The Science of Reading and Structured Literacy
Written by Sandie Barrie Blackley, Speech-Language Pathologist
Published on April 1, 2026
The Science of Reading is an interdisciplinary body of research that has accumulated over the last century. It represents converging evidence from fields such as cognitive psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, and educational psychology, all of which aim to answer fundamental questions such as:
- How do human beings actually learn to read?
- Why do so many people struggle with reading?
- What are the disconnects between how humans learn to read and how reading has historically been taught?
Reading struggles are not just academic. Reading disorders affect the lives and well-being of children and adults worldwide. People with reading disorders have lower earning potential, higher rates of unemployment, and poorer health outcomes, costing the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars annually. In the United States, 21% of adults are classified as functionally illiterate, unable to complete basic reading tasks required in modern life, such as paying bills, understanding a lease agreement, filling out a job application, and navigating online information.
Most adults with reading disorders struggled with reading as children. Based on recent data, 40% of fourth graders in the U.S. are reading at a Below Basic level, struggling to read words and to comprehend what they read. Yet the consensus among reading scientists is that the vast majority—roughly 90-95%—of struggling readers can learn to read successfully if they receive science-based intervention.
Why Structured Literacy?
This is where structured literacy comes in. Rooted in the Orton-Gillingham (O-G) approach, modern structured literacy methods are informed by the Science of Reading and include:
- A connected focus on phonemic (speech sound) awareness, phonics, morphology (word parts), vocabulary, and sentence and text comprehension.
- Diagnostic assessment
- Explicit instruction
- Systematic instruction
- Multisensory instruction
- Adequate deliberate practice
Structured literacy methods break down the complexities of language into key, foundational components, such as phonology (speech sounds), sound-symbol associations (phonics), syllable types, morphology (word parts), syntax (sentence structure), and semantics (meaning).
Instruction is systematic and cumulative, meaning skills are taught in a logical, sequential order from simple to complex, with each new concept building upon previously mastered ones. It is also explicit and direct, with teachers clearly explaining concepts and providing ample opportunities for practice and feedback.
Crucially, structured literacy methods are grounded in the broader science of learning, which has been described by neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene (2020) as having four necessary pillars:
- Attention
- Active engagement
- Error feedback
- Consolidation
In structured literacy, attention and active engagement are stimulated using multisensory methods. For example, multiple senses are involved when a student sees a letter, pronounces its sound, and writes it. These multisensory connections strengthen neural pathways and support memory.
That said…
Why Structured Literacy Is Often Not Enough
While a structured literacy curriculum is essential, it is often not enough. To be effective, a structured literacy curriculum must be used with fidelity, and any barriers to fidelity must be addressed promptly and effectively. Fidelity includes:
- Adherence: The extent to which the teacher follows the program’s prescribed procedures and instructional steps
- Quality of Delivery: How well the instruction is delivered beyond prescribed procedures and instructional steps, including the ability of the teacher to engage and motivate the student, and solve barriers
- Dosage: The frequency (how often) and duration (how long) of engagement with the program. Time is often used as a proxy for dosage (e.g., 30 minutes, 3 days a week), but it is a poor proxy because a student may be in a seat but not attentive, engaged, or motivated. A better proxy for dosage is the number of response challenges completed.
A three-legged stool is an analogy for the effective use of structured literacy. If one of the stool’s legs is missing or short, the stool will fall over (i.e., the intervention won’t work effectively).
The Three Elements Necessary for Structured Literacy to Succeed
Leg #1: A structured literacy curriculum
To achieve literacy proficiency, students need to be taught about language structure using a structured literacy curriculum. Based on the Science of Reading, structured literacy is not only the most effective method for students struggling with reading and spelling but also the most effective method for teaching the foundations of literacy to all students.
Leg #2: A caring, supportive, organized adult (therapist, parent, or teacher)
The English spelling system is very regular but in complex ways, so the teacher or therapist using a structured literacy curriculum must be prepared to explain why English words are pronounced and spelled as they are. A good curriculum will help here by laying out the information in a clear, logical, and cumulative way. But a curriculum can’t do the actual teaching! That requires a caring, supportive, and organized adult who can engage the student in both lessons and practice. As explained above, attention and engagement are essential for all learning, and a teacher is often the key to engagement.
Leg #3. Deliberate, Daily Practice
Consistency can be challenging, but based on the science of learning, frequent practice with error correction is not just a “nice-to-have” feature. It is necessary for learning, skill development, and retaining concepts. Ideally, practice should focus on the concepts taught in the lesson. Students should be taught to use errors as learning opportunities, and error data should be used to adjust the curriculum and gauge mastery. Based on the science of learning, effective practice is:
The majority of students with reading challenges make significant progress if their intervention seat has three solid “legs.”
In Lexercise Professional Therapy, a trained therapist customizes the Lexercise Structured Literacy Curriculum™ to fit a student’s specific learning needs. Independent research conducted by LXD Research showed that most students make dramatic gains using the Lexercise Structured Literacy Curriculum™. As a result, for Professional Therapy students, Lexercise can guarantee a grade-level increase in reading abilities after 2 months of therapy, or your third month is free.
In Lexercise Basic Therapy, the Lexercise Structured Literacy Curriculum™ is available for parents to use at home without direct involvement from a Lexercise therapist.
In Lexercise for Schools, the same curriculum is available to educators in schools.If you have any questions about our program or would like to get in touch, you can contact us on this page or book a call with a specialist.
References
Dehaene, S. (2020). How We Learn: Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine…for Now. Viking.
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