Legislating Reading Instruction in the United States: A Critical Analysis

This essay overviews, contextualizes, and critiques the unprecedented contemporary increase in the amount and scope of legislation that governs how children are taught to read in the United States. We trace the historical antecedents of that trend, particularly its political roots and the rise of the “Science of Reading” (SoR) movement. We analyze how the SoR movement solidifies a political frame for legislation enacted in response to an entrenched public narrative of crisis in reading achievement that is perceived to be the result of instruction inconsistent with experimental evidence. We critique that narrative and expose contradictions, unanswered questions, imprecision of implementation, and a failure to consider peripheral influences and outcomes. Finally, we suggest avenues for revising a misguided SoR narrative, re-orienting it to include professional judgement and the needs of individual students, and we speculate about future directions.