Structured literacy is an evidence-based approach to reading instruction that teaches all the components of literacy that a child needs to read successfully. As outlined in an introductory guide on structured literacy by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), the three main principles of structured literacy are explicit, systematic, and diagnostic instruction.
With the broader adoption of the Science of Reading, structured literacy instruction is entering classrooms across the United States. This will ensure that more young students learn strong reading skills at their appropriate grade level.
Older students who have not received effective structured literacy instruction in their early schooling years and students who require more time and repetition to secure their learning, require reading intervention. This can happen to an extent during the school day with their teachers, but for students who are significantly behind, reading tutoring is the best way for them to catch up.
When schools and families seek help from a reading tutor or tutoring program, it is because a student is struggling to read texts or complete work that corresponds with their current grade level. They may or may not know exactly where the student is struggling. This is where structured literacy intervention has a significant advantage. In this type of program, diagnostic assessments ensure the student starts their intervention at the right place and does not advance to more complex skills until they’ve mastered the basic ones.
According to Dr. Louise Spear-Swerling, Professor Emerita in the Department of Special Education at Southern Connecticut State University, when choosing a tutoring program, the pedagogy, curriculum, and instructional practices must align with structured literacy. If it does not, the instruction during the school day can be compromised due to conflicting methods and practices. This leads to student confusion and frustration. However, when both school-day instruction and tutoring are aligned and a proven structured literacy framework is used, all students, including multilingual learners and children with dyslexia, receive the complete and comprehensive literacy instruction they deserve without falling behind.
"All students, regardless of socio-economic status, should have ready access to teachers of reading who have mastered the princples and practicecs of Structured Literacy."
- International Dyslexia Association. (2019). Structured Literacy: An introductory guide. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Hoot Reading’s tutoring program is carefully aligned with a structured literacy approach. Our qualified reading tutors explicitly model and teach skills sequentially, using our scope and sequence to guide students from simple to complex sound-spelling correspondences. Hoot’s phonics units must be completed in order, as our instructional materials are created to build on previously learned skills.
Structured literacy instruction also explicitly and systematically teaches skills that build language comprehension. One example of this type of language instruction at Hoot is how we provide explicit instruction in sentence analysis. Teachers also do a great deal of modeling to show the complex metacognitive processes involved in verbal reasoning and provide clear language stems for students to externalize their thinking.
Hoot’s proprietary assessment suite (diagnostic, summative, and progress monitoring assessments) is built to evaluate which skills have been mastered regularly, enabling targeted instruction for each student. We work 1:1 with students so that every child gets precisely what they need and can efficiently address their unique skill gaps to catch up under the expert guidance of a qualified teacher.
Structured literacy intervention, such as Hoot’s high-impact tutoring program, must accompany structured literacy instruction to realize the reading gains we want for all children. Students in tutoring must receive the same high-quality, evidence-based literacy instruction that they do during the school day.
Contact us to learn how our literacy program helps children become strong, skillful readers.