The Reading Instruction Show

I started listening to this podcast after I listened to “Sold a Story”. I wanted to learn more about literacy education from a different perspective. This podcast has actually solidified my support for the Science of Reading (SoR) as the presenter does little more than repeatedly call SoR supporters clowns and say to listen to experts. He constantly says that non-SoR approaches are supported by research, but never cites those studies. This is an entertaining podcast to listen to, but adds little to the discourse about literacy education.

This man knows what he’s talking about. He clearly understands literacy research and is magnifying the many, many issues that reading researchers have with SOR mania. The zealots will look foolish when this is all over, and Dr. Johnson will be standing tall on the mountains of evidence we have. We’ll all look back on this time as a dark time in literacy education. Schools have thrown out perfectly good materials based on faulty interpretations of the science, mostly spurred by a poorly researched podcast that has taken the reading world by storm. Dr. Johnson is speaking truth. And zealots don’t like the truth. I’m grateful for Dr. Andy Johnson and his message. Beth Hager, PhD 23 years in literacy - special education teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, and Literacy professor.

Just another biased man who will say or defend anything to sell his curriculum and books. His audience is ignorant people because they don’t know any better.

It is important that we read peer reviewed journals, listen to experts, and take advice from people actually in the field of education. Thank you for talking about literacy in a way that makes sense for all readers. It is infuriating that so many people are spreading misinformation about what is really going on in our schools. This podcast might not be as flashy or dramatic as Hanford’s but it actually uses data, proven facts and the podcaster is a professional in the field of education.