# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Reading Teacher - 2021 - Duke - The Science of Reading Comprehension Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reading Research Quarterly - 2021 - Duke - The Science of Reading Progresses  Communicating Advances Beyond the Simple View

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Professional Learning & Support | Literacy, Math, Curriculum

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How To Assess Reading Effectively for K–3 Students - Professional Learning & Support | Literacy, Math, Curriculum

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To develop an assessment plan, teachers first need to understand the complexity of the reading process and why some students experience difficulty in learning to read.

# data[].attributes.body
Overarching Goal: To evaluate the effectiveness of current reading instruction and assessment practices, through the lens of the Science of Reading, and to identify actionable steps for improvement, considering the existing framework.

# data[].attributes.body
Current Practice Deep Dive Review understanding of the school's current reading practices, specifically focusing on how reading components are taught and assessed within the current framework. This includes discussing:

How fluency is explicitly taught and modeled.

The methods used to assess reading fluency (e.g., running records, informal observations).

How reading ability is assessed (e.g., leveled reading assessments, comprehension tasks).

The role of independent reading and conferring in assessing these areas.

Activity: Create a visual map or chart outlining the current processes for teaching and assessing reading fluency and ability.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Striking the balance of instruction and assessment

Get precise, reliable insights to support early readers while maximizing valuable instructional time. With speech-recognition technology, group administration, and automatic scoring, MAP Reading Fluency-part of the Early Literacy Solution from NWEA- provides a clear view of early literacy skills and learning needs for an entire class in about 20 minutes.

Go beyond fluency for a more complete picture of early literacy

Aligned to the science of reading, MAP Reading Fluency measures and monitors oral reading fluency, literal comprehension, and foundational reading skills from season to season and year to year. Quickly screen students at risk of reading difficulty, including characteristics of dyslexia. Benchmark assessments are available in both English and Spanish.

See MAP Reading Fluency in action

MAP Reading Fluency is an adaptive universal screening and progress monitoring assessment for grades pre-K to 5-and it's available for remote and on-site administration. This powerful tool efficiently assesses in English and Spanish.

Insights you can implement today

MAP Reading Fluency provides educators with comprehensive reports and actionable data to improve instructional decisions.

Student audio recordings available for teacher playback

Easy-to-use reports to support differentiation and planning

A direct link to instructional resources for foundational skills

Identify challenges earlier with the new dyslexia screener

Get precise, reliable insights to support early readers while maximizing valuable instructional time. With speech-recognition technology, group administration, and automatic scoring, MAP Reading Fluency provides a clear view of early literacy skills and learning needs for an entire class in about 20 minutes.

MAP Reading Fluency: The center of the Early Literacy Solution

The Early Literacy Solution pairs high-quality assessment from MAP Reading Fluency with guided implementation and professional learning experiences that engage and galvanize your team while honing assessment literacy and instructional planning. Wrap-around support and expert-led guidance round out this solution, providing your teachers and coaches with the resources and tools they need to help young readers succeed.

Ready to learn more?
An industry leader

Explore grades, languages and the time-saving features of MAP Reading Fluency.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Better reading insights in less time - MAP Reading Fluency

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
MAP® Reading Fluency™ is an online, adaptive assessment that efficiently measures oral reading fluency, comprehension, and foundational skills.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Science of Reading and spelling instruction

Spelling instruction and spelling tests in the classroom are intricately tied to the Science of Reading movement. I want to talk about what the implications are for giving spelling quizzes, and how that relates to Science of Reading.

What is Science of Reading?

"Science of Reading" (or SoR for short) refers to a body of research from multiple disciplines, including cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and education, which explores how we learn to read. This research aims to understand the processes involved in reading and to apply this understanding to improve reading instruction and literacy outcomes. Key aspects include:

Decoding: Understanding how children and adults learn to decode written language into sounds and meanings. This involves phonemic awareness (recognizing and manipulating sounds in spoken language) and phonics (connecting sounds to letters and words).

Comprehension: Exploring how readers construct meaning from text, which involves vocabulary development, background knowledge, and inferencing skills.

Fluency: Examining how accuracy, speed, and expression in reading contribute to better comprehension.

Neurological Underpinnings: Studying how reading processes are represented and managed in the brain

Instructional Practices: Investigating effective methods of teaching reading, including systematic phonics instruction and approaches that build comprehension and fluency.

The Science of Reading traces back 1986, when psychologists Philip Gough and William Turner published an article describing the Simple View of Reading. The research has been tested in over 100 studies across several languages, with positive results. The key insight behind this theory is:

Put another way: the ability for a student to read proficiently is the product of their ability to decode words and their ability to understand the language they are reading.

More recent coverage continues to expand on this basis. The New York Times summarizes Science of Reading as simply: "in addition to a broad vocabulary, children need to understand phonics, or the relationship between letters and the sounds of spoken language."

Science of Reading contrasts with other reading instruction philosophies such as the discredited Balanced Literacy approach, which "emphasizes the importance of surrounding children with books and allowing them to spend quiet time reading literature that interests them. It includes some phonics, but the instruction is less structured."

How does Science of Reading interact with spelling instruction?

Being a fluent, successful speller is a critical aspect of student success in the Science of Reading approach.

There is a lot of research that combines Science of Reading with spelling instruction, and provides a framework for how spelling should be taught within the classroom. A summary is as follows:

Spelling should be taught as structured literacy for 20 minutes a day. This should start in first grade and continue through sixth grade, and beyond where necessary. It should be taught using a full research-based curriculum that's delivered through a spelling book or other method that's provided to teachers through an integrated curriculum, vs. teaching foundational skills in separate lessons. Don't expect students to pick up spelling skills simply by reading and writing. The goal is for students to master Phonemic Awareness (PA) and develop the circuitry required for phonics.

Are spelling tests supported by the Science of Reading?

The short answer: yes, but not through rote memorization&mldr;

The longer answer:

The Science of Reading supports using spelling tests to strengthen orthographic mapping, helping students link sounds to letters. Tests should emphasize recognizing patterns and rules over memorization. While traditional weekly tests remain useful, they should prioritize evaluating understanding of spelling concepts rather than focusing solely on word list recall.

Furthermore, in 2007, the National Center for Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences released their report titled Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning: A Practice Guide. We reviewed this research in light of support for or against spelling tests in this post. The short answer is: using quizzes to re-expose students to key content (like spelling words based on orthographic mapping patterns) has strong evidence of improving learning and recall of spelling words.

Tools such as Spelling Test Buddy can help educators more easily adopt (or re-adopt) spelling test evaluation as a part of their daily flow, by saving time and increasing consistency as spelling becomes a core part of the curriculum again.
References:

Gersten, et. al. (2020). Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Reading Interventions for Students in the Primary Grades. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 13(4):1-27

Creagh, S., Thompson, G., Mockler, N., Stacey, M., & Hogan, A. (2023). Workload, work intensification and time poverty for teachers and school leaders: a systematic research synthesis. Educational Review, 1-20.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How does Science of Reading interact with spelling and spelling tests? | Spelling Test Buddy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Understand the link between spelling tests and the Science of Reading. Learn how systematic spelling instruction boosts reading skills, contrasts with Balanced Literacy, and why tools like Spelling Test Buddy are helpful in education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
UFLI Foundations: Progress Monitoring and Differentiation