Shanahan on Literacy

In the previous episode, the research on how much we are reading these days was reviewed. This episode explores the reasons for the decline in reading and what can be done to change its direction. The solution will surprise you.

Recently, a number of reports have revealed that Americans (and Brits and Australians) aren't reading for pleasure as much as they used to. This has led some to conclude that we are in big trouble. Is that the case? What does the decline in reading mean? This is the first of a two parter -- the follow up podcast will explore possible solutions.

We talk a lot about what to teach in reading, but not so much about how much reading we should teach. This episode aims at making sense of the amounts of time needed to teach reading as effectively as our society requires.

This podcast explores how reading fluency is best improved in the upper grades -- explaining when instruction should shift to Tier 2 settings and the methods and texts best used for teaching.

Should we teach reading fluency in middle school and high school? This podcast explores the differences in fluency development in the primary grades and middle school grades and explains why fluency instruction matters in the upper grades. It provides a realistic explanation of what fluency development looks like over these years.