Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect, a show sponsored by John Catt from Hodder Education and hosted by me, Dr. Zach Groshell.
My guest today is Christopher Such, literacy expert, former primary teacher, and author of Primary Reading Simplified. Chris makes his epic return to the show to tackle several debates currently shaping reading instruction in schools—from how long phonics should last, to how assessments distort instruction, to the work he is doing with Steplab to support teachers to improve reading outcomes.
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We discuss:
- Phonics and “escape velocity.” There’s growing talk about schools teaching too much phonics, along with phrases like “escape velocity.” What does the evidence actually say about how long and how intensively phonics should be taught? Is “escape velocity” a meaningful instructional concept, or more of a rhetorical one?
- Linguistic phonics and speech-to-print. There’s renewed debate about linguistic phonics versus traditional systematic phonics, and speech-to-print versus print-to-speech approaches. Are these fundamentally different approaches to initial decoding instruction, or mostly differences in framing and sequencing? Is there strong evidence favoring one over the other?
- When assessment starts driving instruction. In many systems, reading instruction ends up shaped by comprehension tests. When does alignment with assessment become distortion of instruction? How should schools prevent test-prep from replacing genuine knowledge building and fluency work?
- What comes after phonics. Chris revisits a framework he shared in his previous appearance on the podcast: the essential elements schools need to provide in reading instruction once decoding is established.
- Coaching and Steplab. Chris has been working with Steplab to translate evidence into concrete coaching actions. We discuss how coaching systems can support teachers in delivering more effective reading instruction.
If you’re interested in the science of reading this episode is packed with insights.
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This summer, join me in New York City for The Explicit Teaching Institute—a five-day deep dive into the science of learning and the highest-leverage moves in explicit instruction. We’ll spend our mornings unpacking the research, our middays studying expert teaching on video (courtesy of Steplab!), and our afternoons rehearsing the moves that make instruction clear, efficient, and reliable—so you leave with a practical toolkit you can use on day one.
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Books I can recommend…
The podcast you’re listening to is sponsored by John Catt from Hachette Learning and hosted by Dr. Zach Groshell. John Catt publishes some of the best books in education, including my book, Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanations and Explicit Teaching.
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