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In this episode of Science of reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert, Ed.D., is joined by Kate Winn and Stephanie Stollar, Ph.D, coauthors of Reading Assessment Done Right, who explain how to use assessment to actually accelerate student progress and drive instructional decisions. Stephanie, Kate, and Susan also discuss how to cut through assessment overload and focus on what truly drives instruction, the four essential purposes of assessment, and how they work together within Multi-Tiered System of Supports framework, and the common misconceptions that lead to ineffective practices.  Show notes: Check out Reading Assessment Done Right.Learn more about Stephanie Stollar.Connect with Stephanie Stollar LinkedIn.Connect with Stephanie Stollar on Facebook.Connect with Kate Winn on LinkedIn.Connect with Kate Winn on Facebook.Listen to the podcast Reading Road Trip.Listen to Season 2 of the Amplify podcast Beyond My Years.Join our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan Lambert. Quotes: "Assessment is a tool for conversation. It's an investigation. It's uncovering what is known, and there are multiple purposes. All assessments are constructed to answer questions." —Stephanie Stollar "If you don't have a question about your students, you don't need to do more assessment. This should not be a compliance activity." —Stephanie Stollar "Progress monitoring is like the GPS for educators." —Stephanie Stollar "We can actually do something with the information when you're using good assessments." —Kate Winn "Believe it or not, reading assessment can be so exciting. It can also be empowering." —Kate Winn "Having lots and lots of assessment data is not helpful. It can actually be counterproductive." —Stephanie Stollar "When I use my universal screener, it tells me which students are meeting benchmark, which ones aren't, and then I know exactly what to work on with those students." —Kate Winn Timestamps*: 00:00 Introduction: Assessment as your best friend 05:00 The need for practical assessment guidance 09:00 What is assessment and what is its purpose in education? 15:00 Understanding the differences between universal screening vs. diagnostic assessment 21:00 Progress monitoring: The GPS for educators 25:00 Building supportive systems and communities for teachers 28:00 The continuous improvement cycle of reading instruction 30:00 Addressing the "too many assessments" problem with an assessment audit 34:00 Misconceptions about assessment 40:00 The power of Tier 1 instruction 43:00 Why we need to screen all students multiple times per year 48:00 Final thoughts: Assessment as a tool for conversation and empowerment *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan is joined by executive director of the Margaret Byrd Rawson Institute, Teresa May, Ph.D. Teresa shares her powerful story, from being a student with dyslexia to fighting systemic barriers in education. Teresa and Susan also discuss Teresa's legal advocacy for her sons' right to appropriate dyslexia education; the legacy of Margaret Byrd Rawson, a groundbreaking activist who dedicated her life to helping students with dyslexia success; and the importance of early intervention and understanding each child's unique learning needs. Show notes: Download the Dyslexia Support Power Pack.Listen to Science of Reading Essentials: Dyslexia.Learn more about the Margaret Byrd Rawson Institute.Follow the Rawson Institute on Instagram.Like the Rawson Institute on Facebook.Connect with the Rawson Institute on LinkedIn.Listen to Season 2 of Amplify's Beyond My Years podcast.Join our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan Lambert.Quotes: "There's no time to waste. A child only gets one childhood." —Teresa May "You teach this complex language as it is to the child, as he or she is. If you do that, you don't leave anyone behind." —Teresa May "There is a science and an approach that we can take to help kids learn how to read." —Teresa May "[People] remember the kindness of a teacher or the meanness, but they don't remember the explicit way they learned [to read]." —Teresa May Timestamps*: 00:00 Introduction: Fighting for learners with dyslexia, with Teresa May 04:00 Teresa's childhood struggles with dyslexia 07:00 The moment of discovery: Finding Margaret Byrd Rawson 09:00 Meeting Margaret: "There is a key, but not many people hold that key" 14:00 The legal battle begins—fighting for her sons' education 19:00 Taking the case through courts and starting parent advocacy 22:00 Margaret Byrd Rawson as an educational pioneer 27:00 Margaret's biological background and the start of her longitudinal research in the 1930s 30:00 The 55-year study following 56 boys: groundbreaking research without technology 33:00 The human impact of good teaching 39:00 The Margaret Byrd Rawson Institute's mission and current projects 44:00 The complexity of dyslexia remediation 45:00 Final thoughts on advocating for children with dyslexia *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, returning guest, Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D., joins Susan Lambert to close out the season by answering thoughtful and thought-provoking comprehension questions submitted by listeners. Nathaniel and Susan