Science of Reading: The Podcast

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Young-Suk Grace Kim, a professor at University of California at Irvine's School of Education. Dr. Kim begins by defining a theoretical model, outlining its value to teachers as it pertains to literacy instruction. She describes her own interactive dynamic literacy (IDL) model, which seeks to more fully explain reading and writing connections. Dr. Kim emphasizes how reading and writing function as a powerful and clo...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Adrea Truckenmiller, Ph.D., associate professor of special education and school psychology at Michigan State University. Their conversation starts with defining academic language and breaking it down on the level of the word, the sentence, and full text. Adrea then touches on topics such as informational vs. narrative text structure, morphological complexity, and effective writing assessment. She also gives advice ...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Judith Hochman, Ed.D., co-author of “The Writing Revolution.” Their conversation begins as Dr. Hochman recalls the early days of writing instruction and research, then delves into the connection between better writing and better reading. Dr. Hochman touches upon topics such as writing comprehension, her experience implementing writing instruction as a classroom teacher and as an administrator, and how the writing r...

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 “s...

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 t...

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 ...

Susan is joined by Ioulia Kovelman, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan, to give educators the perspective of a developmental cognitive neuroscientist on literacy development. Starting with the basics of cognitive science versus brain science, Ioulia gives a comprehensive overview into how the brain changes as children learn to read, including differences seen in neurodiverse students and multilingual/English learners. Ioulia then answers a question ...

In this episode, Susan Lambert chats with ReadWorks Chief Academic Officer Susanne Nobles, Ph.D., to explore her organization’s mission of making high-quality texts free and accessible to all. Together, they discuss ReadWorks’ Article-A-Day program, which offers articles to build students’ knowledge and vocabulary while supporting teachers with resources that promote topical coherence. Susanne shares insights into why text quality matters, including that kids know when text isn’t worth their ...

On this episode of the podcast, Lori Josephson joins Susan to talk about her new book Calling All Neurons! How Reading and Spelling Happen. Lori discusses her journey into literacy and how she saw the need for an accessible, digestible book about the brain science behind learning to read — one that would be enjoyable for adults and students alike. Lori explains what a neuron is and shows how understanding neural networks is essential to understanding learning to read. She also delves into the...

In this episode Susan Lambert is joined by Hugh Catts, Ph.D., professor at Florida State University, to break down what comprehension is and bust some myths around what it isn’t. With a family history of dyslexia, he has a personal connection to the topic that led him into research in language sciences and language disorders. He discusses how his findings moved him away from viewing comprehension as simply a “component of reading” but rather something entirely separate—a condition created ove...

On this episode, Kari Kurto, National Science of Reading Project Director at The Reading League, discusses The Reading League’s curriculum evaluation tool, which assesses a curriculum’s research-based practices. Kurto's conversation with Susan Lambert touches on her background teaching students with dyslexia, the non-negotiables in curriculum aligned to the Science of Reading, and how educators can use information about an evaluated curriculum to inform instruction. While Kurto stresses that ...

In this episode, Susan Lambert welcomes back Sue Pimentel to discuss the history and impact of the Common Core State Standards on English Language Arts and Literacy (ELA) education in the United States. Susan and Sue revisit what the standards were designed to focus on: knowledge building, college and career readiness, and fluency in both literary and informational texts. Their conversation covers the importance of text complexity, the lack of a research base to support leveled readers, and k...

In the Season 9 premiere of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert speaks with Ray James, Head of School at The Ansley School, about the transformative impact of literacy instruction. The Ansley School, which serves children experiencing homelessness, has made evidence-based literacy instruction a key piece of its efforts to foster profound educational and community change. Ray shares his journey and explores how a focus on literacy provides benefits that extend beyond the classroom t...

In this Science of Reading: The Podcast episode, Susan Lambert speaks with Rebecca Tolson and Lisa Lenhart about their roles at the University of Akron's newly established Center for Structured Literacy. They discuss their personal journeys in literacy education, the large grant received from the Ohio Department of Higher Education, and how the Center aims to prepare pre-service teachers using the Science of Reading and structured literacy. Rebecca and Lisa elaborate on the faculty’s training...

In this episode, Jamie Clark and Susan Lambert delve into Jamie's new educational resource called: one-pagers, designed to distill complex educational literacy research into accessible, practical one-page summaries for teachers. Jamie, originally from the United Kingdom and now based in Australia, also shares his one-pager journey from ideation, to creating these resources, to witnessing their impact in the classroom. Aside from discussing his methodology, Jamie also highlights the iterative ...