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.

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

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

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.

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.