Timothy Rasinski Invited Article Teaching the Art and Science of Foundational Reading—Phonics to Fluency Over the past several years an approach to reading instruction has emerged called the Science of Reading (SOR) (Shanahan, 2021). Science of Reading advocates argue that there is now sufficient scientific knowledge about how people read and how people learn to read that instruction in teaching reading should be guided by this science. The genesis for this approach can be traced back to the National Reading Panel (2000), a group of literacy experts who were assigned the task of identifying the science-verified components of reading that are necessary for children to become proficient readers. Nearly every teacher of reading has since become familiar with those components—phonemic awareness, phonics or word decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The concept of the SOR, however, may pose a challenge when it comes to turning the SOR into actionable reading instruction. The Science of Reading is based, to a large extent, on scientific research into the competencies that must be mastered in order to achieve proficiency in reading. However, SOR does not provide much direction into how those competencies should be taught to students (Shanahan, 2021). Very often the implication for instruction is that the SOR competency be taught using approaches that are direct, systematic, and, for students who are struggling, intensive. How does such instruction actually play out in classrooms? What seems to be the result is instruction that may be direct and systematic but involves teachers in reading instructional scripts, students engaged in drill-like activities that do not appear to resemble actual reading, and when permitted to read given “decodable” texts that appear to more resemble passages designed to give students practice in reading certain phonics elements than authentic stories or texts that readers can find enjoyable and take satisfaction in. Take, for instance, the competency of reading fluency. First, scientific research has demonstrated that reading speed as measured by the number of words read correctly on a leveled reading passage is a valid measure of one aspect of fluency called automaticity in word recognition. Studies at various grade levels have found a strong correlation between speed of reading (oral reading fluency—ORF) and overall reading proficiency (Rasinski et al., 2011). Scientific research has also found that assisted reading and repeated reading are valid and effective ways for improving reading fluency, as well as word recognition and comprehension (Rasinski, 2010). Assisted reading occurs when a reader reads a text while simultaneously listening to a fluent reading of the same text. That listening could be from a more fluent reading partner such as a teacher or parent sitting next to the student or even listening to a pre-recorded version of the text. Repeated reading, as the name implies, involves repeated practice of a text until the student is able to read the text at a normal level of fluency. Research has demonstrated
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