Why Reading Is Not a Natural Process

Nearly four decades of scientific research on how children

learn to read supports an emphasis on phoneme awareness

and phonics in a literature-rich environment. These findings

challenge the belief that children learn to read naturally.

G. Reid Lyon

I am frequently asked why the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

(NICHD) conducts and supports research in reading, given that the NICHD is part of the

National Institutes of Health, a federal agency that emphasizes basic biomedical science and

health-related research. A primary answer is that learning to read is critical to a child’s overall

well-being. If a youngster does not learn to read in our literacy-driven society, hope for a

fulfilling, productive life diminishes. In short, difficulties learning to read are not only an

educational problem, they constitute a serious public health concern.

The NICHD has been studying normal reading development and reading difficulties for 35

years. NICHD-supported researchers have studied more than 10,000 children, published more

than 2,500 articles, and written more than 50 books that present the results of 10 large-scale

longitudinal studies and more than 1,500 smaller scale experimental and cross-sectional

studies. Many of the longitudinal research sites initiated studies in the early 1980s with

kindergarten children before they began their reading instruction and have studied the children

over time. Researchers have studied some children for 15 years, with several sites following

the youngsters for at least 5 years. Additional research sites have joined within the past 3

years to investigate the effects of different reading instructional programs with kindergarten

and 1st grade children. At most research sites, multidisciplinary research teams study

cognitive, linguistic, neurobiological, genetic, and instructional factors related to early reading

development and reading difficulties.1

Reading Research and Scientific Tradition The NICHD reading research has centered on three basic questions: (1) How do children learn

to read English (and other languages)? What are the critical skills, abilities, environments, and

instructional interactions that foster the fluent reading of text? (2) What skill deficits and

environmental factors impede reading development? (3) For which children are which

instructional approaches most beneficial, at which stages of reading development? Before

summarizing findings related to these questions, I would like to explain the NICHD research

process.Please incorporate the meanings into the answers 200 words per answer.

What are the different standards-based literacy lesson frameworks needed in an effective comprehensive literacy classroom?
What are the various types of text needed for a comprehensive balanced literacy program? Why is it important to use each?
What does a Reading Workshop look like in a classroom?
what three questions this weeks text has raised?

https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/kindergarten-reading-workshop-ousd#
https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/kindergarten-reading-workshop-ousd#
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/beth-newingham/reading-workshop/