answer questions about comprehension strategies, the relationship between comprehension and memorization, and how to shift the mindset amongst your teaching colleagues to help them understand comprehension. Show notes: Submit your literacy questions!Bonus: Watch Dr. Hoover's complete responses to a listener guest.Learn more about Nathaniel Swain on his websiteConnect with Nathaniel Swain on LinkedIn.Access free, high-quality resources—including our recent Essentials episode on Science of Reading: The Podcast—at our companion professional learning pageDownload our free Comprension 101 bundle for comprehension resources, including ebooks, and on-demand professional learningListen to Season 2 of Amplify's Beyond My Years podcastJoin our community Facebook groupConnect with Susan LambertQuotes: "What we're trying to do is create meaningful text experiences. ... The strategies are background, the powerhouse behind the work we're doing, but the star of the show is the language and the text." —Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D. "If you ever feel like your comprehension work only allows students to produce or perform something on a particular day in which you've just read that text, then you may be missing the opportunity to weave meaningful text together." —Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D. "When we're teaching reading comprehension, really let the text be the center of what we're doing." —Susan Lambert Timestamps*: 00:00 Introduction: Answering listeners' questions on comprehension 03:00 The difference between oral and written language as it relates to comprehension 06:00 Supporting students who read fluently but struggle with comprehension 16:00 The role of comprehension strategies 21:00 Oral language development and comprehension 28:00 The connection between memory and comprehension 36:00 How to help colleagues adjust their mindset on comprehension 42:00 Overall takeaways from this batch of mailbag questions *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

Host Susan Lambert hits the home stretch of her comprehension-focused season of Science of Reading: The Podcast with a reflective episode based on her presentation at this year's Plain Talk About Literacy and Learning conference. Instead of being joined by a guest, Susan breaks down some of her biggest takeaways from this season—explaining how reading comprehension is far more intricate than the ability to decode words on a page, and detailing how the expert guests this season helped illustrate all of comprehension's amazing complexities. Whether you hear her Plain Talk conversation live or not, this episode captures those same insights in a format you can revisit anytime. Show notes: Submit your literacy questions!Access free, high-quality resources—including our recent Science of Reading: The Podcast Essentials: “Comprehension” episode—at our companion professional learning page.Download our Comprehension 101 bundle: Access free comprehension resources, including ebooks and on-demand professional learning.Listen to Season 2 of Amplify’s Beyond My Years podcast.Join our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan Lambert.Quotes: "Comprehension is an active process. It usually requires active engagement and effect from the reader." —Susan Lambert "Comprehension is an integration of knowledge and experience that requires the reader to connect new information from the text with their own knowledge and experiences." —Susan Lambert "Comprehension is dynamic and ongoing. It requires the reader to update and revise their understanding as new information is encountered." —Susan Lambert "What constitutes good comprehension is relative, and it depends on who is reading the text and why they're reading it." —Susan Lambert "The components of comprehension don't develop in isolation. They bootstrap and support each other throughout a reader's development." —Susan Lambert Timestamps*: 00:00 Introduction: Building blocks for deep comprehension 04:00 Common themes from guests' definitions of comprehension 07:00 The simple view of reading 10:00 Oral language, syntax and fluency 13:00 Syntax is the critical missing piece needed to improve reading comprehension outcomes 16:00 Fluency is a critical but often overlooked prerequisite to reading comprehension 21:00 The components of comprehension don't develop in isolation 22:00 Closing thoughts o our comprehension focused season *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Kristen McMaster, Ph.D., Guy Bond Chair in Reading and professor of special education in the Department of Educational Psychology at University of Minnesota. Together, they explore how reading comprehension isn't just about what's on the page—it's also about what's not there—and share practical insights on how to support students in developing inference skills. Susan and Kristen also discuss the dual processes of activation and integration when making inferences; the distinction between teaching students to process text actively versus teaching students to apply comprehension strategies; and different types of inferences, including causal, bridging, and elaborative. Show notes: Submit your questions to our listener mailbagAccess free, high-quality resources—including our recent Science of Reading: The Podcast