Science of Reading Implementation: How to Overcome Common Challenges

Many researchers and educators have spoken extensively about the science of reading and its effectiveness in the classroom, but administrators continue to ask for help with implementation. By learning from others who have successfully made the shift from balanced literacy to Structured Literacy, district administrators can make a smoother transition, empower their teachers, and save time and money.

By listening to other “lessons learned” by administrators, you can avoid some of these common challenges to a successful science of reading implementation.

CHALLENGE: Experiencing a Slow Curricular Shift Due to Teachers Having an Insufficient Science of Reading Background

Rhonda Nelson, curriculum instruction and assessment coordinator for the Bettendorf Community School District in Bettendorf, Iowa, stresses the importance of getting all of your teachers to understand why you need to make a shift and what that looks like before you start asking them to fundamentally change the way they approach reading instruction.

“You could have the best curriculum, but without teachers understanding what you’re asking of them or why they need to shift their practice, there will always be…distrust in the curriculum,” Nelson told Dr. Liz Brooke during a recent episode of the All For Literacy podcast.

From the 1990s to today, generations of students received literacy instruction through a balanced literacy or whole language approach. Yet, 37% of the nation’s fourth-grade students scored below Basic on the 2022 NAEP assessment, and those scoring at the 10th and 25th percentiles experienced the most significant drops post-COVID. 

SOLUTION: Intervention and Instruction Grounded in the Science of Reading

Leaders at Bettendorf Community School District determined the best way to address these decreases would be to focus on implementing a strong Tier I reading program and ensuring the schools’ Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) program could provide struggling students with additional opportunities to close gaps, Nelson said.

• The district first ensured teachers had the time and structure to review new curricular materials, look at assessments, and understand the “why” behind the science of reading. “We reminded teachers—don’t think about where they are now. Think of where they should be and where we are going,” Nelson said. 

• With the support of her superintendent, Nelson’s district provided each K–2 teacher with intensive Lexia® LETRS® professional learning. After seeing success in the early grades, Nelson and her superintendent made the ambitious decision to realign the district’s Tier I curriculum across the elementary, middle, and high schools. But most importantly, they ensured all of their teachers were prepared to make the shift.

• Teachers in grades 4–8 taught students most affected by pandemic shutdowns. When students lack foundational reading skills, they have difficulty navigating more complex texts they’re apt to encounter in science, social studies, and other subjects. The district’s instructional coaches worked alongside these teachers as they underwent Lexia Aspire® Professional Learning. Because 85% of the middle school curriculum is taught through reading, teachers learned how to address students with literacy deficits in their content areas. 

“It all starts with teacher knowledge,” Nelson said. “We most often hear…teachers say, ‘I never knew that.’ When we make something transparent, they are…able to teach it more effectively.”

CHALLENGE: Translating Data Into Effective Science of Reading  Instruction

As students and teachers evolve, it’s important to adjust the implementation process to reflect the needs of both groups. During a recent All For Literacy podcast episode, Dena Mortensen, Ed.D, an elementary reading and language arts supervisor for Waterbury Public Schools in Waterbury, Connecticut, explained why testing alone doesn’t equip teachers with the information they need to move students forward. 

SOLUTION: Get the Data That Matters

Instead, teachers should focus their attention on data that matters and adjust their literacy programs accordingly.

“In the beginning, there was a lot of pushback on too much testing,” Mortensen said. 

• As a result, district leaders conducted a thorough audit and found too many district-mandated assessments, many of which didn’t link to instruction. With the exception of DIBELS and phonics screeners, many assessments were dropped, and reading specialists helped teachers with some of their classroom testing.

• Next, district leaders decided to repurpose leveled texts. The teachers were frustrated that students weren’t making advances and didn’t have the data that showed them what students needed. However, because the district had spent significant money on leveled readers, they were thoughtfully repurposed as read-aloud or take-home books, Mortensen said. 

• District leaders bought decodable books and evidence-based materials that met their students' needs. For example, they looked at progress-monitoring data to buy materials that would allow them to group students who needed to learn more about short vowels or vowel teams.

Most of all, district leaders aren’t afraid to pivot if they get new information or data. They also believe in making it as easy as possible for teachers to adjust their instruction to meet students' needs and allowing teachers to bring the materials to life in their own creative ways.

