What’s the Science Behind the Science of Reading?

There has been lots of noise and many hopeful words about the science of reading.  It is at the basis of the MSDE’s plan for kids to either be reading at grade level at the end of 3^rdgrade or be held back or participate in a special summer program.  There is no guidance as to what would happen if at the end of 3^rd grade repeat, the child is still not at grade level.

The Science of Reading AKA Orton Gillingham, is not all that much science. The basis of this miracle worker plan is Orton Gillingham (OG)method of teaching reading.  It is a plan that is heavily invested in phonics and linking motor input with phonics.  It is not a plan that emphasizes reading comprehension.  What is the point of reading if the reader gets the sounds the letters are supposed to make but does not get the meaning from those sounds?  Is that really reading at all?

It is said that in fourth grade the purpose of reading shifts from word attack skills and decoding to comprehension.  How does the teacher motivate children to read if there is no story to the reading.  Or the story is phonetically consistent but has no interesting motivating plot line.

It is beginning to dawn on the advocates for OG that you can’t teach reading on the basis of word attack skills alone.  The kids aren’t interested AND Orton Gillingham only covers one part of the reading process.  What to do now? The OG advocates have sold a bill of goods to the rest of the folk, that only OG has the scientific basis for teaching reading.  Just ain’t so.  EVERY teaching method has a scientific basis if what you mean by that is research to back up the techniques being recommended by the method. Every single commercial reading method has research to show that it is the one way to teach reading.  OG has great marketing tools.  One of the best things Orton Gillingham has going for it is that it is VERY structured and if followed by the weakest teacher, there will be some positive results.  Is that what is passing for science these days, methods for our weakest teachers?