Science of Reading: The Podcast

In this third episode of our four-part adolescent literacy miniseries, Susan Lambert, Ed. D., speaks with Jeanne Schopf, interventionist, national literacy consultant, and editor of the new book Reading Isn't Optional: Fulfilling the Promise of Literacy for Secondary Students . Susan and Jeanne discuss why belief systems about at-risk readers are often the biggest barrier to change, and why t...

In the second episode of a special four-part Science of Reading: The Podcast adolescent literacy miniseries, Susan Lambert, Ed. D., speaks with Julie Burtscher Brown, Ed. D. a PreK–12 literacy facilitator. Julie talks about how she and her colleagues built a whole-school literacy initiative from the ground up, and what three years of data about it then revealed. Together, she and Susan also discus...

In this first episode of our special four-part Science of Reading: The Podcast Adolescent Literacy miniseries, Susan Lambert, Ed. D., speaks with Doug Fisher, Ph. D., a celebrated professor, author, and one of the most influential voices in adolescent literacy. They explore what the evidence really tells us about supporting adolescent learners, and what it means for classroom practice. They also d...

On this Science of Reading Essentials episode we're diving into the science of learning to explore how memory, cognitive load, and knowledge building can transform your literacy instruction. Host Susan Lambert, Ed. D., weaves in the insights of our experts—Natalie Wexler; Nathaniel Swain, Ph. D.; Hugh Catts, Ph. D.; Daniel Willingham, Ph. D.; Peter C. Brown; Jamey Peavler, Ed. D.; and David R...

On this week’s episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert, Ed. D., is joined by one of the most influential people in American education, Reid Lyon, Ph. D., to explore what it takes to make systemic change in literacy instruction. Together, Reid and Susan also discuss how literacy education could benefit from a shared vocabulary, how systems must work together from teacher preparati...

In this episode of Science of reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert, Ed. D., is joined by Kate Winn and Stephanie Stollar, Ph. D, coauthors of Reading Assessment Done Right , who explain how to use assessment to actually accelerate student progress and drive instructional decisions. Stephanie, Kate, and Susan also discuss how to cut through assessment overload and focus on what truly drives instruct...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan is joined by executive director of the Margaret Byrd Rawson Institute, Teresa May, Ph. D. Teresa shares her powerful story, from being a student with dyslexia to fighting systemic barriers in education. Teresa and Susan also discuss Teresa's legal advocacy for her sons' right to appropriate dyslexia education; the legacy of Margar...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, returning guest, Nathaniel Swain, Ph. D., joins Susan Lambert to close out the season by answering thoughtful and thought-provoking comprehension questions submitted by listeners. Nathaniel and Susan answer questions about comprehension strategies, the relationship between comprehension and memorization, and how to shift the mindset amongst your...

Host Susan Lambert hits the home stretch of her comprehension-focused season of Science of Reading: The Podcast with a reflective episode based on her presentation at this year's Plain Talk About Literacy and Learning conference. Instead of being joined by a guest, Susan breaks down some of her biggest takeaways from this season—explaining how reading comprehension is far more intricate than...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Kristen McMaster, Ph. D., Guy Bond Chair in Reading and professor of special education in the Department of Educational Psychology at University of Minnesota. Together, they explore how reading comprehension isn't just about what's on the page—it's also about what's not there—and share practical insi...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Timothy Shanahan, Ph. D., distinguished professor emeritus from the University of Illinois at Chicago, joins Susan Lambert to distinguish between reading comprehension, learning from a text, and the process of learning to read. He compares learning to read with athletic training, explaining that just as athletes need to vary their workout intensi...

We're excited to share a special episode from our friends at our sister podcast, Beyond My Years. Host Ana Torres is joined by nationally recognized educational consultant and thought leader, Mitchell Brookins, Ph. D., to discuss what critical thinking is and how to help students develop it. He also explains why critical thinking is crucial for long-term academic success. Mitchell also gives...

Susan Lambert is joined by emeritus professor of psychology and education and the University of Oxford, Charles Hulme, D.Phil., and founder of Left Side Strong LLC, MaryKate DeSantis. They dive into the critial connection between oral language development and reading comprehension. They also explore exactly what oral language development is, how to screen children for deficits in oral language abi...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Phil Capin, Ph. D., assistant professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. They explore why recommended reading comprehension practices aren't widely implemented in schools, and what educators can do to change that. Together, they also discuss how knowledge building is foundational to reading...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by educational consultant Nancy Chapel Eberhardt, who explains why focusing on syntax at the sentence level is just as important for comprehension as word-level decoding. Together, Nancy and Susan also discuss how syntax helps students process meaning while reading, why we should start early and teach syntax to students fr...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by research scientist and professor Julie Van Dyke, Ph. D., who explains why syntax instruction may be the missing piece in our mission to improve comprehension outcomes for all students. Together, Julie and Susan discuss why syntax is the part of the language system that matters for comprehension, how the same systematici...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Affiliated Scholar at the Stern Center for Language and Learning, Melissa Farrall, Ph. D., to discuss understanding assessment. Melissa explains why it's beneficial for every educator to understand the fundamentals of assessment, especially comprehension assessment. Together, Melissa and Susan discuss the relations...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by University of Oregon College of Education Professor and Ann Swindells Chair in Education Gina Biancarosa, Ed. D., to explore how best to assess for comprehension. Gina elaborates on her extensive work developing more precise and informative measurements of reading comprehension and discusses think-aloud research, demons...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Northwestern University Professor of Education, Social Policy, and Psychology David Rapp. David’s research focuses on language and memory, and his conversation with Susan gives insight into how memory is connected to comprehension. The first half of the episode is spent defining comprehension as a process, a product, an...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Doug Lemov,  former teacher and school principal, to discuss how teachers can identify when disfluency is actually the root cause for students’ struggles with comprehension—and what they can do about it. Using his new book, The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading , to guide the discussion, Susan and Do...

In this special dyslexia-focused Essentials episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert pulls from past episodes to summarize everything you need to know about dyslexia, from experts Emily Lutrick, Ed. D.; Nadine Gaab, Ph. D.; Tim Odegard, Ph. D.; Sally Shaywitz, M.D.; and Francisco Usero-González, Ph. D. You'll also hear first-hand accounts from young people about their persona...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Katie Pace Miles, Ph. D., founder of The Reading Institute and director of the Advanced Certificates in Reading Science, Brooklyn College. An expert in orthographic mapping, Pace Miles explains why it’s a cognitive process, why that means it can’t be “taught,” and how we can instead leverage an understanding of it to in...

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan Lambert is joined by Wesley Hoover, a psycholinguist at the University of Texas at Austin, to discuss the Simple View of Reading and how it can serve as the basis for our understanding of comprehension. Wesley digs into all the complexities of this model—which is only simple at a high level—including the meaning of language comprehension vs...

Podcast host Susan Lambert gives you a first look at Season 10 of Science of Reading: The Podcast. This season will focus on reading comprehension, taking a deep dive into what is ultimately the goal of every classroom: breaking down why comprehension matters and how to achieve it. Get a glimpse into the season’s different angles on comprehension, as well as the expert guests you can look forward...

In this crossover episode Susan Lambert joins host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross from sister podcast, Beyond My Years. Together, the trio dive into the idea that all educators contribute to—and thus must invest in—student literacy development, regardless of the content they teach. Throughout the conversation, they discuss how all teachers are literacy teachers, offer four simple tips...