• What is Next For the Science of Reading?

    A unique gathering of educators, researchers, and advocates took place on March 1, 2025 at Planet Word in Washington, DC, as part of Emily Hanford’s Eyes On Reading series. This event featured Mark Seidenberg and Maryellen MacDonald under the provocative title, “What is Next for the Science of Reading?” The take-home message was undeniably powerful, though it may have left some educators searching for more specific connections to their classroom realities. I write this blog in the spirit of extending this conversation, as getting down to the specifics will depend on the joint work and ongoing dialogue between researchers and educators.

  • Fighting Back Against Musk’s War on Workers: The Department of People who Work for a Living will Hold DOGE Accountable

    Our guest author is Elizabeth "Liz" Shuler, President of the AFL-CIO, the democratic federation of 63 national and international unions that represent more than 15 million working people. She is also a Shanker Institute board member.

    A government that works for billionaires will never work for the people. Yet, under the guise of “efficiency,” that’s exactly what’s happening. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is gutting Essential public services slashing jobs, undermining the livelihoods of hard working Americans, all while consolidating power in the hands of the ultra-wealthy. This isn’t about making government work better; it’s about making it work for the elite. 

  • Stand Up for Reading Research

    Guest authors Kata Solow and Callie Lowenstein are two of the leading voices of the stand up for reading research movement. Kata and Callie are former classroom teachers who believe meaningful change in education must be collaborative and teacher-led.

    Step back and think about it: the Science of Reading Movement is extraordinary, and very unusual. 

    Since 2019 -- and in spite of huge political differences -- teachers, parents, journalists, and researchers have worked together and driven the passage of over 430 bills aimed at aligning literacy instruction with research, in all states and the District of Columbia. 

    This is a remarkable outcome for any movement, let alone one that lacks formal structure, organization, and leadership. We are a powerful movement. Our strength derives from our drive and passion to learn, drawing insights from our students, our peers, and the rich, expansive research that we refer to as the Science of Reading. 

    But where does this research come from? Much of it comes out of a small division of the US Department of Education called the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), which, among other things, funds high-quality research into what works in education. 

    Our movement owes so much of our success to the IES. But now this progress is being threatened, as funding and personnel cuts have ground essential research to a halt and upended the IES, as we know it.  

    Do you use UFLI, Think SRSD, or Reading Simplified, to name three incredible literacy programs? These programs–that teachers across the country are using to help countless students–were developed as a direct result of funding from the IES. 

    Today’s cuts means that the next effective reading program will never get into the classroom. We can’t let that happen.  

  • How Would Cutting Federal Aid to Schools Affect Student Achievement?

    There is indication that the current administration may dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (USED). It is still unclear what any such plan, if implemented, would entail. Although K-12 education policy is largely controlled by states, USED performs numerous very important roles in the education sphere. Arguably, the most important of these is the administration of federal funding for public schools, which constitutes roughly 10 percent of all K-12 revenue. 

    In this post, we simulate, for each school district, what could happen to student achievement if this federal aid were removed entirely. We also simulate the impact of a second, “block grant” scenario, described below. 

    Our results, in short, indicate that eliminating federal funding would cause irreparable harm to the overwhelming majority of students, regardless of poverty, race, or urbanicity. 

  • Literacy Policy and NAEP

    Over the past few years, the Shanker Institute has been tracking and analyzing reading legislation. After NAEP results were made public, colleagues and friends began asking for my take on the link between literacy policy and NAEP reading outcomes. While many experts in student assessment have written extensively about NAEP's dos and don'ts —here’s a recent example — I wanted to offer my perspective because, as Morgan Polikoff wisely cautioned in 'Friends Don’t Let Friends Misuse NAEP Data,' we must use the data responsibly. I understand the eagerness to see policy efforts make a difference for students; however, expecting too much too soon can be misguided and may even sabotage good policy efforts.

    First and foremost, NAEP scores provide extremely valuable information about how U.S. students perform in various subjects in any given year. Using NAEP to advocate for improving academic outcomes makes a lot of sense. However, NAEP cannot specifically tell us why students are where they are or what can be done to improve their performance. And yet, raw NAEP scores are routinely misused—even at the highest levels — in this manner.