Research shows that students are best taught with challenging texts -- texts that in the past would have been deemed "frustration level" and eschewed for instruction. Teaching with grade level texts ensures that students will reach the levels of literacy needed for full participation in societ...

Many school districts are considering going to a 4-day school week. This would help solve their problem in getting substitutes, reduce lunch program costs, and make many of their employees happy. But what will it do to reading achievement? This podcast explores the research on instructional ti...

Many phonics proponents claim that the best way to teach phonics is multi-sensorilly with tracing and similar activities. This podcast reveals what research studies have to say about those claims.

This episode considers the value -- and limitations of using choral reading in the teaching of oral reading fluency.

This "blast from the past" revisits -- revises -- a blog posting from 2018. This podcast explains what the research has to say about teaching with decodable text. The idea of teaching students with decodables is a hot topic in reading education these days. Find out what research has to say abo...

Recently, several organizations have started evaluating reading programs. These ratings are getting a lot of attention from school districts around the nation, but how good are they and how should they be used? This podcast will explore those issues and provide some recommendations.

Most reading interventions for older students fail. One reason for this is that they tend to focus on raising general reading achievement, instead of putting the major emphasis on helping those students to develop the reading abilities that would allow them to succeed. Think pre-remediation ra...

These days there is a great deal of interest in controlling classroom reading instruction. One approach to this is to require "fidelity" of program use. What does fidelity mean and will it improve reading achievement? This podcast explores those issues and suggests ways that programs can be us...

This podcast explores how classroom reading instruction is best organized -- whole class or small group? The tendency has been to promote small group instruction over all other considerations -- an approach that is not often very successful. Find out why.

This podcast explores the role that guided reading should play in reading instruction and how best to support students during such reading experiences.