Science of Reading: The Podcast
Science of Reading: The Podcast delivers the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Each episode takes a conversational approach and explores a timely topic related to the science of reading.
Interested in learning more about the science of reading from literacy experts and practitioners? Register now for our free virtual symposium, Built for These Times: Making the Shift to the Science of Reading on March 4, 2021, starting at 11am EST.
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Available episodes
In each episode, host Susan Lambert, Vice President of Elementary Literacy Instruction at Amplify Education, explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. As a former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, Susan has a special interest in turning theory into best practices applicable immediately in the classroom, as well as in showcasing national models of excellence in this realm. Listen and subscribe here!
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Season 3, Episode 4. Plain Talk: Making the Shift to the Science of Reading in Your District Join leading experts Natalie Wexler, Ernesto Ortiz, Dr. Carolyn Strom, and Susan Lambert for a podcast on making the shift to the science of reading. In this special episode, they discuss how educators can implement the science of reading through an incremental change on all levels, from a classroom to entire districts. Sharing their research and both professional and personal experiences, the panelists share the leadership knowledge, training, and curriculum advice you’ve been looking for. |
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Season 3, Episode 3. Deconstructing the Rope: Decoding with Dr. Louisa Moats 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 mentions the reciprocal relationship between decoding and encoding and why both are essential to provide effective phonics instruction to children in the classroom. |
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Season 3, Episode 2. Deconstructing the Rope: Word recognition with Alice Wiggins Join Alice Wiggins, Vice President of Instructional Design & Products at UnboundEd, as she unwinds word recognition, a strand of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. In the second episode of our Deconstructing the Rope series, Alice explains the role of word recognition in the science of reading and highlights the importance of explicit phonics instruction. She also urges listeners to advocate for an aligned curriculum to bring forth a systematic and equitable approach to reading for all students. |
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Season 3, Episode 1. Deconstructing the Rope: An introduction with Dr. Jane Oakhill Dive into our 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. |
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Season 2, Episode 9. Unveiling insights from assessment data: Danielle Damico Join Danielle Damico, Director of Learning Science at Amplify, as she explores the impact of the pandemic on at-risk students and those in need of intervention. She shares the insights drawn from DIBELS 8th Edition and highlights how data is now more important than ever in understanding where students are—whether assessments are administered in person or through a digital platform. Finally, she leaves our listeners with best practices to nurture readers moving forward and ensure growth and success through the end of the year. |
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Season 2, Episode 8. Behind the scenes of the National Reading Panel: Tim Shanahan One of our most popular guests, Tim Shanahan, returns! In our most recent episode, he reminisces about the creation of the National Reading Panel in 1997 and the release of its subsequent groundbreaking report. He highlights how reading instruction has evolved and discusses how new research seems to be changing the landscape of the “reading wars” he thought were settled long ago. |
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Season 2, Episode 7. Research, comprehension, and content-rich literacy instruction: Sonia Cabell 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. |
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Season 2, Episode 6. Fostering growth and instructional change Join Kelly Moran, Curriculum Supervisor of Chardon Local Schools in Ohio, as she shares her journey of implementing a curriculum based around the science of reading. Hear about the steps her district took to reshape literacy instructional practices and about the challenges they faced along the way. Find out how the fostering of reading achievement in students renders all efforts worthwhile. |
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Season 2, Episode 5. The Right to Read Project on nurturing automatic readers: Margaret Goldberg and Alanna Mednick Join Margaret Goldberg and Alanna Mednick from the Right to Read Project as they address the science of reading and its translation into easy practice for educators. They break down the Seidenberg and McClelland Four-Part Processing Model and explain how it relates to the simple view of reading. They also reflect on how educators should approach reading as scientists and be ready to teach in a way that may be uncomfortable for a time—the “labor of love” stage of literacy instruction. |
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Season 2, Episode 4. Telling the fuller story: Afrika Afeni Mills Join Afrika Afeni Mills—Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director of BetterLesson—as she reflects on race, culture, and identity in education. She’ll shed light on the significance of integrating students’ schemas to nurture language comprehension in early literacy, discuss the difference between asset- and deficit-based teaching, and highlight the impact “windows and mirrors” have on students’ classroom experiences. |
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Season 2, Episode 3. The Reading League and the science of reading: Maria Murray and Pamela Snow In our first international episode, join The Reading League CEO and President Maria Murray and La Trobe University Professor of Cognitive Psychology Pamela Snow as they reflect on the long history of the science of reading. They’ll explain the true definition of “the science of reading” and explore why this knowledge has not been translated for the practitioners that need it the most—teachers. Our guests will also discuss the pandemic’s silver lining if that’s possible: the opportunity to reflect on instructional practices and how to best support educators and students now, and in the future. Listen here! |
