Professional Development

If you are an educator new to learning about scientifically-based reading recognize you are not alone. This section helps contextualize issues surrounding common literacy practices. The current discussions surrounding literacy practices are not attacks on teachers, the current discussions are calling into question reading pedagogy that does not align with a substantial body of research about how a child's brain learns to read. Educators want all students to be successful readers, but there are many misconceptions about how children learn to read that must be corrected. This page contains webinars, podcasts, and virtual conferences to assist your learning journey and we encourage teachers to read the resources on our Scientifically-Based Reading page to explore videos, articles, and research as they relate to the Simple View of Reading. Emily Hanford's reporting is a good entry point to contextualize the need to reform early literacy curriculum and pedagogy. Learning about the science of reading helps remove barriers that prevent many marginalized students from succeeding. Please share our resources with your school and colleagues.

Read the following article Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science written by Dr. Louisa Moats
Read the article Identifying and Teaching Students with Significant Reading Problems
Listen to the audio documentaries by Emily Hanford (posted below). What ideas caused you to pause and reflect? What ideas did you agree with? What ideas need further exploration?
Explore the resource links
Bring these resources back to your school and discuss with your administrators, teams, or PLCs. Host a formal or informal book study (Suggested Readings: Speech to Print, Language at the Speed of Sight, The Reading Comprehension Blueprint, Conquering Dyslexia).
Consider joining the FB Group The Science of Reading What I Should Have Learned in College or the Rhode Island PLN RISOR. Rhode Island educators are welcome to join our efforts to advance evidence-based reading, click the Meetings & Events tab for more information.

Why are people discussing the Science of Reading?

How American schools fail kids with dyslexiaThere are proven ways to help people with dyslexia learn to read, and a federal law that's supposed to ensure schools provide kids with help. But across the country, public schools are denying children proper treatment and often failing to identify them with dyslexia in the first place.

Why aren't kids being taught to read?Scientific research has shown how children learn to read and how they should be taught. But many educators don't know the science and, in some cases, actively resist it. As a result, millions of kids are being set up to fail.

How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readersFor decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't know there's anything wrong with it.

Many kids struggle with reading – and children of color are far less likely to get the help they needA false assumption about what it takes to be a skilled reader has created deep inequalities among U.S. children, putting many on a difficult path in life.

Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So WrongThere's an idea about how children learn to read that's held sway in schools for more than a generation — even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read. In this new podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work. It's an expose of how educators came to believe in something that isn't true and are now reckoning with the consequences — children harmed, money wasted, an education system upended.

Teacher Resources

PaTTAN Literacy Resource Hub PaTTAN Literacy Resource Hub

Reading Science AcademyThe online community for reading teachers who want to improve reading outcomes by implementing the science of reading.

JournalThe premier publication dedicated to connecting the science of reading to educators’ professional practices.

Scientifically-Based Reading Webinars

Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teaching Reading - edWebThis edWebinar will present an overview of the concepts and language content that are essential for teaching reading, spelling, and writing effectively.

List of Webinars

Dyslexia Webinars and Videos

Dyslexia Webinars

Book Recommendations from the Reading League

The Reading League Recommended Book List

Brain Words: How the Science of Reading Informs Teaching – Find on Amazon
Knowledge to Support the Teaching of Reading: Preparing Teachers for a Changing World – Find on Amazon
Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why So Many Can’t, and What Can Be Done About It – Find on Amazon
Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties (Essentials of Psychological Assessment) – Find here
Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain – Find on Amazon
The Reading Glitch: How the Culture Wars Have Hijacked Reading Instruction-And What We Can Do about It – Find on Amazon
Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read – Find on Amazon
Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print –Find on Amazon
The Science of Reading: A Handbook – Find on Amazon
Making Sense of Interventions for Children with Developmental Disorders: A Guide for Parents and Professionals – Find on Amazon
Learning to Read: The Great Debate by Chall Jeanne S. (1995-06-01) Hardcover – Find on Amazon
Overcoming Dyslexia (2020 Edition): Second Edition, Completely Revised and Updated – Find on Amazon
Teaching Students with Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, OWL LD, and Dyscalculia – Find on Amazon
Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers, Third Edition – Find Here
Speech to Print Workbook: Language Exercises for Teachers Third Edition, New edition – Find Here
Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World – Find on Amazon
Reading Assessment: Linking Language, Literacy, and Cognition – Find on Amazon
Language for Life, by Lyn Stone – Find Here
Reading for Life, by Lyn Stone – Find Here
Spelling for Life, by Lyn Stone – Find Here