Politics and Policy of the Science of Reading: A Bibliography

Compiled by Jill Kerper Mora, Ed.D.
San Diego State University

Aukerman, M., & Schuldt, L. C. (2021). What matters most? Toward a robust and socially just Science of Reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56, S85-S103. https://doi.org/doi:10.1002/rrq.406

Aydarova, E. (2024). What you see is not what you get: Science of Reading reforms as a guise for standardization, centralization, and privatization. American Journal of Education, 130(4), 653-685.

Aydarova, E. (2023). “Whatever you want to call it”: Science of Reading mythologies in the education reform movement. Harvard Educational Review, 93(4), 556-581. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-93.4.556

Aydarova, E. (2021). Building a one-dimensional teacher: Technocratic transformations in teacher education policy discourses. Educational Studies, 57(6), 670-689.

Aydarova, E., & Berliner, D. C. (2018). Navigating the contested terrain of teacher education policy and practice: Introduction to the Special Issue. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 26(25), 1-10.

Aydarova, E., Rigney, J., & Dana, N. F. (2022). “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”: Learning to participate in policy advocacy as a teacher educator. Action in Teacher Education, 44(2), 143-159.

Bogenschneider, K., Day, E., & Parrott, E. (2019). Revisiting theory on research use: Turning to policymakers for fresh insights. American Psychologist, 74(7), 778-793.

Boldt, G., & Enciso, P. (2026). Lessons from the field on the Science of Reading: An introduction. Bank Street Occasional Paper Series, 55, 3-20, Article 1. https://doi.org/10.58295/2375-3668.1642

Buenrostro, M. (2024). The state of English Learners in California public schools. Californians Together.

Compton-Lilly, C. F., Spence, L. K., Thomas, P. L., & Decker, S. l. (2023). Stories grounded in decades of research: What we truly know about the teaching of reading. The Reading Teacher, 77(3), 392-400.

Dernikos, B. P., & Ferguson, D. E. (2026). The scien[ce]tism of reading as national fantasy: Affect, identity, and the un/making of “citizen-subjects.” Reading Research Quarterly, 61(3), e70120. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.70120

Disotuar, D., Lazrow, S., Holmes-Ware, E., & Henning, C. (2025). Equity and the Science of Reading. Children’s Literacy Initiative. https://leo.gradelevelreading.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Equity-and-the-Science-of-Reading-9.2024-report-1-1.pdf

Elzy-Palmer, J., Babino, A., & Hubbard, T. (2025). Dimensions of equity in the Science of Reading research: A systematic review of actual, artificial, and absent up-takes on equity. Reading Research Quarterly, 60(e70070), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.70070

Escamilla, K., & Strong, K. (2024). Voices from the field: Impact of the implementation of the Science of Reading instruction and policy on emergent bilingual/English learner literacy programs and teachers. National Committee for Effective Literacy.

Goodwin, A. P., & Jiménez, R. T. (2020). The Science of Reading: Supports, critique, and questions. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S7-S16. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.360

Gottardo, A., Chen, X., & Hau, M. R. Y. (2021). Understanding within-and cross-language relations among language, preliteracy skills, and word reading in bilingual learners: Evidence from the Science of Reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1), S371-S390.

Hiebert, E. H. (2023). Thinking through research and the Science of Reading. Kappan, 105(2), 37-41.

Hoffman, J. V., Cabell, S. Q., Barrueco, S., Hollins, E. R., & Pearson, P. D. (2021). Critical issues in the Science of Reading: Striving for a wide-angle view in research. Literacy Research: Theory, Method and Practice, 70, 87-105.

Hoffman, J. V., Hikida, M., & Sailors, M. (2020). Contesting science that silences: Amplifying equity, agency, and design research in literacy teacher preparation. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S255-S266.

Hruby, G. G. (2012). Three requirements for justifying an educational neuroscience. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 1-23.

Jang, B. G., & Franz, K. (2026). When Science of Reading meets equity: Understanding and applying equity-oriented models to enhance a phonics intervention. Reading Research Quarterly, 61(e70109), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.70085

Johns, A. (2023). The Science of Reading: Information, media & mind in modern America. University of Chicago Press

Kittle, J., Amendum, S. J., & Buddle, C. M. (2024). What does research say about the Science of Reading for K-5 multilingual learners? A systematic review of systematic reviews. Educational Psychology Review, 36, 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09942-6

Kim, Y.-S. G., Harris, K. R., Goldstone, R., Camping, A., & Graham, S. (2025). The science of teaching reading is incomplete without the science of writing: A randomized control trial of integrated teaching of reading and writing. Scientific Studies of Reading, 29(1), 32-54.

Kurto, K. (2023). Clarifying the Science of Reading. Language Magazine, February 2023, 32-35.

MacPhee, D., Handsfield, L. J., & Paugh, P. (2021). Conflict or conversation? Media portrayals of the science of reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1), S145-S155.