Essentials "Comprehension" episode—at our companion professional learning page Download our Comprehension 101 bundle: Access free comprehension resources, including e-books, and on-demand professional learningConnect with Kristen McMasterLearn more about Kristen McMasterListen to Season 2 of Amplify's Beyond My Years podcastJoin our community Facebook groupConnect with Susan LambertQuotes: "Inferencing is really central to comprehension. We wouldn't comprehend if we didn't make inferences." —Kristen McMaster "I would encourage teachers not to underestimate the importance of supporting even the inferences that might seem obvious to us." —Kristen McMaster "Good comprehenders are often making very automatic inferences that they don't even realize." —Kristen McMaster "It helps to explicitly teach what an inference is in language that students will understand." —Kristen McMaster Timestamps*: 00:00 Introduction: Filling in the gaps with inferences, with Kristen McMaster, Ph.D. 05:00 Comprehension is how we make sense of the world around us 09:00 The types of inferences: Causal, bridging, elaborative, and theory of mind 17:00 How teachers can help students develop inference skills 22:00 Creating an effective questioning strategy 27:00 How teachers can preview a text and think about the inferences that might need to be made 31:00 Supporting students who process texts in different ways 37:00 The timing of comprehension questions 40:00 The connection between oral language comprehension and text comprehension 45:00 Final thought: Teacher's shouldn't underestimate the importance of inferences that might seem obvious. *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D., distinguished professor emeritus from the University of Illinois at Chicago, joins Susan Lambert to distinguish between reading comprehension, learning from a text, and the process of learning to read. He compares learning to read with athletic training, explaining that just as athletes need to vary their workout intensities to maximize their strength, students need to vary their text difficulty to maximize their comprehension, reading skills, and overall learning. Together, Timothy and Susan also discuss why reading comprehension is an ethical act and the power of simply rereading to increase comprehension. Show notes: Submit your questions on comprehension! Access free, high-quality resources at our brand-new companion professional learning page  Connect with Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D.Learn more about Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D.Read the blog post "Don't Confuse Reading Comprehension and Learning to Read (and to Reread)"Listen to Leveled reading, leveled lives, with Tim Shanahan, Ph.D.Listen to Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D. on Beyond My Years Listen to Season 2 of Amplify’s Beyond My Years podcastJoin our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan LambertQuotes: "We're trying to teach kids to read, and a text that is immediately comprehensible leaves you very little to learn." —Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D. "Reading comprehension is not just a psychological or cognitive action—it's an ethical action." —Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D. "Comprehension is not automatic. It isn't just, 'Oh, if you decode, you're going to comprehend.'" —Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D. "A good reader has to start out with a determination. 'My job here is to understand it, not just to read it.'" —Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D. Timestamps*: 00:00 Introduction: Learning to read vs. reading to learn with Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D. 06:00 Reading comprehension is not just a psychological or cognitive action, it's an ethical action. 09:00 Authors know their readers and so they put in affordances aimed at the reader. 15:00 Timothy's motivation for writing his blog post, "Don't Confuse Reading Comprehension and Learning to Read." 17:00 A text that is immediately comprehensible, leaves you very little to learn. 19:00 You can increase the learning for most people if you increase the difficulty. 24:00 An argument for students to read more rigorous texts. 28:00 A good reader has to start out with determination. 35:00 The different between learning and understanding is an issue of remembering. 39:00 Teachers need to teach kids to be strategic. 42:00 Timothy Shanahan's new wrinkle in thinking about comprehension, understanding, and learning. 44:00 In conclusion: Kids should be reading texts with varying levels of difficulty. *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

