In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Jane Ashby, professor in the Reading Science doctoral program at Mount St. Joseph University. They define the concept of “settled science” as a jumping-off point before digging into phonology and the argument for not always basing your teaching practice on the newest research. Dr. Ashby touches on the impact of phonology on comprehension, the Matthew Effect, and why the term “instant words” is more accurate than “sight words.” You’ll walk away from this episode with two practical exercises Dr. Ashby recommends for teaching students to transfer oral segmenting and blending to reading and writing tasks.

Show notes

• Connect with Jane Ashby:
  • Mt. St. Joseph University
• Resources
  • Teaching Phonemic Awareness in 2024: A Guide for Educators
  • Read: Phonological recoding and self-teaching: sine qua non of reading acquisition
  • More: The Four-Part Processing Model for Word Recognition
  • Read: Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy.
• Join our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreading
• Connect with Susan Lambert: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-b1512761/
• Want to hear more of Dr. Ashby? Listen to the bonus episode!

Quotes

“To store a vocabulary word, it's not enough to have the meaning. You have to have the entry for it, and the entry for it is the sound form of the word.” —Jane Ashby

“The greatest gift you can give a kid is letting them know that you see that they're special and that they have something unique that they bring to the world. But the second piece is really, can you help them become a confident, independent reader?” —Jane Ashby

Episode timestamps*

2:00 Introduction: Who is Jane Ashby?
6:00 Defining and contextualizing “settled science”
13:00 Phonology as settled science
17:00 Instant words vs sight words
20:00 How phonology impacts comprehension
26:00 Connection to the Matthew Effect
31:00 Listener mailbag question: How do you suggest teachers teach students to transfer oral segmenting and blending to reading and writing tasks?
37:00 Teaching phonemic awareness guide
39:00 Research that should influence teacher practice
41:00 The greatest gift you can give a child

*Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Tiffany Hogan, a professor at MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, who studies the connections among speech and language and literacy across time in children. Together, Susan and Dr. Hogan explore the complexities of language, the components that form language, and the significance of language for literacy. Dr. Hogan explains Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)—its characteristics, its prevalence, and the challenges in recognizing it. She emphasizes the importance of supporting children with DLD and the role of educators in making a difference long-term. She also provides listeners with effective strategies for supporting children with oral language deficits, offers insights into the relationship between background knowledge and language, and answers questions from our listener mailbag.

Show notes:

• Connect with Tiffany Hogan
  • X: @tiffanyphogan
  • Facebook: sailliteracylab
  • Instagram: @seehearspeakpodcast
  • Podcast: seehearspeakpodcast.com
• Resources
  • Website: DLDandMe.org
  • Read: A Review of Screeners to Identify Risk of Developmental Language Disorder
  • Website: Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder
  • Listen: SeeHearSpeak podcast with Tiffany Hogan
  • Policy Paper: If we don’t look, we won’t see: Measuring language development to inform literacy instruction
  • Listen: Focused implementation: Doing less to do more, with Doug Reeves, Ph.D.
• Join our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreading
• Connect with Susan Lambert: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-b1512761/
• Listen to Beyond My Years: Building an education network to make change, starring A. Simone McQuaige.

Quotes:
“Neurodiversity means that we have lots of different ways to think, and we each come to the table with different brain structures” –Tiffany Hogan, Ph.D.

”Oral language difficulties are a crystal ball into reading comprehension” –Tiffany Hogan, Ph.D.

“You, as an educator, can be the one that really makes a difference for that child. It only takes one person to make a huge difference in the life of a child” –Tiffany Hogan, Ph.D.

Episode timestamps*
02:00 Introduction: Who is Tiffany Hogan?
04:00 Defining language
05:00 Language development and its Impact on literacy
10:00 Variability in language learning
11:00 Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
18:00 Challenges in Identifying and Supporting DLD
20:00 The Importance of Vision Screening
21:00 Universal Screeners for DLD
24:00 Listener mailbag: How can educators most effectively help students with oral language deficits in early childhood prepare and develop literacy?
28:00 The Connection Between Language and Background Knowledge
30:00 Understanding DLD and Its Challenges
33:00 The Role of Speech Language Pathologists
35:00 Final Thoughts

In this episode, Susan Lambert rejoins podcast alum Natalie Wexler to discuss Natalie’s new book Beyond the Science of Reading: Connecting Literacy Instruction to the Science of Learning. Listeners will gain insights into why this topic is important, what this book offers educators, why Natalie was so drawn to writing this book, and what cognitive science-informed teaching looks like in general. Natalie addresses how cognitive load theory works in practice with literacy, misconceptions about focusing only on phonics, and scaling science-informed instruction. Natalie also answers a question from the listener mailbag about encouraging colleagues to adopt an evidence-based approach.

Show notes:

• Connect with Natalie Wexler:
  • Website: nataliewexler.com
  • Pre-order Beyond the Science of Reading: Connecting Literacy Instruction to the Science of Learning: https://ascd.org/books/beyond-the-science-of-reading?variant=125006
  • Substack: Minding the Gap, by Natalie Wexler
• Resources:
  • Listen: Special: Why the Science of Reading isn't just about reading, with Natalie Wexler
  • Listen: Conversation with Make It Stick author Peter C. Brown
  • Listen: Cognitive load theory: Four items at a time, with Greg Ashman
  • Substack: The Bell Ringer by Holly Korbey
• Join our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreading
• Connect with Susan Lambert: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-b1512761/
• Listen to Illinois administrator Serena Klosa on Beyond My Years!

Quotes:
“We’re overlooking the ways in which the typical approach to teaching reading comprehension and writing actually conflict with what cognitive science tells us about how people learn to do those things.” —Natalie Wexler

“We spend much more time trying to teach…them to read, but we kind of expect them to just pick up writing. You know, for most kids, it does not happen.” —Natalie Wexler

“No matter how good you are at making inferences, if you don't have the requisite background knowledge, you're not gonna be able to do it.” —Natalie Wexler

“It doesn't work to just ask inexperienced writers to just write down stuff. That is not going to provide the cognitive benefits.” —Natalie Wexler

Episode timestamps*
02:00 Introduction: Who is Natalie Wexler?
04:00 Natalie’s new book
07:00 What is the science of learning?
11:00 Connecting the science of learning to reading, writing, literacy
14:00 Automaticity and cognitive load theory
17:00 Transferable vs non-transferable skills
22:00 Strategies to release cognitive load when learning new skills
24:00 Learning to write, writing to learn.
29:00 Bringing science informed teaching to scale
32:00 What readers will take away from the book
33:00 Mailbag question: How can one person get more colleagues to use an evidence-based approach?
36:00 Final thoughts
*Timestamps are approximate