Tag: science of reading
-
Dyslexia vs ADHD vs 2e: How to Tell What’s Going On
Dyslexia, ADHD, and twice-exceptional (2e) overlap in confusing ways. Here’s how the underlying scores tell them apart, and what to ask the evaluator when more than one is on your radar.
-
What Is Structured Literacy? A Parent-Friendly Guide
Structured literacy is a teaching approach with five specific characteristics, not a single program. Here’s what it actually means, what it isn’t, and how to tell if your kid is getting it.
-
i-Ready Scored 50% in Michigan’s K-3 Screener Review. Here’s the Line-by-Line.
This is the deep dive. If you want the higher-level take on what California and Michigan said about i-Ready as a reading screener, start with Part 1 of the series. Then come back here for the receipts. In December 2025, the Michigan Department of Education completed its consensus scoring of the i-Ready Assessment under MCL…
-
When a Diagnostic Pretends to Be a Screener
This is the third post in a series. If you started here, you might want Part 1 for the overview of what California and Michigan said about i-Ready, and Part 2 for the line-by-line of Michigan’s review. This one is the personal one. The one where I tell you what i-Ready missed for my own…
-
Two States Just Said i-Ready Doesn’t Cut It as a Reading Screener
If you’ve been on parent Facebook lately, you’ve probably seen the i-Ready takes piling up. Kids hate it. Parents hate it. Teachers were quietly recruited as spokesmodels and didn’t know what they were signing up for. The data showing it actually moves reading scores is, charitably, thin. But almost every one of those posts ends…
-
Phonics Fixed Everything… Right? Why Reading Is Bigger Than Decoding
Over the past five years, we’ve heard a lot about the “science of reading” and phonics. It’s been the big fix, the magic bullet, the thing that was going to transform struggling readers everywhere. And phonics absolutely matters. But here’s what nobody told you: phonics is necessary but it’s not sufficient.