We're excited to share a special episode from our friends at our sister podcast, Beyond My Years. Host Ana Torres is joined by nationally recognized educational consultant and thought leader, Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D., to discuss what critical thinking is and how to help students develop it. He also explains why critical thinking is crucial for long-term academic success. Mitchell also gives gives educators four clear steps that they can implement to effectively nurture critical thinking skills in their classrooms. Ana is then joined by Beyond My Years Classroom Insider extraordinaire Eric Cross, who discusses how he encourages his students to hone their critical thinking skills in class. Show notes: Binge all of Beyond My Years podcast Season 2 now: https://amplify.com/bmySubmit your questions on comprehension Access free, high-quality resources at our brand-new companion professional learning page  Visit Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D,’s websiteConnect with Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D., on LinkedInConnect with Ana TorresConnect with Eric CrossJoin our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan LambertQuotes: "When you are a school administrator, you can't be confused as to what your identity is. People expect you to step in with voice, with passion, with vision, and direct the path." —Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D. "That's how you know you're in a classroom with critical thinking: We're not rushing the conversation. We're enjoying it." —Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D.  "There's an art and science to teaching, and I think that they're two different things." —Eric Cross "The importance of modeling can’t be overstated." — Ana Torres Timestamps*: 00:00 Introduction 02:00 Ana Torres & Eric Cross preview Ana's conversation about critical thinking 04:00 Introducing Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D. 10:00 Why should critical thinking be top of mind for educators? 15:00 Where should teachers begin when trying to help students develop critical thinking skills? 20:00 Questioning that reveals classrooms in which teachers honor students' thinking 24:00 You can't get to a higher level if you don't have the knowledge. 28:00 For a lot of us, this work is more than just a profession it's a calling 30:00 Classroom Insider conversation with Eric Cross 37:00 Recap of Classroom Insider takeaways 39:00 Closing thoughts from Susan Lambert *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

Susan Lambert is joined by emeritus professor of psychology and education and the University of Oxford, Charles Hulme, D.Phil., and founder of Left Side Strong LLC, MaryKate DeSantis. They dive into the critial connection between oral language development and reading comprehension. They also explore exactly what oral language development is, how to screen children for deficits in oral language abilities, and the most effective strategies educators can use for intervention. Show notes:  Submit your comprehension questions!Access free resources on our companion professional learning page. Connect with Charles on LinkedIn.Learn more about Charles.Connect with MaryKate on LinkedIn.Learn more about Left Side Strong LLC.Listen to our episode with Wesley Hoover, Ph.D.Listen to our episode with Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D.Listen to our episode with Tiffany Hogan, Ph.D.Listen to Amplify’s Beyond My Years podcast.Join our Facebook group.Read Book Language: What It Is, How Children Can “Get It”.Connect with Susan Lambert.Quotes: "Language comprehension is really what leads us to reading comprehension." —MaryKate DeSantis "We talk about learning to read, but we also need to talk about reading to learn. A lot of what we learn in our lives is through reading, and reading is certainly a powerful drive of vocabulary and language development." —Charles Hulme, D.Phil. "Language skills are unconstrained, meaning the sky's the limit. As long as you continue to engage in any sort of way, your language skills can continue to develop throughout your lifetime." —Susan Lambert Timestamps*: 00:00 How language skills shape reading success 06:00 Defining reading comprehension 08:00 Reading is language. Without language, there would be no reading. 12:00 Importance of language skills for comprehension 16:00 Our main purpose in life is to communicate with others 21:00 Development of language skills 23:00 Moving the needle on literacy achievement 28:00 How students can help develop students' language capacity 31:00 Screening to assess oral language skills 35:00 Why early language instruction is effective and sustainable 39:00 Key takeaways 41:00 Focusing on language is worth the time 43:00 Closing thoughts *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Phil Capin, Ph.D., assistant professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. They explore why recommended reading comprehension practices aren't widely implemented in schools, and what educators can do to change that. Together, they also discuss how knowledge building is foundational to reading comprehension, how writing is a powerful tool in supporting reading comprehension, and why we should structure reading instruction based on what happens before, during, and after reading. Show notes: Submit your questions on comprehension: http://www.amplify.com/sor-mailbagAccess free resources at our professional learning page: https://amplify.com/science-of-reading/professional-learning/Connect with Phil Capin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-capin-02105550Read Hugh Catts' article, "Rethinking How to Promote Reading Comprehension": https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1322088.pdfRead Catherine Snow's article, "Reading for Understanding": https://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1465.htmlLearn