Since 2019, Science of Reading: The Podcast has delivered the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Hosted by Amplify’s Chief Academic Officer Susan Lambert, each episode welcomes a renowned leader in the education and literacy community, explores a timely topic related to the Science of Reading, and offers instructional advice to educators implementing evidence-based practices in their schools.
New to the podcast? Here are 10 popular episodes to acquaint yourself with the Science of Reading. Listen, enjoy, and subscribe — we have new episodes every other Wednesday!
S1-E1: Natalie Wexler on “The Knowledge Gap”
Susan hosts Natalie Wexler for a deep dive into her latest book, The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System—And How to Fix It, and a discussion of the lack of equity in reading education among students, the benefits of knowledge-rich curriculum inside and beyond the classroom, why it’s important to build background knowledge while teaching foundational skills, and why professional development doesn’t seem to be making a difference and how it can be improved.
S1-E3: Emily Hanford on reporting on education and the Science of Reading
Susan sits down with Emily Hanford, education reporter and host of the Education Post podcast, to examine the big takeaways from her experience reporting on dyslexia and the patterns that emerged in her investigation; why reading instruction isn’t more aligned with the Science of Reading; and the evolution of whole language, balanced literacy, and phonics instruction.
S1-E8: Tim Shanahan on evidence-based literacy practices
Reading expert Tim Shanahan discusses his view on teaching reading, including an explanation of the four crucial things you need to teach reading, and what it means to really do a “close read” in literature.
S3-E1: Dr. Jane Oakhill on Scarborough’s Reading Rope
Dive into the first episode of our Deconstructing the Rope series as Dr. Jane Oakhill, professor of experimental psychology at the University of Sussex, provides an overview of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. She also emphasizes the importance of inferencing in comprehension, why the Simple View of Reading is still relevant almost 40 years later, and how each element of the Rope comes together to deconstruct the complexity of reading.
S3-E3: Dr. Louisa Moats on decoding
Join Dr. Louisa Moats, President of Moats Associates Consulting, as she unwinds decoding, a strand of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. In the third episode of our Deconstructing the Rope series, Louisa highlights the significance of decoding in the Science of Reading and discusses the value of becoming students of our own language. She also explains the reciprocal relationship between decoding and encoding and why both are essential to provide effective phonics instruction to children in the classroom.
S2-E7: Sonia Cabell on research, comprehension, and content-rich literacy instruction
Join Sonia Cabell, Assistant Professor of Education at Florida State University, as she shares findings from her research trials on content-rich literacy curricula and whether activating students’ background knowledge alongside explicit phonics instruction is more effective than traditional approaches. She also explains what constitutes “compelling evidence” in the Science of Reading and why students need to interact with both written and spoken language while learning to read.
S3-E5: Dr. Bruce McCandliss on sight recognition
Join Dr. Bruce McCandliss, Professor at the Graduate School of Education of Stanford University, as he unwinds sight recognition, a strand of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. In the fifth episode of our series, Bruce explains the role of sight and word recognition in the Science of Reading and highlights the importance of the rapid integration of print, speech, and meaning. He also encourages listeners to be cognizant of the ever-changing technological learning environment while nurturing young readers and writers.
S2-E1: Dr. LaTonya Goffney on a district-wide SoR adoption
Join Dr. LaTonya Goffney, Superintendent of Schools for Aldine Independent School District in Texas, as she recounts her two-year journey with her team of district educators to adopt a new early literacy curriculum. Hear how they successfully challenged the traditional adoption process, studied the science of teaching reading, analyzed student data and experiences, and developed a district-wide set of beliefs and expectations.
S3-E7: Maria Murray on The Reading League’s Defining Movement
In this special episode, Dr. Maria Murray, President, and CEO of The Reading League analyze the intricacies of literacy instruction and shares common misconceptions that educators have about the Science of Reading. She also explains why the Science of Reading: A Defining Movement coalition was founded: the belief in a clear understanding of what the Science of Reading is and what it is not, in order to promote the proper use of instructional practices aligned with its findings.
