Structured Literacy

Traditional teacher education programs (worldwide) train educators to utilize a blend of whole word and phonic instruction (blended literacy) in their classrooms. So why is this a problem? Blended literacy is not based on solid research or scientific fact, furthermore this curriculum works relatively well for only 80% of children, the additional 20% (10% of which are dyslexic) may never learn to read without specific intervention. Researchers have proven that dyslexic children use different neural pathways to learn to read, than their non dyslexic peers (Marshall, 2003).

 

In 2018, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report) found that Ontario schools were failing students with reading disabilities, as these students are (by and large) unable to learn how to read utilizing the current language curriculum. Systematic change is required in teaching education programs and curriculum policy making structured literacy the basis for language pedagogy. 

 

So what is structured literacy? Structured literacy is essentially curriculum created acound "the science of reading", based on revolutionary studies by Dr's Orten (1920's) and Gillingham (1960's). Structured literacy is an umbrella term that refers to a multimodal approach that is deeply rooted in phonemes and systematically introduces letters, sounds, and all components of reading in an exemplary way. It is the best option for teaching reading to all children (International Dyslexia Association, 2016). 

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