The Reading Instruction Show

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

The Importance of Context and the Science of Reading

The Science of Reading seems to refer to a general consensus related to the strategies and practices that lead to improved reading outcomes. These strategies and practice

Nov 4
24 min

Structured Literacy: Forward to the Past

Using Blanche DuBois’s tragic reliance on the "kindness of strangers" as a central metaphor, this article critiques the recurring cycle of corporate-driven reading mandat

Nov 2
28 min

Conversation with Kathy Brown, Master Educator

If you’re looking for accessible, research-based information that slices through the endless loads of overly worded baloney, I would encourage you to subscribe to my free

Oct 6
32 min

Reading Instruction, Word Confirmation, and Confirmation Bias

Purpose statement: The reader will become more effective in evaluating online sources related to reading instruction. Behavioral objective: Readers will be able to id

Sep 19
14 min

Quiet, Piggy: A Trumpian Response to Science of Reading Critics

If you’re looking for accessible, research-based information that slices through the endless loads of overly worded baloney, I would encourage you to subscribe to my free

Aug 14
11 min

Recognizing Words, the Three-Cueing System, and Identifying Words

• Purpose: Readers will understand how the three cueing system is used to recognize words. • Behavioral objective: After reading this chapter, the reader will throw a pi

Jul 31
13 min

How NAEP Created a Perpetual Reading Crisis

The NAEP proficiency levels were arbitrarily defined (Bracey, 2008; Ravitch, 2012; Reinking, Hruby, & Risko, 2023). These levels should be interpreted with extreme cautio

Jul 17
6 min

Reading and the Information Processing Model: Why Penguins Continue to Mishear What I Say

Reading is a thinking process, not a responding-to-stimuli process or a sounding-out-words process. And since cognitive psychology studies human thinking; it makes good s

Jul 7
16 min

Little Timmy, Round-Robin Reading, and Kindly, Old Mrs. Peterson

Important Terms • Round-robin reading – going around the table or around the room and having each student in turn read a section of text out loud. This is a teaching str

Jul 3
18 min

Understanding Reading from a Neurological Perspective: The Basics

If you’re looking for accessible, research-based information that slices through the endless loads of overly worded baloney, I would encourage you to subscribe to my free

Jun 27
15 min

The Latest NCTQ Technical Report Does Not Meet Basic Academic Standards

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) recently put out another technical report. This technical report graded 700 teacher preparation programs across the country

Jun 21
14 min

My MAGA Friends Tell Me Not to Judge Them

Matthew 7: 1-2. “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” My

Jun 19
7 min

Deconstructing Goldenberg's Science of Reading Propositions

If you’re looking for accessible, research-based information that slices through the endless loads of overly worded baloney, I would encourage you to subscribe to my free

Jun 18
14 min

Reading Instruction, Whole Language, and a Flux Capacitor

In 2026, the Minnesota Department of Education requires teachers to be toadies who follow approved teachers’ manuals with fidelity. All the love of reading has been stomp

Jun 16
17 min

Understanding Reading

If you’re looking for accessible, research-based information that slices through the endless loads of overly worded baloney, I would encourage you to subscribe to my free

Jun 10
12 min

Limitations of Brain Imaging Research for Reading Instruction

Just because a book, article, or presentation includes pictures of a brain or uses a whole bunch of big brain words, does not mean the information presented is always acc

Jun 6
11 min

The Story of the International Literacy Educators Coalition (ILEC)

By Dr. Andy Johnson, Executive Director, ILEC Push back against top-down SoR mandates that disempower teachers. Get involved with the International Literacy Educators Co

May 25
10 min

Dr. Johnson is Vulgard, Common, and Shameful

Warning: The academic aristrocacy do not want you to listen to this podcast.

May 14
11 min

Dr. Johnson is Not Very Smart

Push back against top-down SoR mandates that disempower teacher. Get involved with ILEC. Sign up at this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-nZ_vlQu1b-TfDL

May 8
10 min

George Hruby presents After the Flood: Reading Instruction Post SoR

Feeling deluged by SOR media, materials, and mandates? Science of Reading’s murky waters have crested, says Dr. Hruby. Our classrooms are ours to reclaim if we strate

Apr 10
1 h 23 min

Chart positions

Where The Reading Instruction Show ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Nov 5, 2026).

#157 NEW Courses US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

It is important that we read peer reviewed journals, listen to experts, and take advice from people actually in the field of education. Thank you for talking about literacy in a way that makes sense for all readers. It is infuriating that so many people are spreading misinformation about what is really going on in our schools. This podcast might not be as flashy or dramatic as Hanford’s but it actually uses data, proven facts and the podcaster is a professional in the field of education.

jes565 · Mar 2023

This man knows what he’s talking about. He clearly understands literacy research and is magnifying the many, many issues that reading researchers have with SOR mania. The zealots will look foolish when this is all over, and Dr. Johnson will be standing tall on the mountains of evidence we have. We’ll all look back on this time as a dark time in literacy education. Schools have thrown out perfectly good materials based on faulty interpretations of the science, mostly spurred by a poorly researched podcast that has taken the reading world by storm. Dr. Johnson is speaking truth. And zealots don’t like the truth. I’m grateful for Dr. Andy Johnson and his message. Beth Hager, PhD 23 years in literacy - special education teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, and Literacy professor.

bethager · Oct 2024

I started listening to this podcast after I listened to “Sold a Story”. I wanted to learn more about literacy education from a different perspective. This podcast has actually solidified my support for the Science of Reading (SoR) as the presenter does little more than repeatedly call SoR supporters clowns and say to listen to experts. He constantly says that non-SoR approaches are supported by research, but never cites those studies. This is an entertaining podcast to listen to, but adds little to the discourse about literacy education.

oddmountain · Dec 2023

We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.