Unlocking Literacy: Insights from the Science of Reading 3.0 featuring Laura Stewart

Jeffrey Bradbury (00:02)

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Teacher Cast Educational Network. My name is Jeff Bradbury. Thank you so much for joining us today and making Teacher Cast your home for professional development. On today's episode of Digital Learning, we start the first of a five-part series with our friends from the 95% group talking all about the science of reading 3.0. I am so excited about this episode today because this is the third time that we're welcoming on 95% group.

And with me as always is Laura Stewart, the Chief Academic Officer for 95% Group. Laura, how are you today? Welcome back to the podcast.

Laura Stewart (00:34)

Jeff, I'm so excited to be here. It's so lovely to be back with you and I'm so excited to talk about Science of Reading three point today.

Jeffrey Bradbury (00:41)

You know, I am so excited to have you guys on. Of course, this is the third cycle of shows that we've been doing, and we have certainly learned a lot over the last two years about the science of reading. Now, for anybody who hasn't checked out those episodes, give us a little bit of an overview here. When we say the science of reading, what exactly does that mean?

Laura Stewart (01:00)

So, science of reading really is this research base, this research base that's been, you know, decades in the making that really informs what we know about teaching reading, teaching and I would say literacy in general. And it really helps us understand how children acquire literacy and how instruction best needs to match that development and acquisition. Also, it helps us understand what happens when things go wrong.

And what we need to do to to fill those gaps. And that's really what I call kind of science of reading one one 1.0, right? That's recognizing that we have a research base to which we can hold our profession. And that science of reading really has been a game changer. It's this evidence to build our knowledge base

Jeffrey Bradbury (01:48)

Now, one of the things that I'm excited about with the science of reading 30 is that you guys have a new publication to share. Talk to us a little bit about where we can get it and what this is all about today.

Laura Stewart (01:57)

So 95%group.com,

that's our website, and that's where you can download a free copy of this book. And as I mentioned, you Science of Reading 1.0 is recognizing that research base. Science of Science of Reading 2.0 is translating that evidence into practice, right? Like how do we translate that evidence? how do we turn that research into classroom reality? It's kind of that how and why of implementation and drawing on implementation science.

And you may have you may remember, Jeff, I wrote a book called Science of Reading 2.0, which is really about that. But Science of Reading 3.0 is really about what's next. You know, what are the areas that have been, would I say, unexplored or underexplored, to which we need to turn our attention? And, you know, in the introduction to the Science of Reading 3.0, I say that this volume sits at the crossroads of multiple big ideas that inform our work now.

The science of reading, including importantly, language, a focus on language, the science and the art of teaching, the science of learning, which informs the science of teaching, implementation science, because without that we have no hope of sustaining initiatives to improve literacy outcomes, and leadership. You know, not last but not least, leadership, which I believe has been very neglected.

and without which we cannot really move literacy initiatives forward. So those are kind of those, you know, areas, those those areas that I want to explore in this volume that really intersect and I think are can be transformative in literacy.

Jeffrey Bradbury (03:39)

Let's talk a little bit about some of those transformative conversations. We're going to be doing five episodes, this being the first one. Talk to us a little bit about what we can expect from this podcast adventure here. Who do we have coming on the show? And what are we going to be able to learn after listening to all five episodes?

Laura Stewart (03:56)

Yeah, so I'm really excited about about you know what we have coming up. So we have we have some really exciting guests that are gonna be joining us in terms of the literacy the science of reading 3.0. So one of the things that I wanted to really focus on is I wanted to focus on differentiation. So how do we think about how do we think about

you know, meeting the needs of all of our learners because I think one of the things that we always say is we always say, you know, we believe that all means all. But do we really, you know, embrace that idea? So we're going to be talking about English learners with Antonio Fierro. And he is one of the foremost national experts on that. we're also going to be talking with Jeannie Schaaf, who's written a book who's edited a book called Reading is Not Optional. We're gonna be talking about

adolescent literacy. We also are going to be talking to Lynn Stone, who is kind of a global expert in the area of writing. As I mentioned, you know, language is really kind of the area of reading that I think we need to focus on because language is both what I say the source and the sustenance of literacy. And she'll be talking about writing because that's an area I think we have kind of neglected in the past.

And we also have we also have Brett Tingley, who is the founder of Parents for Reading Justice. And I think one of the areas also that bears attention is how do we look at parents as true partners in the reading journey? And how do we help build both both advocacy, you know, from these wonderful partners that we have in our community, and also how do we see parents as

partners within the school community. So we have some wonderful guests that are going to help really inform the science of reading 3.0 and also give us really practical ideas to grapple with.

Jeffrey Bradbury (06:01)

Now, all of our shows are gonna be organized over at teachercast.net slash ninety-five percent group. And I wanna take a moment here, Laura to talk a little bit about the new book, Science of Reading Three Po. What does it take to actually put this together? How does it work? What can we expect we read through it? is it a cover to cover or can a teacher just pick apart a couple of chapters here and there?

Laura Stewart (06:23)

Yeah, thank you for asking

that. So so you know, this is really a book written for not not just teachers, it's really an educators book. and by educators, I I frankly, I think it's for anyone who has a stake in our child's literacy development, which frankly is all of us, right? So some of the areas that I wanted to organize this book in, I wanted to emphasize both those both this idea of those converging sciences, which I mentioned earlier.

