RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE Benchmark School and the Science of Reading

By Eric C. MacDonald, Theresa Scott, Heather P. Warley

Where does Benchmark School stand on the Science of Reading? Is Benchmark’s approach to reading instruction aligned with the Science of Reading? We hear these questions often from parents, and you may have questions as well.

What is the Science of Reading?

You may notice that the term Science of Reading (SOR) is capitalized; it is the name of a specific way of approaching literacy. The Science of Reading movement has been developing for over a decade and was popularized by American Public Media journalist Emily Hanford’s podcast “Sold a Story” in the fall of 2022. Locally, the Science of Reading movement gained national attention when parents in the Tredyffrin/ Easttown School District formed the group “Everyone Reads T/E” to promote more phonics instruction in the district’s literacy curriculum. The International Dyslexia Association coined the term “structured literacy” that includes a heavy emphasis on phonics and related word learning, often emphasizing this over comprehension in early grades and with struggling readers. “Structured literacy” is the umbrella term being used for programs that IDA and others feel meet their qualifications for following the Science of Reading. Groups such as the Reading League have pushed to get states such as Pennsylvania to pass laws requiring structured literacy as part of public school literacy curriculum and teacher training programs.

The SOR movement grounds itself in the developing neuroscience research that is revealing more about how the brain works when reading. While this research is interesting in showing us brain functioning, we cannot draw a direct line from this research to effective classroom practice that will impact student’s reading.1 Fortunately, we know a lot about effective literacy instruction from a variety of research, much of it conducted in the more than 50 years since Benchmark’s founding. But many other schools have struggled to implement this knowledge and no single published reading program encapsulates all of what is known to be effective. We also know that every student is different and no one approach will work for all students.

What sets Benchmark’s approach to reading apart from SOR?

The SOR movement seems to be the latest pendulum swing in what has often been referred to as the “reading wars.” Over the last few decades, reading instruction has swung between a heavy emphasis on skills, particularly around phonics, now being called “structured literacy,” and an approach focused on making meaning from text, often called “whole language.” Dr. Irene Gaskins, Benchmark School’s founder, recognized that neither end of this spectrum provided the best approach. She was gifted in keeping Benchmark’s approach above the fray in the “reading wars” and steering it towards a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to literacy instruction grounded in strong educational and psychological research.

Dr. Gaskins’s background was as a reading teacher and her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania was in the psychology of reading. Unlike many similar schools, Benchmark’s roots are in the field of literacy and not special education and the two fields do not always approach reading and learning differences in the same way.2 (It is interesting to note that it is the field of special education that has embraced the SOR movement.) Many in special education see programs such as Wilson or Orton-Gillingham as the solution to helping students learn to read, with an emphasis on a very structured, multi-sensory approach to phonics/ decoding. Research does show the importance of phonics and decoding, but there is little evidence that these particular programs demonstrate long-term gains in reading comprehension, which is the goal of reading.3

In the 1980s, Dr. Irene Gaskins began a collaboration with Dr. Richard Anderson of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Anderson and his colleagues at the nationally funded Center for the Study of Reading published a report, Becoming a Nation of Readers4, whose research base formed the foundation for Benchmark’s approach to reading instruction and continues to reflect the key findings of research in literacy education. Benchmark teachers discussed the reports coming out of this center and how to apply it to the students they were working with in weekly research seminars. According to that research, reading is a complex task5 that is constructive, fluent, strategic, motivated, and a lifelong pursuit.6 Literacy researchers Tim Pressley, Richard Allington, and Michael Pressley sum up the findings of this seminal report, and Benchmark’s approach to reading instruction that continues to this day, writing:

2 Gabriel, 2020

3 Johnston & Scanlon, 2020, p. 10

4 Anderson et al., 1985

5 Johnston & Scanlon, 2020

6 Pressley et al, 2023, p. 24

...the Nation of Readers report suggested that teachers teach phonics instruction as a way to help students identify words, teach comprehension strategies as a way to help students understand the text, and include discussions of the text that promote students using their background knowledge to grasp an understanding. This comprehensive approach to teaching reading should be done in a stimulating environment that includes texts that students find interesting.7

