Evidence-Based Practice

Read more about educational practices backed by research
Students attend Bow Memorial School in Bow, N.H. on Oct. 29, 2025. Bow Memorial School is a middle school that has developed a systematic approach to addressing foundational reading gaps in middle school students.
Though states have put an emphasis on reading intervention, most don't specify how to help students beyond grade 3. Older students may need more support on vocabulary development, or understanding how word parts convey meaning. Middle school students learn about suffixes at Bow Memorial School in Bow, N.H. on Oct. 29, 2025. The school has developed a systematic approach to addressing foundational reading gaps in grades 5-8.
Sophie Park for Education Week
States State Reading Laws Focus on K-3. What About Older Students Who Struggle?
Should lawmakers push reading legislation to address the needs of students beyond elementary grades?
Evie Blad, November 24, 2025
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8 min read
Thu., November 13, 2025, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
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Students at R. Brown McAllister Elementary School use telephones for phonemic awareness during literary instruction on March 19, 2025, in Concorn, N.C.
Students at R. Brown McAllister Elementary School use telephones for a phonemic awareness lesson on March 19, 2025, in Concorn, N.C. Researchers are homing in on the qualities of high-quality intervention for students who continue to struggle after regular teaching.
Cornell Watson for Education Week
Reading & Literacy What Makes an Effective Reading Intervention? One Researcher's 5 Criteria
Studies highlight targeting specific skills and offering opportunities for practice, among others.
Sarah Schwartz, October 10, 2025
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4 min read
Reading & Literacy Spotlight Spotlight on Small Group Reading Intervention
This Spotlight will help you discover how small group reading interventions lead to positive achievement by students.
September 11, 2025
A tangle of wires and missed connections among institutions.
Islenia Mil for Education Week
School & District Management Opinion High-Quality Research Rarely Informs Classroom Practice. Why?
The connection between education research, policy, and practice is broken. Here’s what it would take to fix it.
Thomas S. Dee, September 8, 2025
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8 min read
Reading & Literacy Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About Supporting Literacy Initiatives?
Answer 7 questions about supporting literacy initiatives.
September 2, 2025
A student works a problem in a second grade math class at Place Bridge Academy, May 20, 2025, in Denver.
A student works a problem in a 2nd grade math class at Place Bridge Academy, May 20, 2025, in Denver. The math instructional strategies that teachers employ can vary depending on whether they trained as general or special educators—a divide researchers say could hurt struggling students.
Rebecca Slezak/AP
Mathematics How Should We Teach Math? General and Special Ed. Researchers Don't Agree
The divide makes it less likely that students who struggle will get access to proven strategies, researchers argue in a new study.
Sarah Schwartz, August 21, 2025
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8 min read
Surreal view as a young woman student sits on the top of a huge pile of books holding a spyglass looking far at horizon. Adventure concept, as airplane and hot air balloon fly out of the magic book.
Bulat Silvia/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Reading & Literacy Professional Learning Guide Your Guide to the Science of Reading
Explore evidence-based methods to teach reading in this professional learning guide.
August 12, 2025
First grader Geniss Gibbs practices reading skills at Eastern Elementary School in Washington, N.C., on May 23, 2022.
First grader Geniss Gibbs practices reading skills at Eastern Elementary School in Washington, N.C., on May 23, 2022. Although districts are choosing new curricula purportedly aligned with evidence-based reading practices, they still frequently supplement with other teaching materials.
Kate Medley for Education Week
Reading & Literacy Districts Using 'High-Quality' Reading Curricula Still Supplement With Other Materials. Why?
A new report maps the shifting reading curriculum market.
Sarah Schwartz, August 4, 2025
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5 min read
Rising To The Challenge metaphor success concept with a paper boat transforming into a bird symbol of adaptability and change to avoid a crisis
iStock
Reading & Literacy Opinion ‘She Gave Us a Way In’: A Teacher’s Defense of Lucy Calkins
Every decade, a new savior for literacy emerges: Phonics! Whole language! Balanced reading! Phonics, again!
Dana Palubiak, August 1, 2025
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5 min read
Fri., July 25, 2025, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ET
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Dylan Mayes, left, reads from a book about Willie Mays during a reading circle in class on Oct. 20, 2022, in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Dylan Mayes, left, reads from a book about Willie Mays during a reading circle in class on Oct. 20, 2022, in Niagara Falls, N.Y. After the state launched a "science of reading" initiative in 2024, implementation has been piecemeal, a new survey finds.
Joshua Bessex/AP
Reading & Literacy ‘A Good Deal of Nostalgia’: New York’s Uneven Embrace of the Science of Reading
Educators say that they're mixing new approaches with the curricula and teaching strategies they've previously used, a new survey finds.
Sarah Schwartz, July 9, 2025
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6 min read
Students interact in a fourth grade classroom at William Jefferson Clinton Elementary in Compton, Calif., on Feb. 6, 2025.
Students interact in a 4th grade classroom at William Jefferson Clinton Elementary in Compton, Calif., on Feb. 6, 2025. More young students could receive instruction in phonics and other evidence-based techniques, if a long-sought state proposal is approved.
Eric Thayer/AP
Reading & Literacy California Is Poised to Pass a 'Science of Reading' Law After a Long, Tense Debate
Advocates on both sides say the compromise bill is strong, but imperfect. Will it move literacy instruction forward in the state?
Sarah Schwartz, June 12, 2025
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8 min read
Richard Evans, a teacher at Hyde Park Elementary School, helps a student sound out a word during a reading circle in class on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Richard Evans, a teacher at Hyde Park Elementary School, helps a student sound out a word during a reading circle in class on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, in Niagara Falls, N.Y. Federal support for reading has waxed and waned over the years, and now the Trump Administration says it will prioritize "evidence-based" reading supports in its grant programs.
Joshua Bessex/AP
Reading & Literacy Trump's Ed. Dept. Wants to Fund 'Evidence-Based' Reading. What Will That Mean for Schools?
The agency has placed literacy squarely on its agenda amid an ongoing national "science of reading" movement.
Sarah Schwartz, May 27, 2025
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9 min read
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