Evidence-Based Reading Instruction: Supporting Teachers Across Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

The term, “science of reading” can be traced back to the 18th century (Valiyev, 2017); however, it has more recently been used in reference to a body of growing research in education, cognitive psychology, and linguistics over the past three decades. Reading research has evolved significantly over the past century and continues to influence instructional practices in America leading to what has been called the “reading wars” (Thomas, 2020). This term refers to an historic clash between two foundational approaches toward reading instruction: Whole language vs. Phonics instruction. Since the 1950s, many schools in America adopted a “whole language” or “balanced literacy” approach to reading instruction and steered away from direct phonics instruction. The whole language approach originated with a belief that the human brain was intrinsically wired to acquire written language in a similar fashion as it acquires spoken language (Bergerson,1990). Researchers believed that by immersing students in a language rich environment (both written and spoken) they would become readers naturally. However, neuroeducation research has revealed that reading is not a natural process (Moats & Toleman, 2019).