I wanted to put language at the center of literacy and really look at literacy through the lens of the components of language, phonology and morphology and semantics and syntax, etc. I wanted to bring together that science of learning and the science of teaching and how those map together. I mentioned, you know, when all means all, how do we differentiate instruction? I mentioned, you know, English learners, I mentioned adolescent readers, but also, you know,

Readers with Dyslexia. We have a wonderful essay here by by Amir Baraka. And if you don't know his work, I encourage people to really key into him. I did a webinar with Amir, and that's on our website that people can check out, 95%group.com. Advanced readers. You know, we haven't often talked about advanced readers. There's an essay on that. ensuring equity for African American English speakers. parents.

Also, another area I wanted to really dig into was we've talked a lot about the science of teaching, but what about the art of teaching, right? The importance of teacher preparation, teacher professional learning. Another area that this book looks at is the importance of high-quality instructional materials, what to look for in those resources that are valuable tools in the classroom. Another area is how do we bridge that research to practice gap? You know, what barriers do we need to overcome?

You know, one of the things that really motivated me to write this book is, you know, there are so many areas in which we have not really moved the needle, you know, and one of those areas I think is really looking hard at what are the barriers we need to overcome and how the implement how implementation science can help us overcome some of those barriers. leadership, you know, the need for leadership.

In which leaders align systems, right? Not just lead in administrative tasks, but align systems. And I have two really strong leaders, you know, Terry Noland and Danielle Thompson, again, I whom I did a webinar, whom I did webinar with, available on 95% of group.com. They wrote a wonderful essay about systems alignment. And finally, an area I wanted to address is joy. you know, we talk a lot about in the sciences what's the evidence, but also

How do we nurture and how do we put joy at the center of of why we want our students to be literate citizens? You know, I always say I have been so fortunate to reap the benefits of a literate life and to leap reap the joy of living a literate life. And how do we say that this is a yes and, right? You know, teaching there is a science that we bring to teaching kids to read, but how are we all it's a yes and.

You know, how are we also nurturing that joy?

Jeffrey Bradbury (09:49)

You know, Laura, I I'm just sitting here thinking back to the first time we had our first podcast episode a few years ago. My triplets were just learning how to read, just learning how to write. And here my kids are going into seventh grade and now we're at the science of reading 3.0. I I I only want to echo one thing that you said. And this is not a conversation just for educators. I look at these episodes not only from the teacher lens, but also from the parent lens. If you are somebody who has young students who are in this

This molded area where they're learning how to read and write, highly recommend you guys check out not just this episode, not just all the episodes here, but indeed go back into teachercast.net slash 95% group, check out everything. Laura, as we're going through the next couple of podcast episodes and bringing on these amazing guests, what do you hope a listener or a viewer takes out of this podcast series?

Laura Stewart (10:43)

You know,

I guess Jeff, f and yeah, I want to echo what you just said. You know, the very first episode I think you and I did together was just what is the science of reading? Right? And that was a couple years ago at least, I think. but isn't that interesting how much we've evolved, how much we've learned and and I guess one of the things I want our listeners to takeaway is, you know, we are in

We are always following our inquiry and and we want to nurture the curiosity and we want to continue to learn and grow. And that's what the Science of Reading 3.0 is about. You know, it's not a static body of research. We never arrive and say, okay, we've got all the answers. And so we're continuing to contribute to our shared mission. And that's one of the things I wanted to do, you know, in this book is to thank my fellow teachers, my fellow educators, and contribute to our shared mission.

To celebrate the expert visionaries who contributed to this book. you know, Danielle Thompson I mentioned, Maggie Snowling, Tiffany Hogan, Ann Kaiser, Deb Glazer, Julie Van Dyck, Lynn Stone is going to be in this podcast series, Trina Spencer, Amir Baraka, Jeannie Schaft, Nancy Young, Antonio Fierro, Ramona Pittman, Brett Tingley. I mean, these are amazing world-class authors. Tim Odegaard, Amy Elleman, Louisa Moats, Terry Nolan.

All these people have contributed to this book to continue to nurture our curiosity and to fill our, you know, to to f to to fill our buckets with knowledge that drives our practice to fulfill a mission. And this is important work, it's hard work, but it's really important work. And and it's my honor to continue c to contribute to helping us find practical answers to make sure that we can deliver on this promise.

That all means all.

Jeffrey Bradbury (12:35)

Well, we're certainly grateful for all the work that you and your team have done, and we love being a part of this journey. One more time, Laura, where can somebody go to get more information and check out the Science of Reading three point

Laura Stewart (12:46)

WWW ninety five percent group dot com Jeff.

Jeffrey Bradbury (12:49)

Hope you guys have a chance to check that out. All of those links that we mentioned are gonna be in our show notes. You can find out more information over at 95%group.com. You can check out all of our podcasts at teachercast.net slash 95% group. And we're gonna be sharing this all on our social media channels. So don't forget to hit that like and subscribe button. Laura, thank you so much for going on this journey with us and letting us be a part of the Science of Reading 3.0.

Laura Stewart (13:12)

Thanks so much, Jeff.

Jeffrey Bradbury (13:14)

And that wraps up this first of five episodes with the ninety-five percent group on behalf of Laura and everybody here at Teacher Cast. My name is Jeff Bradbury, reminding you guys to keep up the great work in your classrooms and continue sharing your passions with your students.