The Art and Science of Reading

The Art and Science of Reading

Reading isn’t something the brain does naturally. In fact, unlike spoken language — which children acquire without formal instruction — reading must be explicitly taught. That foundational insight drives the Science of Reading and changes everything about how we approach literacy instruction.

More than 40 states have now passed laws or policies requiring evidence-based reading instruction. (Education Week, 2026) For K-12 teachers, understanding the science behind reading isn’t just professionally valuable — in many states, it’s now required.

The Five Pillars of Reading

Decades of research across cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, and linguistics have identified five essential components of effective reading instruction. Together, these pillars form the foundation of what we now call the Science of Reading.

Phonemic Awareness
At its core, phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. A word like “whale,” for example, has five letters but only three sounds: /wh/ /long a/ /l/. Students who develop strong phonemic awareness have a significant advantage in learning to decode written language.

Phonics
Building on phonemic awareness, phonics is the understanding that letters and letter combinations represent sounds. When children learn that b, a, and n each make specific sounds, they can decode words like “ban” and “nab.” Adding an “e” to the end of a word, for instance, changes the vowel sound entirely — turning “tap” into “tape” and “shin” into “shine.” Systematic, explicit phonics instruction is one of the strongest predictors of reading success.

Fluency
Fluency is the bridge between decoding and comprehension — the ability to read accurately, at an appropriate pace, and with expression. A student who reads haltingly word by word has little mental bandwidth left to understand what they’re reading. It develops through repeated, supported reading practice.

Vocabulary
Understanding the meaning of words encountered in text is equally essential. Vocabulary instruction goes beyond memorizing definitions — it includes morphology (roots, prefixes, and suffixes), context clues, and building academic language across content areas. Strong vocabulary knowledge is one of the best predictors of reading comprehension.

Comprehension
Ultimately, comprehension is the goal of reading. Rather than a single skill, it’s a complex set of strategies — making inferences, identifying main ideas, understanding text structure, and monitoring understanding. Explicit comprehension instruction is especially important in middle and high school, where texts become increasingly complex.

Why This Matters for Every K-12 Teacher

Only 53% of teacher preparation programs provide instruction in phonemic awareness — one of the most foundational reading skills. As a result, nearly half of all teachers entered their classrooms without it. (Fordham Institute, 2026)

Fortunately, SoR training fills that gap. Research confirms that when teachers deepen their knowledge of evidence-based reading instruction, student outcomes improve. (Iowa Reading Research Center, 2025)

This applies across every grade level. While elementary teachers build the foundation through phonemic awareness and phonics, middle and high school teachers extend it — teaching advanced morphology, academic vocabulary, and disciplinary literacy across science, social studies, math, and ELA.

SoR Professional Development at PLB

PLB offers a full range of Science of Reading professional development courses. Whether you need a quick 5-hour self-study course or a full graduate credit sequence, there’s an option that fits your schedule and renewal requirements.

Self-study options (5, 10, or 15 hours):
👉 Browse SoR self-study courses

Graduate credit courses (20 hours, 1-3 credits):
👉 Browse SoR graduate courses

All courses are 100% online, self-paced, and available for immediate enrollment.

Updated July 2026

About the Author
Ellen Paxton is a respected expert in education and best known as the Chief Learning Officer of Professional Learning Board. As a two-time National Board Certified Teacher, Ellen has successfully published and customized online professional development courses and Learning Management Systems for 20 years to help teachers meet their state continuing education renewal credit requirements. Through ProfessionalLearningBoard.com, RenewaTeachingLicense.com, and ConnectedPD.com, Ellen has established solutions and maintained partnerships with several accredited universities, higher education institutions, teachers’ unions and state Departments of Education while setting strategic direction that makes a difference and overseeing implementation of popular online PD for schools.