The Science of Reading Is About More Than Reading

Recently, I heard Nathaniel Swain say on Science of Reading: The Podcast:

“Students who have less knowledge are more prey to disinformation, because they don’t have enough in their schema to be able to question the knowledge that’s coming in.”

That line has been echoing in my mind. It reminded me that when a child struggles to read, the impact reaches far beyond school. Reading well is not just about success in the classroom. It is about having the tools to make sense of the world with confidence and agency.

It has also changed how I think about the Science of Reading. Here in Minnesota, the Read Act is asking schools to align reading instruction with this research, and I am beginning to see why that matters in a much deeper way.

For me, the move toward explicit, systematic reading instruction was not an instructional shift. As a brand-new teacher, this is simply how I was taught to teach reading. But through teaching, I have started to notice something bigger.

When reading instruction is left to chance, some children still figure it out. They arrive with experiences and support that help them crack the code even when instruction is inconsistent. Other children do not — not because they are less capable, but because they were never explicitly shown how the code works.

The Science of Reading says something very simple and very powerful: we do not leave reading to chance. We teach it on purpose.

And the more I teach this way, the more I see how important that is for children. When we teach reading explicitly, we are no longer relying on what children bring with them. We are ensuring every child gets a clear pathway into literacy. Reading stops being something some children “pick up” and becomes something all children are taught.

This is where another layer becomes important. Research shows that background knowledge plays a huge role in comprehension. Children understand what they read more easily when they already know something about the topic.

At first, that might sound like a challenge. Some children arrive at school with more knowledge about the world than others. But what I am realizing is that this places an even greater responsibility on schools.

If background knowledge matters, then we cannot assume children bring it with them. We have to build it on purpose. We teach vocabulary on purpose. We expose children to science, history, stories, and ideas on purpose. Otherwise, we are again leaving comprehension to chance.

The more I teach this way, the more I see students begin to realize, “I can do this.” I see confidence growing where there might have been frustration. I see children starting to trust themselves as readers.

I am starting to understand that this is not just good instruction. It is instruction that gives every child access to reading, knowledge, and the ability to think for themselves.

That feels like the kind of reading instruction every child deserves.