Advertise on podcast: Shanahan on Literacy

The latest PISA scores reveal that reading achievement is still dropping for many populations of 15 year olds. This podcast explores what -- if anything -- can be done to reverse these ongoing aftereffects of the 2020 pandemic (yep, it is still with us).

This podcast explores the role that morphology instruction should play in the teaching of reading -- both in terms of decoding and comprehension -- and provides practical, research-based recommendations for how that teaching should proceed.

These days any reading program that doesn't include decodables will have a lot of trouble doing business. Research isn't particularly supportive of the use of these simplified beginning reading text, but it seems reasonable to provide kids with practice of what we teach and we should be teaching decoding. Unfortunately, most decodables provide a weak kind of practice. This essay demonstrates how this could be improved upon.

The Common Core emphasized the teaching of close reading. Many states have revised those standards. Should close reading still have a place in your classroom in reading comprehension instruction? This podcast explores what close reading is and why it still should matter as part of comprehension instruction.

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.

A pet peeve is an irritating annoyance. We can have pet peeves about anything, including reading education and the arguments that rage around it. Here are some of the things that I find annoying about those practices and debates.

What role should AI play in reading comprehension instruction? This first-of-two-parts podcast explores ways in which AI may undermine reading comprehension learning rather than promoting it.

Teachers often wonder how to schedule reading instruction. Often they are advised to make sure they include certain activities every day. My advice is to focus on the what needs to be accomplished rather than on the activities that might be used to reach those goals.

How important is the speed of reading? This far reaching examination of rate considers how fast language must be for comprehension to result, the silent reading speeds of students in the various grade levels, speed reading, and what role instruction should play in improving reading rate.

Do you want to know how to teach spelling? This engaging episode brings together the views of several spelling experts (Don Bear, Peter Bowers, Richard Gentry, Steve Graham, Louisa Moats). Lots of practical insights about how spelling should be handled in the classroom.

Research suggests that Reading Recovery instruction somehow penalizes students. Those who get the help do less well in ensuing years than similar kids who don't. This podcast explores possible explanations for this -- explanations that point up important lessons to be drawn from remedial interventions.