of learning to help get these students on track. 

I’ll identify steps for planning and implementing an effective and efficient reading intervention that targets foundational reading development within a learning framework that maximizes generalization and automaticity, essential components for grade level development in reading.