UNC School of Education faculty member Courtney Hattan, Ph.D., an assistant professor and a leading scholar focused on incorporating students’ backgrounds and knowledge in reading instruction and enhancing the science of reading, served as guest editor of a December 2024 special issue of Educational Psychologist titled “Expanding the Science of Reading: Contributions from Educational Psychology.”
Hattan edited the issue with Panayiota Kendeou, Ph.D., Distinguished McKnight University Professor and the Guy Bond Chair in Reading at the University of Minnesota.
“With this special issue of Educational Psychologist, Courtney is lending an important voice and perspective to a timely public conversation focused on the science of reading,” said Jill V. Hamm, interim dean of the School. “Our faculty members across fields of education provide critical research-informed insights to education’s most pressing issues. Courtney’s editorship of this issue is an excellent example of that scholarly leadership.”
Hattan and Kendeou open the issue with an article that provides an overview of the state of the science of reading, highlights the theoretical advances in the field shared within the special issue, and discusses future directions for related research.
In that article, they note that “the science of reading consists of a large, evolving, and impressive body of evidence about how humans learn to read and how reading should be taught” and that educational psychology scholars have “robust research programs in the area of reading and are well-positioned to contribute to expanding the science of reading beyond narrow conceptualizations that have been popularized” more recently.
They also discuss how the expansion of the science of reading can be done with regard to the role of prior knowledge and present a conceptual integrative framework of reading that draws on dynamic systems theory – a theoretical framework originally focused on mathematics and physics that has been applied to various fields – which “seeks to understand and explain how complex systems, composed of multiple interacting components, change and evolve over time.”
According to Hattan and Kendeou, various forms of students’ knowledge (e.g., cultural knowledge), components (e.g., vocabulary), and processes (e.g., making inferences) of reading, and the sociocultural context in which reading takes place all dynamically interact and contribute to students’ comprehension and knowledge development. Additionally, Hattan and Kendeou emphasize that knowledge is both a cause and consequence of reading.
“This special issue brings together educational psychology and reading in a way that provides a more holistic understanding of reading theory,” Hattan said. “I hope that the theories in the special issue are taken up by the research community to inform qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies of reading.
“I also hope that the special issue encourages researchers to talk across silos and consider how research and theory from both educational psychology and reading, across theoretical paradigms and methodological preferences, can complement each other, with the ultimate goals of improving instruction, developing better assessments, and enhancing students’ reading abilities.”
Following is a Q&A with Hattan about the special issue.
What was the impetus for this special issue?
I came to Carolina in 2023, but this issue is one that’s been in the works since I was at Illinois State where I had been since 2018. In that time, the science of reading has become the focus of state-level policies, instructional shifts, and journalistic endeavors. Given the national and international focus on reading science, Dr. Kendeou and I wanted to amplify theories and research that come from the intersection of educational psychology and reading research.
While we’re having these important conversations about reading and the science behind it, this issue and the expansion of perspectives within it may help shift how students, teachers, administrators, and policymakers think about reading — in terms of how reading is defined, assessed, and taught.
The articles in the special issue provide a more comprehensive and complex understanding of reading theory, integrate asset-based pedagogy and theories of motivation, consider how students use their linguistic resources as they read, highlight the importance of executive functions in reading, and call for new approaches to reading assessment.
Why is the educational psychology lens such a valuable one for the science of reading?
Educational psychology is the “science and practices that describe and promote people’s learning, motivation, development, and well-being.” Educational psychologists study learning across domains — such as math or reading — and in varied contexts like online environments or K-12 classrooms. Researchers who sit at the intersection of educational psychology and reading research are well-positioned to integrate the science of learning with the science of reading. Educational psychologists can help teachers tailor the science of reading to students’ knowledge and motivation, helping those students learn to read more efficiently and with greater investment.
The articles presented in this special issue are primarily written for researchers, but are there takeaways for teachers who are helping their students learn to read?
Although the articles focus predominantly on advancing reading theory, a key takeaway or reminder for teachers is that students do not come to reading or learning experiences as blank slates. Students have a variety of both school-based knowledge as well as rich and varied experiential, cultural, and linguistic knowledge that supports their learning. The practices and ideas endorsed by the “science of reading” can be further enhanced by taking into account students’ backgrounds, knowledge, and motivation. These ideas all enhance the value of the science of reading in classrooms.
When viewing students through an equity, asset-based lens, teachers can identify entry points to new reading and learning experiences, grounding their assessment and instruction in meaningful relationships with their students.
Are there takeaways for education leaders or policymakers who are focused on the science of reading and ensuring students learn to read?
A takeaway for education leaders and policymakers, or for anyone invested in discussions around the science of reading right now, is that the science of reading continues to evolve. As new theories and research are developed, our understanding of reading processes, components, contexts, instruction, and assessment should also shift. I hope that we continue to have conversations about how to improve reading instruction. As states pass and implement requirements around reading instruction, it is critical that leaders consider the complexity of reading, the role of motivation and asset-based approaches to instruction, the important linguistic resources that multilingual students bring to reading, and approaches to assessment that consider students with diverse needs when it comes to reading. This added complexity can enhance the value of reading science in classrooms.
Where is the science of reading research going next? Or rather, where should it go?
I would love to see reading researchers develop advanced methodological approaches that capture reading as a complex dynamic system and further inform our understanding of reading processes, instruction, and assessment. I would also like to see continued efforts to operate through an equity lens when considering how students’ cultural and linguistic assets influence their reading across contexts.