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Sold a Story

Author: APM Reports

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Millions of kids can't read well. Scientists have known for decades how children learn to read, but many schools don’t know about the research. They buy teacher training and books that are rooted in a disproven idea. In Sold a Story, Emily Hanford investigates four authors and a publishing company that have made millions selling this idea. The podcast has won some of the biggest awards in journalism. Twenty-five states (and counting) have changed their reading laws because of it. Now, Apple Podcasts has recognized Sold a Story as a Series Essential. To celebrate, we’re making it available without ads or other announcements for a limited time.
18 Episodes
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Trailer: Sold a Story

Trailer: Sold a Story

2022-10-1302:54

Nationally acclaimed journalist Emily Hanford's work is changing the ways schools around the country teach reading. In this award-winning podcast, she investigates why so many schools use an approach that cognitive scientists debunked decades ago.More: soldastory.org
1: The Problem

1: The Problem

2022-10-2032:481

Lee Gaul watches his daughter’s lessons during Zoom school and discovers a dismaying truth: She can't read. Little Zoe isn't the only one. Sixty-five percent of fourth graders in the United States are not proficient readers. Kids need to learn specific skills to become good readers, and in many schools, those skills are not being taught. Read: Emily Hanford’s reading list Read: Transcript of this episode Watch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport: Donate to APM Reports More: soldastory.org En español: soldastory.es Sold a Story is proud to be an Apple Podcasts Series Essential. To celebrate, we’re making it available without ads or other announcements for a limited time. Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
2: The Idea

2: The Idea

2022-10-2051:241

Sixty years ago, Marie Clay developed a way to teach reading she said would help kids who were falling behind. They’d catch up and never need help again. Today, her program remains popular, and her theory about how people read is at the root of a lot of reading instruction in schools. But Marie Clay was wrong.  Read: Emily Hanford’s reading list Read: Transcript of this episode Watch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport: Donate to APM Reports More: soldastory.org En español: soldastory.es Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
3: The Battle

3: The Battle

2022-10-2741:221

President George W. Bush made improving reading instruction a priority. He got Congress to provide money to schools that used reading programs supported by scientific research. But backers of Marie Clay’s ideas saw Bush’s Reading First initiative as a threat. Read: Transcript of this episode Watch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport: Donate to APM Reports More: soldastory.org En español: soldastory.es Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit. 
4: The Superstar

4: The Superstar

2022-11-0333:421

Teachers sing songs about Lucy Calkins. The longtime professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College is one of the most influential people in American elementary education today. Her admirers call her books bibles. Why didn't she know that scientific research contradicted reading strategies she promoted? Read: Transcript of this episode Watch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport: Donate to APM Reports More: soldastory.org En español: soldastory.es Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
5: The Company

5: The Company

2022-11-1047:241

Teachers call books published by Heinemann their bibles. The company's products are in schools all over the country. Some of the products used to teach reading are rooted in a debunked idea about how children learn to read. But they've made the company and some of its authors millions. Map: Heinemann’s national reach Read: Transcript of this episode Watch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport: Donate to APM Reports More: soldastory.org En español: soldastory.es Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
6: The Reckoning

6: The Reckoning

2022-11-1742:071

Lucy Calkins says she has learned from the science of reading. She's revised her materials. Fountas and Pinnell have not revised theirs. Their publisher, Heinemann, is still selling some products to teach reading that contain debunked practices. Parents, teachers and lawmakers want answers. Map: How states approach reading instruction Organize: Sold a Story discussion guide Read: Transcript of this episode Watch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport: Donate to APM Reports More: soldastory.org En español: soldastory.es Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
The parents knew something wasn’t right. The school said everything would be fine. But their kids weren’t learning how to read. In this documentary, originally published in September 2017, we look at why kids with dyslexia have a hard time getting the help they need in school.Read more: How American schools fail kids with dyslexiaQ&A: What is dyslexia, with neuroscientist Guinevere EdenWatch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport this show: Donate to APM ReportsDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
Jack Silva had a problem. He was the chief academic officer of a school district in Pennsylvania, and more than 40% of the kids in his district were not proficient readers. He didn't know much about how kids learn to read, but he knew he had to figure it out. Originally published in September 2018, this documentary helped ignite a national conversation about the science of reading. Winner of an EWA Public Service Award.Read more: Why aren't kids being taught to read?Read in Spanish: Translation by AptusWatch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport this show: Donate to APM ReportsDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
Molly Woodworth had a secret: She couldn’t read very well. She fought her way through text by looking at the first letter of a word and thinking of something that made sense.  Reading was slow and laborious. Then she learned that her daughter's school was actually teaching kids to read that way. In this documentary, originally published in August 2019, host Emily Hanford reveals that many kids are being taught the habits of struggling readers. Winner of a Gracie Award and finalist for an EWA Public Service Award.  Read more: How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readersWatch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport this show: Donate to APM ReportsDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
What the Words Say