In the 1990s, preeminent educational psychologist Dr. Michael Pressley worked with Benchmark staff and conducted research, including in Benchmark classrooms, that led to enhancing our comprehension instruction through the implementation of explicit strategy instruction. Benchmark has never adopted any one published reading program. Instead, our approach developed through careful study of research and interaction with the many noted educational researchers who visited the school, many of whom are members of the Reading Hall of Fame. Led by Dr. Gaskins, the staff’s study of the research and collaboration with these researchers led to the development of a broad, comprehensive, effective literacy program reflecting the complexity of the reading process. As Dr. Gaskins often said, there is more to teaching reading than reading. For example, we know that executive function skills, such as working memory, flexibility, and sustained attention, are related to successful reading.8 Literacy researchers Nell Duke and Kelly Cartwright find that executive functioning “is so important to reading that there is reason to believe that for some students, limited EF skills are the primary cause of reading difficulty.”9

What is Benchmark’s approach to word identification or phonics?

Since the SOR movement is focused on issues around word identification, how does Benchmark approach this? Difficulties in decoding, phonemic awareness, and fluency are common among struggling readers.

Benchmark has worked to develop a systematic, yet flexible, research-based approach to teaching children for whom decoding does not come easily. Benchmark developed its own Word Identification program through research with leading literacy experts such as Richard Anderson, Linnea Ehri, and Pat Cunningham. It is a flexible approach that features many components that lead to proficient decoding and fluency.

Benchmark’s Word Identification program recognizes the complexity of the English language and provides multiple pathways for decoding, in keeping with the reality that no one approach will work for all students all the time. Students may be at many points on the continuum of word-reading ability10 and instruction needs to be flexible to meet students where they are. Even upper elementary and middle school students might be in what is called the partial or full alphabetic phase, where they remember matches between some or all sounds and letters in a word, or the consolidated alphabetic phase, where they can also match multiletter units and syllables.

At Benchmark, all students are taught how to fully analyze words. Using key words that represent the most common spelling patterns in our language [e.g, kick], students learn how to stretch a word into its constituent sounds [|k| |i| |k|], match the sounds they hear to the letters they see and reconcile any differences [ck represents one sound]. They discuss why the vowel(s) makes the sound it does [i is followed by a consonant], and connect this word to other words they have learned [kick is like black]. Once students have analyzed key words, they are encouraged to use spelling patterns within those words to decode unfamiliar words with the same patterns [use kick to decode stick]. This analogy approach is similar to what mature decoders do. Where words do not map exactly onto other words, students are taught to flexibly use multiple strategies to decode a word, including considering the context of the word in a sentence.

Metacognition, or “thinking about your thinking” also is a crucial part of Benchmark’s Word Identification program. After successfully decoding a difficult word, students are asked to think about and identify the strategies that they used to decode. For instance, did they use sound-letter matches, or spelling patterns from key words? Did they recognize a portion of the word such as a prefix or suffix, or use a meaning unit that they have seen in other words? Most often, students use some combination of these strategies, which are brought to the surface through thinking about their process.

Decoding is infused throughout the day. The pattern or sound-letter match being taught is accompanied by reading in texts that provide practice applying those concepts. In the youngest classes, students are also asked to be “word detectives” as they seek out similar patterns in environmental print and in the texts they read. They keep a log of their discoveries. Teachers model decoding in all classes. Daily fluency practice might consist of repeated reading of text that is introduced as part of Word Identification lessons. Students are encouraged to use their strategies in their other classes, such as science, social studies, and math.

The inverse of decoding is encoding, or going from speech to text using knowledge of letter-sound relationships and alphabetic principles,11 therefore spelling is a part of the lessons. Students are not asked to memorize words or have weekly spelling tests, but apply what they have learned immediately using sound boxes in early stages, where they try to segment the sounds they hear in a word, then spelling without them. As students progress on the word reading continuum, they learn seven steps for spelling that include making discoveries about portions of a word that are difficult to spell, as well as using morphemes (meaning units) and Greek and Latin roots.

