Reading and Literacy

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At a Glance

What It Is

“I am not a speed reader. I am a speed understander,” wrote Isaac Asimov. At SEDL, we want to help all students learn not only to read but also to understand, express, and use the information that they read. In other words, literacy requires more than the mastery of the five reading components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. To be literate, students must be able to manipulate and create a variety of texts for a variety of uses.

Why It Matters

Research indicates that if a child does not read well by the third grade, chances are he or she may never catch up. Reading is the basis for learning all other subjects, and a child cannot be academically successful without strong reading and literacy skills. The National Research Council has noted that a student who is not at least a “modestly skilled reader” is unlikely to graduate from high school.

What We Do

Since its founding, SEDL has been committed to improving reading and literacy for all children. SEDL’s literacy specialists share their knowledge with schools and districts to strengthen literacy instruction and increase the number of children who become skilled readers. We focus particularly on schools and districts in impoverished communities and with high percentages of students with limited English language skills. We develop and design materials to support reading instruction and provide intensive training for staff development specialists, literacy coaches, and teachers across all grade levels and curricula. We also help schools and community organizations engage parents in helping their children learn to read. In addition, our researchers oversee randomized controlled trials of reading programs in expanded learning or afterschool settings to determine how best to teach students to read.

Contacts: Dr. Robin Jarvis, 1-800-644-8671, robin.jarvis@sedl.org and Dr. Vicki Dimock, 1-800-476-6861 ext. 6511, vicki.dimock@sedl.org