Why Phonics Isn’t Enough

Recent results from NAEP confirmed what we already knew: too many adolescents are struggling as readers. Advocates often suggest that we can improve reading outcomes in middle and high school by delivering better reading instruction in early grades, with a focus on phonics. While a solid phonics foundation is crucial, it’s not enough to advance middle and high schoolers’ reading. In an essay for The 74, Zinc’s founder/CEO and 25+ year veteran educator, Matt Bardin, explains why.

“When I ask [my students] what the passage they just beautifully read means, they don’t know. What’s the main idea, I ask? They latch onto a phrase that they did understand and extrapolate from there, often adding unrelated color from their own experiences or emotions. In short, they make the meaning up, relying on their imaginations, not the authors’ words. This fuzzy comprehension, and the subsequent guessing at meaning, causes low reading test scores and fuels the nation’s reading crisis.”

Zinc’s Reading Ignition Unit offers a solution. This two-to-three week program explicitly teaches the conscious-reading strategies that lead to comprehension of complex texts. Read more about conscious reading and our views on adolescent literacy in The 74 article here.