What the Words Say

2023-04-0653:041

There are kids like C.J. all over the country. Schools tell their parents they are reading at grade level, but the kids are not. And whether they ever get the help they need can depend a lot on their family income and their race. In this documentary, originally published in August 2020, host Emily Hanford shows that America’s approach to reading instruction is having an especially devastating impact on children of color.Read more: Children of color are far less likely to get the help they needWatch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport this show: Donate to APM ReportsDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
This week we have an episode of a show called Brains On. It’s a science podcast for kids from our colleagues at APM. In this episode, Emily joins the Brains On hosts to talk about how people learn to read. Grab the kids in your life and listen to this special episode made for kids and curious adults.More: brainson.orgWatch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport our show: Donate to APM ReportsDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
7: Your Words

7: Your Words

2023-05-1125:101

Voicemails, emails, tweets: We got a lot of messages from people after they heard Sold a Story. In this episode, we bring you some of their voices. A 10-year-old figures out why he has struggled to read. A mom stays up late to binge the podcast. A teacher confirms what he's suspected for years — he's not really teaching kids how to read.   Read: Messages from our listeners More: soldastory.org Watch: The story behind Sold a StoryDonate to support Sold a Story and other journalism from APM Reports. Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
8: The Impact

8: The Impact

2023-05-1824:331

Across the country, school districts are dropping textbooks, state legislatures are going so far as to ban teaching methods, and everyone, it seems, is talking about "the science of reading." Things have been changing since Sold a Story was released. In this episode, we tell you about some of the changes and what we think about them.  Read: Legislators look to change reading instruction More: soldastory.org Donate to support Sold a Story and other journalism from APM Reports. EXTENDED READING Blog: Seidenberg on translating research into practice Article: Goldenberg, Goldberg on premortem (paywall) | Excerpt Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit. 
A Spanish adaptation of Sold a Story is now available. Hosted by journalist Valeria Fernández, the podcast is condensed into one 58-minute episode, plus a conversation between Fernández and Emily Hanford for Spanish-speaking parents whose children are learning to read English in American schools. - Listen or share: Sold a Story en español - Learn more: soldastory.es
9: The Aftermath

9: The Aftermath

2024-04-0427:351

Schools around the country are changing the way they teach reading. And that is having major consequences for people who sold the flawed idea we investigated in Sold a Story. But Lucy Calkins, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell are fighting back — and fighting to stay relevant. And so are organizations that promoted their work: the Reading Recovery Council of North America and the publisher Heinemann. Read: Two universities stick with a discredited idea -  Transcript of this episode -  Donate to APM - The story behind Sold a Story-  soldastory.org Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit. 
10: The Details

10: The Details

2024-04-1131:151

Some of the teachers, students, parents and researchers we met in Sold a Story talk about the impact the podcast has had on their lives and in schools — and share some of their hopes and concerns about the “science of reading” movement.  Portraits: Zoe and Lee Gaul, Christine Cronin, Reid Lyon Email us: soldastory@apmreports.org Video: Mark Seidenberg at Yale Article: Seidenberg on translating the science Article: Lyon’s most important findingsRead: Transcript of this episode Watch: The story behind Sold a StoryDonate: Support APM Reports More: soldastory.org Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit. 
Nationally acclaimed journalist Emily Hanford's work is changing the ways schools around the country teach reading. In this award-winning podcast, she investigates why so many schools use an approach that cognitive scientists debunked decades ago. Apple Podcasts has recognized Sold a Story as a Series Essential. To celebrate, we’re making it available without ads or other announcements for a limited time. Watch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport: Donate to APM Reports More: soldastory.org Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
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Intrograted

