The science of reading

Stacy Hurst wants children to love reading rather than run away frustrated from literacy.

That goal, however, often runs up against an unexpected obstacle — teachers.

As the literacy specialist at South Elementary School in Cedar City, Hurst spends her day training teachers how to help students read. While many teachers cling to old-school methods of waiting for reading to develop naturally, the latest research shows the most effective tactic is a five-pronged scientific approach including phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and phonemic awareness.

"I think they need more scientific meat. They really need to understand the reasoning behind the methods," Hurst said.

Many teachers in training aren't getting enough of that "meat," according to a recent report released by the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Of 72 colleges and universities surveyed nationwide, only 11 taught all five of the basic tenets of the "science of reading" to prospective teachers. Nearly a third of the surveyed institutions made no reference to reading as a science in any of their reading instruction courses.

In addition, the report found that college literacy textbooks most commonly used are not founded in scientific research and that many college courses for prospective teachers are more fluff than substance.

If teachers did use the scientific approach to reading instruction, the reports estimate the current reading failure rate of 20 percent to 30 percent could be reduced to 2 percent to 10 percent.

"Our findings suggest that some college professors may not be teaching the science of reading, not just because they are ideologically opposed to the science, but because they may be reluctant to teach what they themselves do not know," the report states.

Southern Utah University was the only Utah institution cited in the report, faring relatively well among other schools with four out of five of the scientific components taught.

Verlinda Angell, associate professor of literacy at SUU, said she's not sure where SUU fell short, but she believes the four required reading instruction courses for teaching majors cover each of the five literacy topics. The study may not have been able to see that, however, because it only looked at syllabi and not at lecture notes and reading materials, she said.

Getting up to speed with the latest research was a concerted effort by SUU's School of Education. Before its most recent accreditation, Angell said school leaders pushed to make sure all five topics were stressed in a balanced approach.