What is the Science of Reading?

by Lori Lehman

The term “Science of Reading” has been in the news often lately as Indiana begins to focus more on improving reading skills for Indiana students.  Former Governor Holcomb launched a new initiative beginning in July 2024, designed to identify children who are struggling to read at grade level and offer additional testing and support to raise their skills and competencies.  The state is asking schools to use the Science of Reading to accomplish this.

So, what is “The Science of Reading”?  It is a body of research that shows how our brains learn to read and what teaching methods work best. Experts agree that five key components make up the process of learning to read: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Let’s break them down.

Phonemic Awareness: Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds, or phonemes, in spoken words. For example, recognizing that the word "cat" is made up of the sounds /k/, /a/, and /t/ is phonemic awareness. Developing this skill is crucial because it forms the foundation for reading and spelling success. Students need explicit instructions on how to learn PA (Rice et al., 2022).

Phonics: Phonics is the relationship between sounds and letters. When kids learn that the letter "b" makes the /b/ sound, they are learning phonics. Teaching phonics systematically helps children decode words as they read. Research shows that explicit phonics instruction significantly improves reading accuracy (Ehri, 2020).

Fluency: Fluency is the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. A fluent reader doesn’t have to stop and sound out every word — they recognize most words automatically. When students read fluently, they can focus on understanding the text rather than decoding each word. There are multiple skills built into reading fluently, as explored in the study by Kim, et al. in their 2021 study.

Vocabulary: Vocabulary refers to the words a person knows and understands. The more words a reader knows, the easier it is to make sense of what they’re reading. Research highlights that vocabulary growth is directly connected to reading comprehension and academic success (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002). Building vocabulary can happen through conversation, reading, and direct teaching of new words.

Comprehension: Finally, comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading — understanding and making meaning from the text. Good readers use strategies like summarizing, questioning, and making predictions to enhance their understanding. According to Banditvilai (2020), teaching comprehension strategies directly improves students' ability to understand texts.

Some programs and curricula use the Science of Reading, which means that they focus on these five components and are backed by scientific research. The Fort Wayne Center for Learning uses one of these programs called The Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes Program, which was created in 1986. You can find out more about the programs the Center offers by visiting our website.