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Season 2, Episode 2. Reflecting on past literacy experiences: Justin Pita and Tamara Morris Join Amplify interns Justin Pita, undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, and Tamara Morris, alumna of Stanford University, as they share their reading journeys. They highlight the major disparities and barriers that affected their academic experiences. They also reflect on how action must be taken by caregivers and educators to ensure that all students have access to equal opportunities for achievement in literacy, so that no student gets left behind. Listen here! |
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Season 2, Episode 1. Confronting the data: Dr. LaTonya Goffney |
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28. A look back at Season One |
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27. A conversation with Catherine Barnes |
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26. A conversation with Daniel Willingham |
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25. A conversation with Doug Lemov |
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24. A conversation with Shawn Joseph |
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23. A conversation with Elizabeth Salinas |
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22. A conversation with Mary Clayman |
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21. A conversation with Jaquey Barber |
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20. A conversation with David & Meredeth Liben |
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19. A conversation with Laurence Holt |
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18. A conversation with Larry Berger |
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17. A conversation with Freddy Hiebert |
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16. A conversation with Jared Myracle |
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15. Special Edition: A conversation with Ernesto Ortiz |
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14. Special Edition: A conversation with David Steiner |
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13. A conversation about remote learning: |
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12. A conversation with Dr. Bruce McCandliss: |
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11. A conversation with Jasmine Lane: |
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10. A conversation with Dr. Nancy Nelson: Nancy Nelson, Research Assistant Professor at the Center on Teaching and Learning at the University of Oregon, discusses myths and misconceptions around RTI, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), and universal screening in reading instruction. She describes her work on DIBELS®, the importance of dyslexia screeners, and the tools that need to be in place for RTI to work well. Listen here! |
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9. A conversation with Dr. Carolyn Strom: Dr. Carolyn Strom, Professor of Early Childhood Literacy and Innovation at NYU, discusses the cognitive science behind early reading. She shares her insights on the importance of neuroscience and culturally responsive teaching and dives into research Linnea Ehri’s four phases of learning how to read. Listen here! |
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8. A conversation with Tim Shanahan: Reading expert Tim Shanahan discusses his view on the teaching of reading. What are the four crucial things you need to teach reading? What does it mean to really do a “close read” in literature? Listen here! |
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7. A conversation with Anne Lucas: What is the missing link in reading comprehension? Anne Lucas, former curriculum director and current product manager of Amplify Reading, discusses the multifaceted nature of comprehension, why it’s so difficult to teach, a teacher’s powerful “eureka! moment,” and specific skills which, if practiced, are shown to boost comprehension. Listen here! |
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6. A conversation with Emily Lutrick: Emily Lutrick, the PreK–5 Curriculum and Dyslexia Coordinator of a Texas district, examines the facts and myths of dyslexia, how early is “too early” to screen for dyslexia, and how to identify the signs and risk factors. Listen here! |
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5. A conversation with Lois Letchford: Lois Letchford, author of Reversed: A Memoir, shares personal accounts of her son’s struggles with learning how to read in school with dyslexia. After being told by a teacher that her son was “the worst child [she’s] ever seen in [her] 25 years of teaching,” she persisted with endless patience to help her son and began writing poems to pique his interest in reading. Where is he now? Was she successful? Listen here! |
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4. A conversation with Tim Rasinski: Susan and Tim Rasinski, coauthor of The Megabook of Fluency: Strategies and Texts to Engage All Readers, discuss his work at the reading clinic at Kent State University, the aspects of good fluency instruction, what constitutes fluency, and how reading speed is correlated to word recognition and automaticity. He stresses the importance of fluency and finding ways to be artful while teaching reading. Listen here! |
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3. A conversation with Emily Hanford: Susan sits down with Emily Hanford, education reporter and host of the Education Post podcast,and examines the big takeaways from her experience reporting on dyslexia, 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. Listen here! |
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2. A conversation with Robert Pondiscio: Robert Podiscio, author of How The Other Half Learns: Equality, Excellence, and the Battle Over School Choice, , shares what inspired him to embark upon his esteemed career path and how we must acknowledge and address that children come to school from different places and backgrounds. Susan and Robert discuss the latest in education reform, the knowledge gap, how it is only going to get larger as kids move through grades, the limited time we have to correct it, and how to start doing so. |
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1. A conversation with Natalie Wexler: Susan and Natalie dive into her latest book, The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System—And How to Fix It, and discuss 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. Listen here! |
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0. About Science of Reading: The Podcast: Welcome to Science of Reading: The Podcast! We bring educators and parents the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. We believe equity in education begins with reading science. Listen here! |