By Robert A. Southworth, Jr.
President, The SchoolWorks Lab, Inc.
In the quiet corner of every K–2 classroom, a child encounters a word they do not recognize. What happens next—how the teacher responds—can shape that child’s lifelong relationship with reading.
Should the student look at the picture? Guess from the context? Or learn to decode letter sounds and morphemes?
This moment, though small, is the frontline of a national battle over how we teach children to read.
🚦What the Latest Research Tells Us
A new RAND Corporation study, highlighted in Education Week by Sarah D. Sparks (April 25, 2025), provides the clearest picture yet: States with comprehensive “science of reading” laws are reshaping how teachers approach literacy—but implementation is uneven.
RAND found that teachers in these states are more likely to use evidence-based strategies like:
- Sounding out letter-sound relationships (phonics)
- Identifying prefixes, suffixes, and root words (morphemes)
- Building fluency and vocabulary through structured practice
But it also found troubling gaps:
- A third of early-grade teachers still use materials that do not support foundational reading instruction.
- Some states passed laws but provided little to no funding to implement them.
- Many teachers receive training, but then return to classrooms with outdated or conflicting curriculum materials.
🧠 What Is “Evidence-Based” Reading?
The term “evidence-based” is not a buzzword—it reflects decades of cognitive science about how children learn to read. True reading fluency is built through:
- Phonemic Awareness – hearing and manipulating sounds
- Phonics – connecting sounds to letters
- Fluency – reading smoothly and accurately
- Vocabulary – knowing what words mean
- Comprehension – making meaning from text
This is not just theory. States like Mississippi, which overhauled its teacher training, curriculum, and interventions in line with this science, have shown substantial gains in reading proficiency on national assessments.
📉 The Cost of Muddled Policies
When states pass half-measures—such as mandating teacher training without updating curricula or funding new materials—teachers are left in a pedagogical limbo.
Inconsistent guidance leads to inconsistent outcomes:
- A teacher trained in decoding might still rely on “three-cueing” systems that tell students to guess words from pictures or context.
- New teachers might bring research-based knowledge from preservice programs, only to be handed legacy materials in their first job.
This fragmentation costs students their best shot at reading success—especially those from under-resourced schools where reading is often a lifeline to opportunity.
🌍 Equitable Literacy Starts With Alignment
If we are serious about closing achievement gaps and giving every student the right to read, then evidence-based literacy instruction must become a systemwide commitment:
✅ Teacher Prep: All teacher preparation programs should align with reading science.
✅ Curriculum Adoption: Only high-quality materials that support decoding, fluency, and comprehension should be used.
✅ Ongoing PD: In-service teachers need continuous training tied to the materials they actually use.
✅ Funding: States must put their money where their mandates are.
✅ Data & Feedback: Assessment and coaching loops should help teachers improve practice, not just comply with policy.
🔍 From Policy to Practice
As Mississippi has shown, change is possible—but only when policies are integrated, supported, and resourced. Over 40 states have passed reading laws, but too few have built the coherent infrastructure needed to move from compliance to excellence.
Now is the moment to align our reading systems around what works, supported by what we know.
Let’s move past intuition, ideology, and inertia.
Let’s teach reading by the science—and ensure that every child, when they come to a word they don’t know, is equipped not to guess, but to grow.
