Overview:
June's Research Round-Up dives into the latest studies on brain development, dyslexia, reading interventions, and writing strategies.
Each month, grab your highlighters and pour some extra coffee, because this isn’t your average research digest. Each month, we break down the brainy stuff into bite-sized brilliance so you can digest evidence-based magic into your classroom without needing a PhD in educational jargon.
From decoding dyslexia to unlocking the secrets of student brains, we’ve got studies, strategies, and a whole lot of nerdy joy.
Research🧠: Understanding specific reading comprehension deficit: A review
This cool Harvard-led MRI study tracked children from infancy through second grade to see how early brain growth (think volume, surface area, and white-matter wiring) predicts phonological skills—and eventually, reading skills. What they found: your brain’s reading “hardware” starts humming from birth, then fine-tunes during preschool, laying early tracks for decoding and word reading. In short: the neural scaffolding for reading isn’t built in kindergarten—it’s under construction since diaper days!
Landi N, Ryherd K. Understanding specific reading comprehension deficit: A review. Lang Linguist Compass. 2017 Feb;11(2):e12234. doi: 10.1111/lnc3.12234. Epub 2017 Feb 22. PMID: 30034511; PMCID: PMC6051548.
Research📚: Morphology in children’s books, and what it means for learning
Imagine your favorite kidlit books are secret treasure chests—inside, affixes like un‑, ‑tion, and pre‑ hang out just waiting to be noticed! Korochkina & Rastle analyzed 1,200 children’s books and discovered that while kids don’t encounter flashy affixes often, when they do, those little word parts pack a powerful punch for decoding meaning. The catch? Many affixes hide in plain sight or sneak in tricky spellings, so smart instruction that points them out could turbocharge vocabulary and reading success.
Korochkina, Maria, and Kathleen Rastle. “Morphology in Children’S Books, and What It Means for Learning.” Npj Science of Learning, vol. 10, no. 1, 2025, pp. 1-16, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00313-6. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
Research:📌 Narrowing the Reading Gap
Turns out, reading isn’t a magic skill—we have to teach it, like building a Lego castle with no instructions! The EAB briefing indicates that most students (around 95%) can learn to read if we provide them with evidence-based instruction in decoding, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension, especially before third grade, the crucial “read-to-learn” transition. They found reading builds neural highways across four brain areas and that quality phonics in early grades dramatically reduces later drop-offs (yep, the dreaded fourth-grade slump). The best part? Districts using this brain-based roadmap (training, curriculum, coaches, summer support, and data groups) saw kindergartners progress from ~46% to nearly 100% reading on grade level, proof that science-based reading isn’t just theory, but a transformative approach.
Education Advisory Board. Narrowing the Third-Grade Reading Gap: Research Briefing. EAB, 2020.https://pages.eab.com/rs/732-GKV-655/images/Narrowing%20the%20Third-Grade%20Reading%20Gap_research%20briefing.pdf
Picture this: a group of 4th graders with reading struggles and attention issues receive two doses of reading help—one in class (Tier 1) and one in a small group (Tier 2). But here’s the twist: when those two layers match up like PB&J (using the same evidence-based reading strategies in both), students crushed it—gaining major ground in content knowledge, vocab, and comprehension (we’re talking effect sizes up to 1.46!). Meanwhile, when schools kept things mismatched or business-as-usual? Meh… no big gains. Bottom line: aligned instruction isn’t just educational feng shui—it’s a powerful way to help our most vulnerable learners actually connect the dots.
Stevens, Elizabeth A., et al. “The Effects of a Tier 2 Reading Comprehension Intervention Aligned to Tier 1 Instruction for Fourth Graders with Inattention and Reading Difficulties.” Journal of School Psychology, vol. 105, 2024, pp. 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2024.03.002
Research:💬 Why Children With Dyslexia Struggle With Writing and How to Help Them
Kids with dyslexia don’t just struggle with reading; they often stumble during writing as well, and the culprits are a complex trio: messy transcription (such as spelling and neat handwriting), limited working memory, and executive function difficulties (including planning and pacing). But fear not—research shows that targeted instruction in phonics-based spelling, handwriting, and memory strategies can significantly boost their writing quality, helping those neural connections click into place and giving both reading and writing a much-needed glow-up.
Read more
Hebert M, Kearns DM, Hayes JB, Bazis P, Cooper S. Why Children With Dyslexia Struggle With Writing and How to Help Them. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2018 Oct 24;49(4):843-863. doi: 10.1044/2018_LSHSS-DYSLC-18-0024. PMID: 30458545; PMCID: PMC6430506.
Research:✍️ Structured Literacy Approaches to Teaching Written Expression
Imagine teaching writing like constructing a LEGO masterpiece — you need a solid foundation (words, spelling, handwriting), a supportive framework (sentence structure), and the final sparkle (organization, self-regulation). Haynes and colleagues outline how combining explicit, systematic teaching of word-level skills with structured planning strategies helps struggling writers — especially those with dyslexia — not only spell and form sentences but also craft coherent, engaging stories. They highlight the importance of scaffolding, from talking to writing, using tools like visual organizers and repeated practice, to turn messy drafts into polished prose, one scaffolded sentence at a time.
Haynes, Charles W., Susan Lambrecht Smith, and Leslie Laud. “Structured Literacy Approaches to Teaching Written Expression.” Perspectives on Language and Literacy, International Dyslexia Association, vol. 45, no. 2, Spring 2019, pp. 21–27. https://nj.dyslexiaida.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2022/10/Haynes-StructuredApproachesWritingHaynesSmithLaudIDAPerspectives_2019.pdf
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