Back to School '23, Interlude episode 2 (Part 2): Embracing the complexity of learning to read with Dr. Reid Lyon

This is Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Reid Lyon, one of the leading experts in reading research. After years working for and with the highest levels of the U.S. government, Dr. Lyon stepped away from working on reading research. However, in May 2023, he released his "Ten Maxims: What We've Learned So Far About How Children Learn to Read." Picking up where we left off last episode, Dr. Lyon continues to expand on what we know about how children learn—and explains how much of this information was known two decades ago when he was testifying before Congress. He also goes into what he sees in the current Science of Reading landscape, and what he hopes for the future, and how both of those things led to the creation of his "Ten Maxims."

Show notes:

• Listen to: Embracing the complexity of learning to read (Part 1)
• Dr. Reid Lyon: “Ten Maxims: What We've Learned So Far About How Children Learn to Read”
• Keith Rayner’s research: “Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research”
• Marilyn Adams: Beginning to Read
• Susan Brady: Phonological Processes in Literacy
• Emily Hanford: “Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong”

Quotes:
“The Science of Reading is cumulative and we’re learning all kinds of new things.” —Dr. Reid Lyon

“A more realistic look at reading is in fact to understand the complexity, but not be intimidated by it.” —Dr. Reid Lyon

“When you’re working on something that’s so critical to a life—to a child’s life—belief systems don’t cut it. Evidence cuts it.” —Dr. Reid Lyon