Milner, H. R. (2020). Disrupting racism and whiteness in researching a Science of Reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S249-S253. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.347

Mora, J. K. (2026). A multilingual educator fact-checks Science of Reading claims. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16113907.

Mora, J. K. (2025). A multilingual educator’s critique of the Science of Reading. Multilingual Educator, CABE 50th Anniversary, 41-43.

Mora, J. K. (2023). To cue or not to cue: Is that the question? Language Magazine, June, 18-20.

Mora, J. K., Lampkin, E., Flores, B., & Flemington, A. (2024). Pushing back against Science of Reading mandates: The California story. CCTE Fall 2024 Research Monograph, 47-58.

Newkirk, T. (2024). The broken logic of “Sold a Story”: A personal response to “The Science of Reading.”. Literacy Research Commons(Resources). https://literacyresearchcommons.org

Noguerón-Liu, S. (2020). Expanding the knowledge base in literacy instruction and assessment: Biliteracy and translanguaging perspectives from families, communities, and classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S307-S318.

Pearson, P. D. (2004). The Reading Wars. Educational Policy, 18(1), 216-252.

Pendergrass-Bennefield, J., Cheisa, D. L., Roab, R., Hawthorne, R., Mann, S., McKenzie, M., Morgan, C., & Rush, K. (2025, August). Reimagine the Science of Reading through a multilingual lens. Language Magazine.

Reinking, D., Hruby, G. G., & Risko, V. J. (2023). Legislating phonics. Settled science or political polemics. Teachers College Record, 125(1), 104-131.

Ramírez, M. D. (Ed.). (2024). Interdisciplinary research and innovation in bilingual and second language teacher education. Routledge.

Rich, D. S. (2023). Reading Recovery is the science(s) and art of teaching. The Journal of Reading Recovery, 23(2), 33-40.

Rojas, N. M. (2026). Bidirectionality in emergent bilinguals language skills and teachers’ use of discourse strategies. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 104(101958), 1–13.

Rowe, L. W., Jerasa, S., Dunham, H., Bates, C. C., Pirolla, T., & Malloy, M. (2025). The Science of Reading on social media: TikTok content creators’ discourse patterns and bodies of knowledge. Reading Research Quarterly, 60(e70057), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.70057

Shanahan, T. (2020). What constitutes a Science of Reading instruction? Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S235-S247. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.349

Share, D. (2021). Is the Science of Reading just the Science of Reading English? Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1), S391-S402.

Semingson, P. K., William. (2021). Where is the evidence? Looking back to Jeanne Chall and enduring debates about the Science of Reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1), S157-!169. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.405

Soto-Boykin, X., Aponte, G. Y., & Meek, S. (2025, August). The Science of Reading and dual language education: Supporting multilingual learners’ language and literacy development. Arizona State University. https://cep.asu.edu/resources/TheScienceofReadingandDualLanguageEducation

Stacy, J., & Ortega, G. (2026). Whose structure of whose literacy? What Selena teachers us about equity and literacy amidst the Science of Reading movement. Journal of Latinos and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2026.2695686

Stanley, N. (2026). Resilience in disempowering times: Reflective narratives and strategies of reading education faculty. Reading Research Quarterly, 61(e70085). https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.70085

Tierney, R. J., & Pearson, P. D. (2024). Fact-checking the Science of Reading: Opening up the conversation. Literacy Research Commons. https://literacyresearchcommons.org

Thomas, P. L. (2025). Navigating (another) reading crisis as an administrator: Rethinking the “Science of Reading” Movement. Journal of School Administration Research and Development, 10(1), 38-48.

Thomas, P. L. (2022). The science of reading movement: The never-ending debate and the need for a different approach to reading instruction. N. E. P. Center. http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/science-of-reading

Thomas, P. L. (2022). How to end the reading war and serve the literacy needs of all students: A primer for parents, policy makers, and people who care (Second ed.). Information Age Publishing.

Valdés, G. (2001). Learning and not learning English: Latino students in American schools. Teachers College Press

Velasco, P. (2018). Teachers’ critical reflections on using the NYSED Bilingual Common Core Progressions and implications and their use for the quality of multilingual learner’s instruction. Journal of Multilingual Education Research, 8(Article 8).

Wagner, L., Patson, N. D., & Awani, S. (2022). What does the public think about language science? Project Muse: Language, 98(4), e224-e249. https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2022.0029

Williams, J. L. (2024). Getting history right: The tale of three-cueing. The Journal of Reading Recovery, 24, 17-28. https://readingrecovery.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Getting-history-right_The-tale-of-three-cueing-by-Jeff-Williams-1.pdf

Yurick, A., Council, M., Telesman, A. O., Musti, S., Gardner, R., & Cartledge, G. (2024). On the Science of Reading: How social justice, behavior analysis, and literacy instruction converge. Behavior and Social Issues, 33, 563-580.

Yaden, D. B., Reinking, D., & Smagorinsky, P. (2021). The trouble with binaries: A perspective on the Science of Reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1), S119-S129.