I only just learned of this reading debacle, and based on the dates I've heard, I was incredibly fortunate to have been taught to read only shortly before this obviously flawed method took off. It's not like you DON'T use context clues and such when sounding out new words. How anyone thought replacing an intuitive primary strategy with those used to suppliment it would lead to more effective learning is beyond me.

Sep 21st
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Mona Peterson

Absolutely captivated by the 'Sold a Story' podcast! The way it delves into the complexities and nuances of its topic is nothing short of remarkable. Each episode is thoughtfully crafted, offering fresh perspectives and deep insights that keep me engaged from start to finish. https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jose-duda4

Aug 3rd
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Melanie Marie-Jahnke Manning

I am floored at the amount of people and especially teachers who don't know that reading involves sounding out letters. This is not rocket science. look at a word and read it. You are sounding out letters That's how the English language works that's how the alphabet works. How is this such a crazy concept to everybody?

May 11th
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Melanie Marie-Jahnke Manning

I had no idea they were still teaching kids this way. I had read about this antiquated technique and thought that it had died out. My boys were both taught to read on the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea between Ireland and Great Britain. We started with just all of the sounds that the letters make. Then putting the sounds together, learning about sound blends, learning the rules, etc. In fact they were even starting to talk about that in nursery school, what Americans would call preschool.

May 10th
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Ксения Васильева

Is it a cult or something? O.O

Apr 25th
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Ксения Васильева

It's so strange. English is not my native language so it's even more strange for me. How it can be possible?!

Apr 25th
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Sep 21st
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Rosemary Curtis

Have you heard of vision therapy? I am a teacher. I have a daughter who followed the path that is described in your podcast. she went through reading recovery, but she still couldn't read. I ended up pulling her from school and homeschooling. I thought I would help her. We made some progress at home, but we still struggled. I started doubting my own abilities. After talking with friends and pediatricians, I was told about vision therapy. After testing, I learned that my daughter had several vision problems. She had 20/20 vision, but there is more to vision when it comes to reading. The doctor described it to my daughter this way, he said, "Ellie, you have a 3rd grade brain, but your eyes are stuck at 1st grade." After going through the program, we started seeing so much growth. We still had a lot of ground to cover and holes to fill. My daughter went back to school and, over time, was able to read on grade level. We are still breaking bad habits she learned from her early rea

Apr 25th
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Apr 5th
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Sam R.

Marie Clay sounds like a cult leader. My son was in reading recovery last year and it didn’t really help, and now I’m second grade he’s still behind in reading... but now he’s in a science based tutoring program and it’s helping a lot.

Feb 19th
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Marianne Skul

Thank you for shedding light on this incredibly important topic! Your research and delivery is spot on. Hopefully this podcast stretches far and wide!

Feb 18th
Reply

H

A story about uneducated people believing other uneducated people. Just because someone uses big words/terminology, they must know what they’re talking about, right ? WRONG. Gullible. They really should’ve asked these women how THEY learned to read. It obviously wasn’t the way that they were pushing. They talked that talk but didn’t walk it and that should’ve been a major red flag 🚩 As someone who’s always been a “good reader” I can honestly say that common sense truly isn’t common enough. What does a picture have to do with reading? Absolutely nothing. This all sounds like grooming and manipulation because these teachers are talking more about retreats and acting like the experience was about them having fun and being a part of something. A cult *cough*.

Feb 11th
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Callie Hagood

This was my son! We homeschool now are he is reading better now than he was when he was getting special tutoring at school. He's only 8 and loves to read but has struggled ever since kindergarten. This series has opened my eyes!

Feb 7th
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