The Hechinger Report

‘The Reading Year’: First grade is critical for reading skills, but kids coming from disrupted kindergarten experiences are way behind

Heather Miller, a first grade teacher in Austin, Texas, works with a small group of students in her classroom on reading skills. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report The Hechinger Report covers ...
Morningstar

Johns Hopkins Study: Ignite Reading Sparks Dramatic Increase in First-Grade Literacy, Highlighting Importance of Early Intervention to Learning to Read On Time

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ignite Reading, a Science of Reading-based early literacy intervention program that has provided more than 62 million minutes of personalized instruction ...
The Hechinger Report

Retraining an entire state’s elementary teachers in the science of reading

A kindergarten student raises her hand during a reading lesson in Jennifer Lee’s class at Southwest Primary School in Hickory, N.C. Credit: Ariel Gilreath for The Hechinger Report The Hechinger Report ...
Radio Iowa

Iowa’s governor signs literacy bill, highlights ‘science of reading’

Governor Kim Reynolds sat in the back row as ADM teacher Erin Koelker led her first graders through reading exercises. Governor Kim Reynolds says a focus on what’s called “the science of reading” will ...
Psychology Today

What Your First Grader’s Writing Shows About Reading

In this second of a two-part post, I collaborate with co-author Dr. Molly Ness of Fordham University to show how analysis of writing in children as young as kindergarten shows evidence of foundational ...