Podcasts

Emily Hanford 2017-2020 Series

Emily Hanford @ehanford

1. Hard to Read: How American schools fail kids with dyslexia

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Released Sept. 2017 – 

There are proven ways to help people with dyslexia learn to read, and a federal law that's supposed to ensure schools provide kids with help. But across the country, public schools are denying children proper treatment and often failing to identify them with dyslexia in the first place.

2. Hard Words: Why aren’t kids being taught to read?

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Released Sept. 2018 – 

Scientific research has shown how children learn to read and how they should be taught. But many educators don't know the science and, in some cases, actively resist it. As a result, millions of kids are being set up to fail.

3. At a Loss for Words: How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers

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Released August 2019 – 

For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't know there's anything wrong with it.

4. What the Words Say

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Released August 2020 –

A false assumption about what it takes to be a skilled reader has created deep inequalities among U.S. children, putting many on a difficult path in life.

For more information, Science of Reading: The Podcast, by Amplify released an episode on their podcast series. Take a listen here. 

Season 1 – Episode 3:  A Conversation with Emily Hanford

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Emily Hanford New Series: "Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong"

Emily Hanford @ehanford

Want to discuss Sold a Story?
This discussion guide, created by a teacher, invites educators, parents, community members and kids to have a conversation about the podcast.
 

1. Episode 1: The Problem

2. Episode 2: The Idea

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Released Oct. 2022 – 

There's an idea about how children learn to read that's held sway in schools for more than a generation — even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read. In this podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work.

3. Episode 3: The Battle

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Released Oct. 2022 – 

President George W. Bush made improving reading instruction a priority. He got Congress to provide money to schools that used reading programs supported by scientific research. But backers of Marie Clay's cueing idea saw Bush's Reading First initiative as a threat.

4. Episode 4: The Superstar

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Released Nov. 2022 – 

Teachers sing songs about Teachers College Columbia professor Lucy Calkins. She’s one of the most influential people in American elementary education today. Her admirers call her books bibles. Why didn't she know that scientific research contradicted reading strategies she promoted?

5. Episode 5: The Company

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Released Nov. 2022 – 

Teachers call books published by Heinemann their "bibles." The company's products are in schools all over the country. Some of those products are rooted in a debunked idea about how children learn to read. But they've made the company and some of its authors millions.

6. Episode 6: The Reckoning

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Released Nov. 2022 – 

Lucy Calkins says she has learned from the science of reading. She's revised her materials. Fountas and Pinnell have not revised theirs. Their publisher, Heinemann, is still selling some products that contain debunked practices. Parents, teachers and lawmakers want answers. In our final episode, we try to get some answers.