Because each child is unique in how they learn, Benchmark targets its instruction to meet each student where they are developmentally. As a result, in any classroom, you might see a child decode a word using

11 Lapp et al., 2023 an analogy approach by using spelling patterns in known words to determine the unknown one, matching sounds to letters, or using what they know about language and context clues. You will also see teachers who are adept at coaching students.

What else is important for students to become proficient readers?

The SOR movement rightfully highlights the critical role of phonics and decoding in the process of learning to read. However, this presents an incomplete view of the reading process.12 If we focus too narrowly, we fail to acknowledge multiple other processes that are critical in the reading process, such as fluency, motivation, and comprehension, to name a few.

Fluency

At Benchmark, all of these elements are incorporated into daily literacy instruction beginning with our youngest students. To develop fluent reading, students engage in repeated readings of short texts independently, chorally with a group, or in response to teacher modeling. Readers theater activities give students an authentic purpose for repeatedly reading text. Students spend time reading books at a comfortable level, which builds automatic word recognition and fosters positive feelings towards reading.

Motivation

From the extensive research base on motivation, we know about the importance of student choice when selecting books. When students are allowed to make

12 Solic & Flanigan, 2022 choices about the books they read, they spend more time reading.13 Lower School students have daily access to the extensive collection of books in Benchmark’s library, where students select books of interest that are in keeping with their reading level. Middle School students continue to have access to the library collection, but may also bring in books from home, when given a choice in books to read.

Comprehension

Ultimately, the purpose of reading is to make sense of the text that we read. When visiting many Benchmark classrooms, you will see the phrase “Reading must make sense” prominently displayed. Comprehension instruction begins with our youngest readers. Benchmark, supported by research14, does not believe that students must learn to decode before beginning comprehension instruction. Through comprehension strategy instruction, students are taught to become active participants in the reading process and to monitor their understanding of text. Students work in small groups under the guidance of a teacher to stop and reflect on what they read. Small group discussions help to deepen student understanding. Through teacher read-alouds of more sophisticated books and through reading along with recorded books, students develop language and vocabulary skills as they experience ageappropriate text that is written at a level beyond what they currently may be capable of reading on their own.

Extensions in older grades

Revised word identification lessons adapted for the

Middle School were implemented this past year in our 6th grade classes and fluency is often a part of instruction through 7th grade. Small group discussions help students to learn and apply strategies and further construct meaning from text. Texts used for instruction are near, at, or, in 8th grade, even beyond grade level to help students begin to apply the strategies they are learning to more complex texts. As they get ready to transition to high school, 8th grade students are exposed to the types of advanced literature found in late middle school or high school, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, Animal Farm, and All American Boys. Read alouds may be a part of language arts classes, even into 8th grade. Content area classes, such as science and social studies, gain increased focus in the Middle School and are important to extending students’ comprehension strategy learning beyond literature to expository text, as well as developing study skills strategies and background knowledge. (The latter being essential to comprehension.)

These are just a few of the examples of the literacy instruction that happens at Benchmark, but they serve to highlight the complexity of the reading process and the importance of supporting all aspects of our students’ literacy development. While accurate, efficient decoding is a necessary part of the reading process, it is not sufficient, in and of itself, to develop successful readers. Literacy researcher Timothy Shanahan makes an insightful comparison between reading instruction and nutrition, writing:

No nutritionist would ask, “Which food group do we need to provide children?” They would recognize it as a trick question – to be healthy kids need all of these food groups, of course – it isn’t a competition between proteins and carbohydrates.15

Similarly, reading instruction should not be viewed as a competition between decoding/phonics instruction and making meaning from text. The best literacy instruction provides a “healthy” mix of these skills, and varies the proportions depending on where a child is in the developmental process of reading.

