Part of the magic of reading is that it opens up endless knowledge.
This seems to suggest a logic of first learning to read, then reading to learn.
But experts in education and the have actually turned that logic on its head. They say that knowledge matters first.
That鈥檚 why our elementary literacy curriculum Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) delivers literacy skills grounded in knowledge. In fact, it鈥檚 one of only a few such programs recently recognized by the Knowledge Matters Campaign for excelling at building knowledge.
Background knowledge is essential to literacy and equity
Reading depends on both decoding and comprehension. Many years of classroom observation and received wisdom have supported the supposition that comprehension must be taught as a discrete set of skills, while decoding arises more naturally.
But an established body of cognitive science research now shows that early literacy skills are best built deliberately, on a foundation of knowledge. In fact, knowledge-building is not a result of reading and comprehension; it鈥檚 a vital prerequisite and a fundamental part of the process. In other words: The more you know, the faster you learn.
If knowledge is essential to literacy and learning, it鈥檚 also essential to equity鈥攊n early childhood education and beyond.
But typically, literacy instruction focuses on decontextualized skills鈥攆inding the main idea, making inferences鈥攔ather than the content of texts and resources that students engage with.
Teachers often put the skills and strategies in the foreground, like a skill of the week, then they bring in texts that they find well suited for demonstrating the skill or strategy. So instead of harnessing skills and strategies to content, they've got the cart before the horse,
Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap told host Susan Lambert on Amplify鈥檚 . 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e doing in elementary school can plant the seeds of failure in high school.鈥�
When students lack access to the same sources of knowledge, they also lack equal access to reading success. That鈥檚 what experts call the knowledge gap, and it needs to be narrowed, or even eliminated, in order to achieve equity.
Wexler adds that a skills-first approach may also鈥攄espite educators鈥� best intentions鈥攃hallenge kids鈥� self-esteem. 鈥淲e are telling kids, 鈥楯ust do this and you鈥檒l become a better reader and better student.鈥� They do it diligently, but then if it doesn’t seem to work, they may blame themselves.鈥�
A closer look at the knowledge gap theory
Let鈥檚 say you鈥檙e handed a passage of text describing part of a baseball game. You read the text, and then you鈥檙e asked to reenact that part of the game. Which is most likely to help you do so?
- Your ability to read
- Your knowledge of baseball
- It makes no difference
If you answered 鈥�2,鈥� you鈥檙e batting 1,000. This example summarizes an influential 1988 study that concluded that the strongest predictor of comprehension was knowledge of baseball. Even the weak readers did as well as strong readers鈥攁s long as they had knowledge of baseball.
Not all students arrive at school with the same prior knowledge. That鈥檚 where the equity gap comes into focus.
If a student who鈥檚 never heard the word 鈥測acht鈥� is asked to read and analyze a text passage about the Henley Royal Regatta, it鈥檚 a good bet that they won鈥檛 do as well as a student who has. Not all students visit museums, have a library of books at home, or travel outside the country or even city where they live.
Wexler cites cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham in her powerful Atlantic 鈥淲hy American Students Haven’t Gotten Better at Reading in 20 Years.鈥� He says,
“The failure to build children鈥檚 knowledge in elementary school helps explain the gap between the reading scores of students from wealthier families and those of their lower-income peers…a gap that has been expanding鈥擺w]ealthy children are far more likely to acquire knowledge outside of school. Poorer kids with less-educated parents tend to rely on school to acquire the kind of knowledge that is needed to succeed academically鈥攁nd because their schools often focus exclusively on reading and math, in an effort to raise low test scores, they鈥檙e less likely to acquire it there.”聽
How we can support teachers
Change can be challenging, says Wexler: 鈥淲hen you’ve been doing something for years in the belief that you’re helping kids, it can be difficult when somebody comes along and says, actually, you may be holding them back.鈥�
We can support educators by increasing awareness of the Science of Reading, the role of knowledge in literacy, and access to tools that support educators in delivering knowledge with literacy. We can also show them what learning looks like in classrooms where students acquire knowledge and literacy equitably.
We can, for example:
- Challenge the assumption (which predates Google) that when kids encounter an unfamiliar word or topic, they can just look it up. Doing so can impose a cognitive load that can actually interfere with learning.
- Seek out high-quality products and programs that intertwine literacy and knowledge.
- Remind educators and decision-makers that鈥攁s Wexler puts it鈥斺�漷he students who blossom the most with a knowledge-building curriculum are the students who, in a skills-focused system, would be the kids in the lowest reading group. They are able to offer valuable insights and feel like full members of a classroom community.鈥�
About Science of Reading: The Podcast
Science of Reading: The Podcast delivers insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Each episode takes a conversational approach and explores a timely topic related to the Science of Reading.
