K-12 Education

Why Are Some Methods to Teach Reading Still Popular—Even Without Enough Evidence to Support Them?

This is a question that baffles me. If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that most teachers are doing their very best for students. So, there must be a (student-centered) reason teachers use the methods they do.

In conversations with colleagues, some have noted that certain instructional practices appear to produce faster results. Teachers may adopt them to help students catch up quickly, hoping this will allow them to engage more fully in core instruction and boost their confidence and motivation. That made a lot of sense to me. And yet, it is possible that some strategies offer quick wins but don’t stick or scale—because they’re shortcuts.

It’s a bit like teaching a child to swim freestyle by having them mimic the motions they see. They might manage to get across the pool, which gives the appearance of success. But without learning proper technique—how to rotate their body, coordinate breathing with strokes, or maintain a high elbow during the pull—they’ll tire quickly, develop inefficient habits, and hit a performance ceiling they can’t easily overcome. The shortcut lets them move forward, but it doesn’t lay the foundation for becoming a strong swimmer over time.

Then I came across this research reference in Claude Goldenberg’s Substack – which is a treasure trove of insight; well worth a look if you are interested in literacy research and policy. 

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.

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. 

Reflections on Belonging While in Pursuit of Accomplished Teaching

Our guest author, Yewande Lewis-Fokum, is a lecturer at The West Indies University in Jamaica and is also involved in teacher training and professional development at both the elementary and high school levels

As a visiting scholar at the Center for Research on Expanding Educational Opportunity (CREEO) at UC Berkeley for the month of May 2024, I was privileged to engage in rich conversations about teacher development with Drs. Travis Bristol and Jacquelyn Ollison, leading advocates for equity and justice in classroom practice. I also had the time, space, and library resources to write, research, and offer insight on the National Board Certification support CREEO offers.

National Board Certification, is "the most respected professional certification available in education designed to develop, retain, and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide.” It is a voluntary system, managed by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, where teachers document attainment of “high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do.”

What Makes High-Quality Afterschool Programming

When I was in undergrad, I worked at an afterschool program (ASP) for elementary school students that was one blacktop playground away from another. Every year, we would have one or two parents switch their child from our program to theirs. While the switch almost always revolved around programming costs, it was hard to see students leave. As I am sure many educators and those close to them know, you become invested in your students’ lives. You hear about their families, support them through personal struggles, and help them develop new skills. 

As if saying farewell to students was not hard enough, almost every time we saw our old students, they would talk about needing snacks, not having the support they needed, or other students being mean. Most of the time, our students would end up coming back due to parents being shocked by the difference in quality between the two programs when we advertised the same services. 

Due to the plethora of academic, social, and behavioral benefits associated with ASPs (Beal, 2024), there is a false assumption that the quality of programs is uniform and sufficient (Hirsch et al., 2010). 

It is important that we challenge the assumption that all ASPs are created and implemented equally, as the benefits of ASPs are only present when program quality is high (Durlak et al., 2019; Yohalem & Wilson-Ahlstrom, 2010).

But what makes high-quality afterschool programming? That is the million-dollar question that researchers have yet to agree upon. 

From my experiences working in and researching ASP, I believe that having a whole child-based design, prioritizing student engagement, having quality staff members, and strong administration are overarching tenets that make high-quality ASPs. 

Happy Holidays from the Albert Shanker Institute!

Dear Shanker Institute community:

Thank you for your participation and solidarity this year. In 2024 we hosted conversations ranging from ambitious conferences like, Passion Meets Purpose featuring AFT President Randi Weingarten, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, and ASI board member Stan Litow and more; to meaningful civic engagement like Defending Our Democracy: The Crucial Role of the Latino Vote in the 2024 Election. 

We also deepened our partnership with ShareMyLesson, through professional development offerings like Teaching the Power of Local Democracy: Why voting matters in every election and, of course, our yearlong partnership together with the AFT Book Club. From the January book club kicking off with Amanda Gorman to a meaningful conversation with Jason Reynolds, the book club became a popular event attracting audiences each month. Watch for our 2025 AFT Book Club series coming soon!

