From Research to Results: The Science of Reading and Structured Literacy for Struggling Readers

A clear, parent-friendly guide to what the Science of Reading tells us, and how to recognize Structured Literacy, the effective, step-by-step teaching that builds accurate, fluent reading.

The Science of Reading, in Plain Language

Reading isn’t natural. Unlike talking, the brain must be trained to connect letters to sounds and blend those sounds into words. Decades of research converge on five essential skill areas:

• Phonemic awareness – hearing and manipulating the individual sounds in words 
• Phonics – mapping sounds to letters and patterns so words can be decoded 
• Fluency – accurate, reasonably quick, expressive reading that frees up attention for comprehension 
• Vocabulary – depth and breadth of word meaning 
• Comprehension – understanding, integrating, and reasoning with text 

If instruction skips these, or kids don’t achieve mastery, they often compensate by guessing. That’s exhausting, ineffective, and it stalls progress.

How the Brain Learns to Read (Why Explicit Teaching Matters)

As children learn, the brain is literally rewiring its:

• Occipito-temporal region (“letterbox”) supports fast, automatic word recognition. 
• Parieto-temporal region handles effortful decoding—sounding out unfamiliar words. 
• Frontal regions (including Broca’s area) connect print to speech for accurate production. 

When instruction is explicit, systematic, and cumulative, new neural pathways are built and these regions coordinate more efficiently. This is what is happening when you notice reading change from slow and effortful to smooth and accurate.

From Science to Practice: The Bridge to Structured Literacy

Think of the Science of Reading as the map – it identifies the skills that build skilled reading. Structured Literacy is the route – a clear, step-by-step path that teaches those skills in the right order, with the right practice, until they are mastered.

What sets Structured Literacy apart:

• Explicit – skills are taught directly 
• Systematic & cumulative – lessons follow a planned sequence from simple to complex. 
• Diagnostic & responsive – ongoing checks guide pacing, review, and reteaching. 
• Multisensory – links sight, sound, movement, and touch to strengthen memory. 
• Language-rich – integrates vocabulary, syntax, and background knowledge for meaning. 

What It Looks Like (Concrete, Everyday Moves)

• Phonemic awareness: segmenting and blending with chips, fingers, or sound boxes. 
• Phonics: introducing one pattern at a time (e.g., ai, ay); reading decodable words and sentences that use it; then controlled passages. 
• Word work: building, reading, and spelling words; dictation that reinforces the pattern. 
• Fluency: brief, repeated readings of controlled text to build accuracy and ease. 
• Comprehension: quick vocabulary previews and after-reading questions to connect ideas. 

For older students, Structured Literacy adds morphology (prefixes, suffixes, roots), syllable types, and advanced spelling patterns to unlock multisyllabic words.

How to Recognize Effective Instruction (A Parent’s Checklist)

Look for these green flags:

• You can identify the skill being taught (e.g., “vowel team ee/ea”). 
• New learning builds on previous concepts/skills which are reviewed briefly before moving on. 
• Your child reads and spells many examples of the new pattern in words, sentences, and short passages. 
• Materials are decodable for the target pattern – not guessing from pictures. 
• There’s a quick check of mastery and a plan for what happens next. 

If these are missing, progress will likely be slow and inconsistent.

Practical Ways to Support at Home (Short, Doable, No Battles)

• Keep practice brief: 10-15 minutes, 4-5 days a week beats a single long session. 
• Match the school/therapy pattern: practice the exact spelling pattern taught that week. 
• Read aloud daily: exposure to rich language grows vocabulary and knowledge. 
• Talk about words: notice prefixes, suffixes, and base words in everyday life. 
• Celebrate accuracy first, then speed: fluency follows precision. 

An Additional Resource to Watch Together

Amplify’s Brain Builders video series offers 13 fun, animated episodes that explain the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy in kid-friendly language. It’s great for parents and children to enjoy together.

Bottom Line

The Science of Reading tells us what needs to happen in the brain for reading to develop. Structured Literacy creates those changes in the brain, building accurate decoding into fluent, confident reading for meaning.

When provided with high quality Structured Literacy instruction, most struggling readers can, and do, catch up.