Summarizing Benchmark’s approach to reading instruction

Reading is a complex cognitive process and effective literacy instruction must therefore work to address the many areas that can make reading difficult for some

15 Shanahan, 2023 students. While word identification is critical, there are many additional factors that can impact the goal of reading, which is comprehension. Even comprehension occurs on multiple levels, from literal to analytical. Benchmark School’s approach is designed to meet the needs of a variety of struggling literacy learners. The book Reading Instruction That Works: The Case for Balanced Teaching, which features Benchmark throughout, sums up our approach to reading, stating: ...there is systematic teaching of decoding, lots of repeated oral reading, lots of independent reading, and lots of emphasis on sight vocabulary. The particular mix a student receives depends largely on how he or she responds to instruction. That level of customization can happen because of the close monitoring that occurs at the school. In addition, the school never loses track of the goal that students should understand what they read in text and should use text productively in higher-order literacy tasks, such as composing written work. There is much teaching of comprehension strategies and writing strategies. By the end of the middle school years at the school, many Benchmark students are very strategic and constructively responsive as they read, even if they can’t sound out every word quickly. They get much from the text and can use what they get. Thus, the Benchmark students are proof positive that fully fluent reading in the sense of every word being read accurately and quickly is not absolutely necessary. Even if word-level fluency is beyond the capacities of some children, there remains the hope that they can learn to get much out of text and be functionally literate through the teaching of higher-order literacy competencies, beginning with comprehension strategies.16

Benchmark’s approach has always been rooted in solid educational and psychological research. Dr. Irene Gaskins started Benchmark School because she recognized that every student is different and effectively supporting struggling readers must go beyond just phonics or reading instruction. She was fond of the saying that could be seen in a drawing in her office that read, “Labels are for jelly jars,” so at Benchmark the use of the term “dyslexia” is more of a jumping off point than a destination. We believe we all learn differently. Benchmark will continue to iterate its approach, based on a wide-range of research, to further Benchmark’s reputation as the leading example of a school where effective literacy instruction happens every day, and every child is supported to become a confident and strategic lifelong learner, thinker, and problem solver.

References Anderson, R.C., Hiebert, E.H., Scott, J.A., & Wilkinson, I. A.G. (1985). Becoming a nation of readers: The report of the Commission on Reading. The National Academy of Education, The National Institute of Education, and the Center for the Study of Reading.

Duke, N.K., & Cartwright, K.B. (2021). The science of reading progresses: Communicating advances beyond the simple view of reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1), S25-S44.

Duke, N.K., & Ward, A.E. (2021). The science of reading comprehension instruction. The Reading Teacher, 74(6), 663-672.

Ehri, L.C. (2020, September). The science of learning to read words: A case for systematic phonics instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S45-S60.

Faith, L., Bush, C.-A., & Dawson, P. (2022). Executive Function Skills in the Classroom: Overcoming Barriers, Building Strategies. Guilford Publications.

Gabriel, R. (2020). The future of the science of reading. The Reading Teacher, 74(1), 11-18.

Johnston, P., & Scanlon, D. (2020, December 8). An examination of dyslexia research and instruction, with policy implications. Literacy Research Association. https://literacyresearchassociation.org/resources/literacyresearch-association-releases-dyslexia-research-report/

Lapp, D., Alvermann, D., Jimenez, R., Kirkland, D.E., Martinez, H., McVeigh, F., O’Brien, L., Ogle, D., Paciga, K., Roberts, S.K., Spengler, K.C., & Zisselsberger, M.G. (2023). Literacy Glossary. International Literacy Association. Retrieved May 8, 2023, from https://www.literacyworldwide. org/get-resources/literacy-glossary

Pressley, T., Allington, R.L., & Pressley, M. (2023). Reading instruction that works: The case for balanced teaching. Guilford Publications.

Solic, K., & Flanigan, K. (2023, September 2). The Science of Reading Movement in PA and Beyond [Presentation given to Benchmark staff].

Worthy, J., & McKool, S. (1996). Students who say they hate to read: The importance of opportunity, choice, and access. In Literacies for the 21st century: Research and practice (45th yearbook of the National Reading Conference ed., pp. 245-256). National Reading Conference.