Reading Policy, the Wind and the Sun

There is a well-known tale about the Wind and the Sun who once debated who was stronger. They agreed that whoever could make a traveler remove his coat would win. The Wind went first, blowing with all his might, but the harder he blew, the tighter the man wrapped his coat. Exhausted, the Wind gave up. Then the Sun shone warmly on the traveler, and as the air around him grew warmer, the man loosened his coat and eventually removed it entirely.

What does this story have to do with reading policy?

At the Shanker Institute, we have been cataloging literacy laws enacted since 2019. Over the years, we have observed an increase in the prescriptiveness of these laws—for example, states are increasingly banning three cueing -- at least 14 states include such language in their laws. Simultaneously, and perhaps relatedly, opposition to the science of reading seems to be on the rise. I find myself thinking that perhaps these attempts to change instruction with the force of the law are akin to the Wind in the story, causing some educators to feel their professional autonomy is challenged, leading them to rely more heavily on familiar practices. Are there sun-like influences shaping the discourse in ways that might help teachers to lower their fences and become more receptive to new knowledge? I believe so. 

Digital Technology and the Reading Brain: What Reading Legislation Overlooks

The Shanker Institute and Maryland READS recently facilitated a conversation between state and local education leaders in Maryland and literacy expert Dr. Maryanne Wolf to explore the impact of digital technology on students’ reading development. As Maryland joins other states in implementing policy reforms to improve reading instruction, it is essential to recognize and explore additional ecosystemic barriers that might prevent the state from achieving its reading proficiency goals.

A growing number of studies (discussed below) are showing that choosing to read on screens versus using printed materials can be a significant obstacle to acquiring deep reading and thinking skills. This post explores whether and how reading policy – state legislation in particular – is responding to this emerging concern. 
 
The Shanker Institute has been tracking and analyzing the content of reading bills enacted into law since 2019. Technology, broadly defined,^[1] has been one domain whose presence or absence we identified in these laws. This post focuses on mentions of digital media related to students, including its use in instruction, progress monitoring and assessment, as well as in reading interventions. Our analysis reveals that laws in only nine states (out of 50 that enacted some reading bill between 2019 and 2023) discuss these uses of technology, as summarized in Table 1 below. 
  

Out of School But in a Book: Leveraging the Socio-Cultural Aspects of Reading

So often, when we talk about reading, we focus on the technical or cognitive side of it – learning how students decode words and understand their meaning. While this makes sense because schools tend to prioritize the technical aspects of reading for beginning learners, the socio-cultural aspect of reading must not be forgotten. 

The socio-cultural aspect of reading refers to how our community, environment, and cultural background influence reading. The way that people learn to read, what they decide to read, and how they interpret what they read is largely influenced by their larger socio-cultural environment (Cartin, 2023). 

When you reflect on your experience learning to read, did just learning how to sound out words make you a strong reader? Or, did your environment play a role? Did learning how to sound out words in collaboration with your peers or the pride and joy from finishing your first book inspire you to keep reading? 

Only recently have some states – such as Minnesota, Michigan, and Florida – begun to include initiatives incorporating the community and environmental dimension of reading into their legislation. For example, Minnesota’s HF 2497 bill established a grant to support eligible after-school organizations in providing culturally affirming and enriching​ after-school programming that promotes positive learning activities, specifically including community engagement and literacy. Similarly, Michigan’s HB 4411 bill established an innovative community library fund to aid in furthering reading skills and address early childhood literacy gaps through the engagement and connection of students. Another example is Florida’s SB 2524 bill, which established a partnership with Just Read, Florida! to help distribute books at no cost to families to help instill a love of reading in students. Such initiatives can play a significant role in promoting childhood literacy and encourage young readers to view reading as a leisure and social activity. However, we need more states to adopt similar efforts to truly meet the needs of all students.