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Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong

There's an idea about how children learn to read that's held sway in schools for more than a generation - even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read. In this podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work. It's an exposé of how educators came to believe in something that isn't true and are now reckoning with the consequences - children harmed, money wasted, an education system upended.

Sixty years ago, Marie Clay developed a way to teach reading she said would help kids who were falling behind. They'd catch up and never need help again. Today, her program remains popular and her theory about how people read is at the root of a lot of reading instruction in schools. But Marie Clay was wrong.
Sold a Story is an independent investigative journalism project from American Public Media. We rely on your donations to support this kind of rigorous reporting.
The controversial educational publishing company has sold instructional materials and professional resources in almost every state, earning at least $1.6 billion over a decade. Explore a map of school districts.

More states are now requiring districts to adopt curriculum that adheres to the science of reading. Look up the policy in your state.

At least 15 states have passed laws about how schools teach reading since the Sold a Story podcast was released in 2022, but there is pushback.

Here's a reading list put together by Emily Hanford.

This discussion guide, created by a teacher, invites educators, parents, community members and kids to have a conversation about the podcast.

Emails and voice messages poured in from people who listened to Sold a Story.

We'll let you know when we release new episodes of the podcast. Enter your address below.

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Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong

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There's an idea about how children learn to read that's held sway in schools for more than a generation - even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read.

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"It was while gliding through these latter waters that one serene and moonlight night, when all the waves rolled by like scrolls of silver; and, by their soft, suffusing seethings, made what seemed a silvery silence, not a solitude; on such a silent night a silvery jet was seen far in advance of the white bubbles at the bow. Lit up by the moon, it looked celestial; seemed some plumed and glittering god uprising from the sea. Fedallah first descried this jet. For of these moonlight nights, it was his wont to mount to the main-mast head, and stand a look-out there, with the same precision as if it had been day. And yet, though herds of whales were seen by night, not one whaleman in a hundred would venture a lowering for them. You may think with what emotions, then, the seamen beheld this old Oriental perched aloft at such unusual hours; his turban and the moon, companions in one sky. But when, after spending his uniform interval there for several successive nights without uttering a single sound; when, after all this silence, his unearthly voice was heard announcing that silvery, moon-lit jet, every reclining mariner started to his feet as if some winged spirit had lighted in the rigging, and hailed the mortal crew. "There she blows!" Had the trump of judgment blown, they could not have quivered more; yet still they felt no terror; rather pleasure. For though it was a most unwonted hour, yet so impressive was the cry, and so deliriously exciting, that almost every soul on board instinctively desired a lowering."
― Herman Melville

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Books shelved as alliteration: Animalia by Graeme Base, Some Smug Slug by Pamela Duncan Edwards, Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book! by Dr. Seuss,...

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Video of the Reading Brain - How We Learn to Read

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Video of the Reading Brain - How We Learn to Read

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The Reading Brain | How We Learn To Read

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PreK Instructional Standards: NCDPI - Office of Early Learning

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PreK Instructional Standards: NCDPI - Office of Early Learning

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Instructional Routines for Explicit Instruction in Rhyme

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Instructional Routines for Explicit Instruction in Rhyme

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Video 10: Sentence Segmentation (REL Southeast)

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Drumming Out Syllables: Foundations for Phonemic Awareness

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As students progress in their literacy understanding, they move from reading and writing single syllable words (often with consonant-vowel-consonant constructions) to reading and writing multisyllabic words. Instruction focused on teaching students about syllables often focuses on teaching different…

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Blending Sounds in Syllables with Autumn, Kindergartner

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Onset and Rime - Florida Center for Reading Research

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Onset and Rime - Florida Center for Reading Research

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Florida Center for Reading Research: Early Literacy Activities and Games

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Florida Center for Reading Research: Early Literacy Activities and Games

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Kindergarten and First Grade Student Center Activities Phonological Awareness | Phonics | Fluency | Vocabulary | Comprehension

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Supporting Oral Language Development in a Language Rich Environment

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Supporting Oral Language Development in a Language Rich Environment

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CECE Early Childhood Videos at Eastern CT State U.

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Supporting Oral Language Development in a Language Rich Environment

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NCDPI Office of Early Learning: Digital Children's Reading Initiative Resource Bank

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NCDPI Office of Early Learning: Digital Children's Reading Initiative Resource Bank

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In order to provide continuing support for North Carolina's youngest readers, The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Office of Early Learning has developed and released "Literacy at Home." This digital resource provides literacy activities at each grade level, pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Families and communities may access this resource for activities that specifically target the literacy skills of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and oral language. When children grow in each of these foundational areas they are well on their way to becoming proficient readers.

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Literacy at Home: Digital Children's Reading Initiative

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In order to provide continuing support for North Carolina's youngest readers, The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Office of Early Learning has developed and released "Literacy at Home." This digital resource provides literacy activities at each grade level, pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.

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NCDPI Office of Early Learning: Play to Read

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NCDPI Office of Early Learning: Play to Read

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NCDPI Office of Early Learning: LET'S GET READY; A Family's Guide to Supporting Kindergarten Readiness

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NCDPI Office of Early Learning: LET'S GET READY; A Family's Guide to Supporting Kindergarten Readiness

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NCDPI Office of Early Learning: Play to Learn Center Guides

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NCDPI Office of Early Learning: Play to Learn Center Guides

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PlaytoLearn Planning Guides June 2023.pdf

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NC DPI Office of Early Learning: Play to Learn Center Posters

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NC DPI Office of Early Learning: Play to Learn Center Posters

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Video: The Power of Engaging in Meaning Conversations

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Video: The Power of Engaging in Meaning Conversations

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Engaging Children in Meaningful Conversations

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Video: Fluency Reading Multisyllabic Words

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Video: Fluency Reading Multisyllabic Words

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Reading Multisyllable Words with Xavier, Third Grader

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Must children master rhyming before being taught to recognize, segment, blend, and manipulate individual phonemes?

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Must children master rhyming before being taught to recognize, segment, blend, and manipulate individual phonemes?

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Must children master rhyming before being taught to recognize, segment, blend, and manipulate individual phonemes?

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The early stages of phonological sensitivity development, typical of preschoolers, encompass word play, rhyme recognition, rhyme production, syllable identification, segmentation, and blending, and first sound matching.