Background: Since education became compulsory, teachers have debated about how to best teach reading. Known as the Reading Wars, the debate between whole language and phonics methods raged. It appeared educators had reached a compromise with the advent of balanced literacy, but after more than two decades, literacy scores have remained stagnant, with far too many children still not proficient in reading. Research and investigations have shown that while schools changed their terminology to balanced literacy, many did not provide training in phonics to teachers who had learned whole language methods in their preservice methods of teaching courses. Therefore, those who taught whole language methods of reading instruction continued to do so, but they called in balanced literacy.
Renowned meta-analysis studies, most famously the National Reading Panel, concluded that phonics is the evidenced based approach to teaching reading. In 2014, the International Dyslexia Association unanimously voted to approve the term structured literacy as a non-polarizing umbrella term for the components of effective reading instruction. Recently, many states have passed legislation requiring teachers to meet the needs of non-proficient readers, including those with dyslexia, through structured literacy practices. This has left educators to ask, what is meant by the term structured literacy?
Components of Structured Literacy: Louise Spear-Swerling describes the components of structured literacy in a helpful article. Using this information, I created the graphic above to concisely show the components of this umbrella term. I’ve briefly described each component below.
- Sequential Phonics – phonics programs each come with a scope and sequencing chart that helps educators ensure each skill is taught. The sequence may very slightly by program, but what is important is that students learn the code of how the written English language operates. Keep in mind that gifted readers will move through this sequence rapidly, while readers with dyslexia may need many repetitions and a lot of practice with each lesson. For this reason, we must use what we know about responsible assessment and flexible small grouping.
- Systematic, explicit instruction – in balanced literacy programs, phonics is taught incidentally, or when it comes up within the context of a sentence. In structured literacy, phonics patterns are intentionally and directly taught. This is done systematically, which means students work on the pattern until they have mastered it. Remember, while we have guidelines to help us know approximate ages for various skills, readers move at very different paces, and your instruction should be tailored to different pacing schedules.
- Cumulative – Once a phonics pattern is taught, it should continue to be included in instruction, which provides recurring practice of those words and continues to increase the words students can easily decode.
- Multi-sensory – multi-sensory instruction means students receive input from more than one sense as they learn patterns. This should include discussion and modeling of lip and tongue placement as certain sounds are pronounced. Those who struggle with speech and/or dyslexia may especially benefit from this. Here is an excellent example of what this may look like in practice.
- Immediate feedback – in balanced literacy approaches, teachers were often encouraged to let a student finish the sentence after a miscue, especially if the mistake made sense contextually (i.e. horse instead of pony). In a structured literacy approach, when the student mispronounces a word, the teacher gives direct, immediate feedback in which the student is instructed to look at the letters and then guided to recall the phonics patterns that apply.
- Decodable readers – in structured literacy, student primarily read from decodable readers until they are fluent readers. In decodable readers, the language is controlled to follow phonics patterns. This helps students practice the patterns they’ve learned. While phonics readers may once have been considered dull, today there are engaging decodable readers available that appeal to young children and incorporate action and sometimes even humor. Some educators may be concerned that decodable readers do not expose children to enough vocabulary or are not diverse enough. These important goals can still be met through a daily teacher read aloud of high-quality, well selected picture books or chapter books.
- High teacher-student interaction – research shows and all educators know that in order for learning to happen, students must be actively engaged. In reading instruction, this is accomplished through high teacher-student interaction. This can be done in small group reading groups, or through interactive teaching strategies during whole group lessons. Having students engage with the instruction through individual white boards or other manipulative materials allows teachers to informally check and assess who is grasping the lesson. It also allows for the teachers to guide their instruction to meet the needs of the students they’re working with.
What is structured literacy? 