Spring 2022      Volume 50, Number 2


Missing Pieces and Voices: Steps for Teachers to Engage in Science of Reading Policy and Practice
By Kathleen S. Howe and Teddy D. Roop

Document: Article 

Introductory Paragraph:  This article originally appeared in the November 2021 issue of the Michigan Reading Journal, 54(1). Reprinted with permission.  Ideological influences on literacy policies are not new. Today the conversation is dominated by legislation related to dyslexia and the science of reading. However, one can trace back literacy initiatives and policy papers across decades. Edmondson (2004) highlights several examples and the ideologies behind them beginning in 1965 to 2001. Some examples shared by Edmondson include Becoming a Nation of Readers (liberalism), America Reads (neoliberalism), Reading Excellence Act (neoconservatism), and Reading First (conservatism). Others beyond 2001 exist (i.e., Striving Readers and Race to the Top), and the ideology of a dominant, rarely bipartisan, group seems to be the constant that brings about various policy initiatives or their undoing (i.e., Common Core). The current wave of dyslexia legislation backed by the science of reading is just the latest literacy policy added to a long list. The discourse used by advocates to encourage lawmakers to enact the current dyslexia legislation suggests teachers’ practices are out of date with what is known from the science of reading and that consensus now exists around a definition, characteristics, and interventions for students with dyslexia (Worthy et al., 2017).

DOI:  Reprint from Michigan Reading Journal, Volume 54, Issue 1

Page Numbers:   7-13

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