more about Dolores Durkin's report, "What Classroom Observations Reveal about Reading Comprehension Instruction": https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED162259Read How People Learn: https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/9853/chapter/1Listen to the podcast episode with Nancy Hennessy: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s3-09-deconstructing-the-rope-vocabulary-with/id1483513974?i=1000520380191 Listen to Season 2 of Amplify's Beyond My Years podcast: http://at.amplify.com/bmy Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingQuotes: "We've underestimated the value of writing in supporting reading comprehension." —Phil Capin, Ph.D. "Reading and writing rely on a lot of the same language processes, and writing supports the consolidation of knowledge." —Phil Capin, Ph.D. "Students should engage with meaningful problems, and they should have a reason for learning." —Phil Capin, Ph.D. Timestamps*: 00:00 Introduction 04:00 Phil Capin's career path 08:00 Reading comprehension is the byproduct of a constellation of competencies 11:00 The complexity of comprehension 16:00 Dolores Durkin's findings on comprehension testing vs. teaching 22:00 Students should engage with meaningful problems 24:00 Comprehension instruction is organized by before, during, and after reading. 27:00 The value of writing for comprehension 31:00 Where comprehension strategies could be helpful 39:00 How much time should teachers dedicate to strategy instruction? 41:00 The strongest predictor of whether you're going to understand the text is the knowledge you bring. 46:00 Every teacher is a reading teacher 48:00 Closing thoughts *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute  

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by educational consultant Nancy Chapel Eberhardt, who explains why focusing on syntax at the sentence level is just as important for comprehension as word-level decoding. Together, Nancy and Susan also discuss how syntax helps students process meaning while reading, why we should start early and teach syntax to students from the beginning, and a more functional approach to syntax. Show notes: Submit your questions on comprehension!Connect with Nancy on LinkedIn. Read Nancy’s article “Syntax: Somewhere Between the Words and Text.”Learn more about Nancy’s book Syntax: Knowledge to Practice.Learn more about the Syntax online course. Listen to last week’s syntax-focused episode, with Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D.Listen to the podcast the episode with Nancy Hennessy, M.Ed.Read Maryellen MacDonald’s article “Book Language: What It Is, How Children Can ‘Get It’.”Listen to Season 2 of Amplify’s Beyond My Years podcast.Join our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan Lambert.Quotes: "Syntax is somewhere between the individual words and the meaning of the text. It's the processing piece that's going on there." —Nancy Chapel Eberhardt "Syntax isn't just for older kids anymore. Syntax is really something that we can start promoting, developing, encouraging, embracing from the beginning." —Nancy Chapel Eberhardt "I actually think that as teachers embrace this idea of syntax, they're going to have a lot of fun with it. It's way more fun to talk about the meanings of words than to just decode them." —Nancy Chapel Eberhardt Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction: Diving deeper into syntax, with Nancy Chapel Eberhardt 08:00 Comprehension is lifting the meaning out of text 11:00 Sentence-level abilities make as large a contribution as word reading for comprehension 14:00 The difference between syntax and grammar 20:00 Why syntactical knowledge is so helpful in the  comprehension process 24:00 Prosody helps us with our fluency with reading 30:00 Syntax is somewhere between the individual words and the meaning of the text 33:00 We've gone through several generations of students who aren't being taught syntax 37:00 It's  more fun to talk about the meanings of words 39:00 Start teaching syntax by thinking about the most essential build block 45:00 Connecting words are meaningless in the absence of other words 53:00 By spending more time instructing on syntax, we will reach more of our students. 56:00 Closing: Syntax is something we can start promoting, developing, encouraging, and embracing from the beginning. *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by research scientist and professor Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D., who explains why syntax instruction may be the missing piece in our mission to improve comprehension outcomes for all students. Together, Julie and Susan discuss why syntax is the part of the language system that matters for comprehension, how the same systematicity and rule governance that you find in teaching phonics also exists in syntax, and how explicit syntax instruction could be the next breakthrough in evidence-based literacy education. Show notes: Submit your questions on comprehension!Connect with Julie Van Dyke on LinkedIn.Learn more about Julie Van Dyke's research on her website.Watch an interview about Syntax Comes First: Understanding How Syntax Is the Backbone of ComprehensionWatch Dr. Van Dyke's webinar: Finding the Missing Link in Reading Comprehension. Access recent Perspectives issues via the IDA. Listen to Season 2 of Amplify's Beyond My Years podcast.Join our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan Lambert.Quotes: "In English, syntax is word order. Syntax is the relationship between the entities in a sentence." —Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D. "If you want to increase comprehension, you need to be explicit in syntax because that's the part of the language system that matters for comprehension." —Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D. "Comprehension is the glue between the words. It's the process of gluing the words together, each word as you go." —Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D. Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction: Syntax and comprehension with Julie Van Dyke, Ph.D. 06:00 Nervousness around syntax instruction 11:00 Comprehension is the glue between words 15:00 The difference between grammar and syntax 19:00 How the brain learns language and how syntax is related to that learning 24:00 Oral language is much less complicated than written language 30:00 Explaining regressions 33:00 The need to be explicit in syntax instruction 36:00 How we develop fluency as syntax 44:00 Closing thoughts: Syntax can move the needle on the nation's report card *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Affiliated Scholar at the Stern Center for Language and Learning, Melissa Farrall, Ph.D., to discuss understanding assessment. Melissa explains why it's beneficial for every educator to understand the fundamentals of assessment, especially comprehension assessment. Together, Melissa and Susan discuss the relationship between reading comprehension and language comprehension, why reading comprehension can be challenging to assess, and how, in a perfect world, educators would be trained both in the Science of Reading and assessment. Show notes: Submit your questions on comprehension!Access free, high-quality resources at our brand new, companion professional learning page.Connect with Melissa Farrall on LinkedIn.Learn more about Chall's Stages of Reading Development.Read Reading Assessment: Linking Language, Literacy, and CognitionRead The Academic Achievement Challenge: What Really Works in the ClassroomListen to Season 2 of Amplify's Beyond My Years podcast.Join our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan Lambert. Quotes: "My view of reading comprehension is that it is thinking guided by print." —Melissa Farrall, Ph.D."If we supplement our evaluation with measures of listening comprehension, we can then get a sense of an individual's ability to make meaning." —Melissa Farrall, Ph.D."In a perfect world, we would have not just evaluators, but educators who are trained both in the Science of Reading and in assessment so that we can all sit at the same table and participate." —Melissa Farrall, Ph.D.Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction: Exploring comprehension assessment, with Melissa Farrall 07:00 The legacy of Jean Chall's research on the developmental stages of reading 10:00 "Reading Assessment: Linking Language, Literacy, and Cognition" 17:00 Comprehension is thinking guided by print 21:00 Different ways of assessing reading comprehension 27:00 Kintsch's construction-integration model 30:00 Word recognition 33:00 Reading comprehension is not easily quantified 38:00 How background knowledge affect the meaning-making process 41:00 The two modalities of language comprehension 45:00 How today's educators might think differently about comprehension instruction 48:00 Closing thoughts *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by University of Oregon College of Education Professor and Ann Swindells Chair in Education Gina Biancarosa, Ed.D., to explore how best to assess for comprehension. Gina elaborates on her extensive work developing more precise and informative measurements of reading comprehension and discusses think-aloud research, demonstrating how to infer for coherence, and examining how students who are struggling with comprehension tend to rely too heavily on making inferences or paraphrasing. Show notes: Submit your questions on comprehension!Access free, high-quality resources at our brand new, companion professional learning page.  Connect with Gina on LinkedIn.Read “Diagnostic and Instructionally Relevant Measurement of Reading Comprehension”Watch Dr. Biancarosa's recent Amplify webinar appearance: Where and How to Measure Comprehension to Drive ImprovementListen to Season 2 of Amplify’s Beyond My Years podcast.Join our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan Lambert.Quotes: "A lot of what we know about reading comprehension comes from think-alouds where you ask someone to tell you what they're thinking as they read." —Gina Biancarosa, Ed.D "To model reading comprehension, [try] thinking aloud in front of a classroom of students in a way that is instructive for them, and also authentic to the reading process." —Gina Biancarosa, Ed.D. "Students are making causal inferences in their daily lives, when they watch movies, and when they're hearing stories. And so what we're really trying to do is get them to generalize these behaviors that they engage in outside of the task of reading, during reading." —Gina Biancarosa, Ed.D. Episode Timestamps: 02:00 Introduction: Gina Biancarosa, Ed.D. and comprehension assessment 08:00 How do we assess comprehension? 