“We don’t ask the teachers to do something unless we can package it. The reading department staff curate materials and provide them to teachers and provide modeling to support implementation,” Mortensen said. 

CHALLENGE: Focusing on Quantity Rather Than Quality

While it’s important to get teachers and students on board with science of reading-based instruction and materials, intentionality with implementation is crucial for long-term success, said Jason Griffin, executive director of elementary and federal programs for the Craven County School District in North Carolina. 

The district includes a large, transient military family population and a steadily increasing number of multilingual learner students, many of whom arrive from other countries speaking little to no English. Craven County leaders needed a solution to address skill gaps among students with diverse needs. They were concerned not only about the “achievement gap” but also the “instructional gap” experienced by teachers due to a lack of tools and resources.

SOLUTION: Adopting Effective Curricular Supports That Meet the Needs of All Students

“From day 1, we had a plan from the top of the district to the classrooms,” Griffin said. “We made sure we had all the right people at the table, from administrators and assistant principals to instructional coaches and MTSS folks.” 

After adopting Lexia® Core5® Reading, the district has seen a consistent increase in scores for grades 3 through 8 during the past five years. 

“When we started this journey five years ago, we were looking for a program that would help us fill in skill gaps,” Griffin said. “Core5 has helped us to fill those skill gaps while also providing teachers with the tools and resources they need to fill in those gaps. We have seen increases in our end-of-grade (EOG) scores, consecutively, for five years.”

Griffin attributes the improvement in scores to the district’s Core5 implementation, LETRS training, and shared data scoreboards educators review regularly. Analyzing and sharing the data available through Lexia® has become a reliable and valuable tool for administrators and educators alike.

“In the beginning, it was all about usage, but now we’re more intentional,” Griffin said. “We’re looking at specific skills across grade levels, across the whole district. Our teachers are aware that we’re reporting this information once a week, and it’s something we’re watching at the district level,” he continued. “They understand how we use the results to impact teaching and learning—and they look at their own results and discuss common trends and how they can adjust their instruction. Principals are going into Lexia on the first of the month to check out their predictors.”

CHALLENGE: Assuming Adolescents Will Respond to Reading Intervention Similarly to Younger Students

Reading intervention looks very different in the middle grades than it does in the younger elementary grades due to differences in age and student motivation. Older students are often tired of being placed in groups for “struggling readers” and resent materials or instructional practices that aren’t age-inappropriate, boring, or fail to bring them up to grade-level expectations.

SOLUTION: Increase Student Engagement

Nancy Sindle, a reading specialist at Shirley Heim Middle School in Virginia’s Stafford County Public Schools, originally set usage goals to improve adolescent readers' reading skills. She noticed students weren’t engaging in an age-appropriate, research-proven reading program and asked teachers to use evidence-based reading programs more frequently.

When teachers saw the real-time student progress data provided by Lexia® PowerUp Literacy® and the resources for differentiated instruction, they quickly got on board. Sindle explained, “Teachers saw the resource hub, the lessons, the ability to see who’s working, who’s not working, and they really saw the value it brought.”

Sindle and her teachers later discovered the importance of logging not just “minutes of usage” but the completion of units to truly improve literacy scores. They also saw value in recognizing students.

Each week during morning announcements, Sindle celebrated the top 10 “winners” in each grade level. To further encourage program use, some teachers implemented grade-level competitions.

“When kids get recognized, when they know you’re watching, know that you’ll keep them accountable and celebrate their success, they want to do more,” Sindle said.

Her efforts are yielding results. The culture of recognition has grown. Now, Shirley Heim educators offer personalized certificates, badges, and induction into “The Lightning Club” when they complete PowerUp.

“Our students who are really using PowerUp are also scoring better on their NWEA® MAP assessments,” Sindle said. “When we first started, over a third of our school was in the foundational levels. Now, we’re starting to see more kids reading at those advanced levels. I can see the difference, the teachers see it, and more importantly, the kids see it.”

Design Your Own Road Map to Science of Reading Implementation

Transformation requires persistence and foresight to see beyond the immediate future. To plot the path forward for literacy transformation in your district, it’s important to follow a proven road map you can customize to meet the needs of your teachers and students. Follow the steps in this implementation guide to steer your district’s strategic footprint.