14:00 Think-aloud research 21:00 MOCCA (Multiple-Choice Online Causal Comprehension Assessment) 24:00 Causal coherence 30:00 Paraphrasers and elaborators 33:00 Comprehension assessment research 39:00 Professional development and comprehension assessment 42:00 Closing thoughts *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Northwestern University Professor of Education, Social Policy, and Psychology David Rapp. David’s research focuses on language and memory, and his conversation with Susan gives insight into how memory is connected to comprehension. The first half of the episode is spent defining comprehension as a process, a product, and a higher-order cognitive process. David then digs into how that definition informs the ways in which educators assess comprehension and where they can look for potential failure points. One of these failure points includes misinformation. David addresses what happens when misinformation is stored in long-term memory. He details the issues this can cause for student comprehension, and he gives guidance on how to prevent and correct them. Show notes: Submit your questions on comprehension! Access free, high-quality resources at our brand new, companion professional learning page.  Check out David Rapp's lab.Resources:Listen to Season 2 of Amplify’s Beyond My Years podcast.Join our community Facebook group.Connect with Susan Lambert.Quotes:  “Once the information is in memory, you can't really get rid of it. What you can try to do is make other memories more powerful, more likely to resonate to things.” —David Rapp, Ph.D. “Sometimes our most effective processes actually lead us to misunderstand. For example, you're really good at encoding information to memory, that's great, except if you're exposed to inaccurate ideas, that's a problem.” —David Rapp, Ph.D. “It feels easy for us to comprehend texts if we're well practiced at it, it feels easy, but it's actually a lot of cognitive operations going on behind the scenes and a lot of years of practice.” —David Rapp, Ph.D. “In terms of being exposed to misinformation, we see even if people have been exposed to inaccurate ideas, even once, it's encoded into memory, it's potentially gonna be there to influence you.” —David Rapp, Ph.D. Episode Timestamps 02:00 Introduction: Who is David Rapp? 04:00 Defining reading comprehension 05:00 Comprehension as a process vs a product 08:00 Comprehension as a higher order cognitive process 12:00 Coherence 18:00 Memory activation and misinformation 21:00 Consequences of misinformation 25:00 Correcting misinformation 28:00 Preventing misinformation 36:00 The evolution of thinking on comprehension 40:00 Current research 45:00 Closing thoughts and encouragement to dig into research *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Doug Lemov,  former teacher and school principal, to discuss how teachers can identify when disfluency is actually the root cause for students’ struggles with comprehension—and what they can do about it. Using his new book, The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading, to guide the discussion, Susan and Doug address building attention stamina, the argument for reading whole books, and the value of expressive read-alouds. Finally, Doug ends the episode asserting that humans are meant to live in community, and that a deeper level of comprehension is unlocked through deep empathic connection to text and the experience of reading with others. Show notes:  Listen to Season 2 of the Beyond My Years podcast for solutions to common teaching challenges directly from seasoned educators.Connect with Doug Lemov:X: @Doug_Lemov Resources:Read: The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of ReadingWatch: Gabby Woolf’s Dr. Jekyll Lesson and the Power of Reading FluencyListen: ”Phonology as a settled science”Listen: ”The plea to preserve deep reading, with Maryanne Wolf, Ed.D.”Listen: ”Writing the way to better reading, with Judith Hochman, Ed.D.”Listen: ”The joy of reading aloud, with Molly Ness”Download: cComprehension 101 BundleSubmit your questions on comprehension! Join our community Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofreadingConnect with Susan Lambert: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-lambert-b1512761/Quotes:   “If you're not a fluent reader, you can't be a deep reader.”—Doug Lemov “The research is clear that when you start to read expressively externally, then your internal reading voice while reading silently is much more expressive and therefore infused with more meaning.”—Doug Lemov  Episode Timestamps 03:00 Introduction: Doug Lemov 05:00 The importance of the middle grades 07:00 Book: The Teach like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading 13:00 How to build attention stamina 16:00 Background knowledge and vocabulary 19:00 Writing’s impact on memory and reading 22:00 The value in reading whole books 25:00 Embracing smaller writing assignments 27:00 Fluency deep dive 30:00 Working memory 35:00 Troubleshooting fluency 39:00 Expressive reading 41:00 Read-alouds 44:00 Reading as a social act 52:00 The argument for books *Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute