The Next Frontier: Why Secondary Literacy Needs a Science of Learning Revolution 

As the parent of a dyslexic learner, I have closely watched the Science of Reading (SoR) transform how students learn to read. This research-proven methodology has brought vital access and equity to primary education. What’s more, it has evolved our expectations for education, successfully bringing scientific rigor to the entire learning process. This work is not a one-time push; it is a long-term commitment to empirical evidence that must now endure and extend to the practice of secondary literacy.

Bridging the Gap: The Need for More than Intervention

There is important discussion about vertically aligning the structured literacy practices of SoR to secondary students as an intervention. This is crucial: just like K-5 reading scores, secondary reading proficiency has been stubbornly below 40% for over 30 years.¹ Extending SoR practices will certainly help secondary students who missed this foundational instruction in their elementary years.

However, establishing widespread proficiency in secondary literacy will take more than mastering K-5 skills.

• Complexity of Standards: Unlike the simpler, skill-based standards of elementary literacy, secondary standards demand complex competencies that require multiple prerequisite skills to achieve.
• Diagnosing the Why: When a secondary student struggles, addressing the root cause is rarely as simple as re-teaching a discrete skill. Instead, a variety of issues may be at play: a deficit in foundational skills or background knowledge, low vocabulary, underdeveloped executive function (EF) skills, high cognitive load from task-switching, or even demands of emotional regulation.
• The Training Gap: Secondary ELA teachers are experts in teaching reading and writing standards, and many inspire students through a passion for literature. Yet, they are not typically trained as cognitive science experts to understand why a student is struggling or how to most effectively personalize instruction.

The broader Science of Learning is not nearly as fingertip-available as its cousin, the Science of Reading. We need to commit to 6-12 literacy as rigorously as we have committed to it in K-5. It’s time for a revolution in Secondary Literacy.

Media, Information, & Technology

Additionally, this revolution must recognize that literacy itself is continually evolving. As the National Council for Teachers of English observes, “as society and technology change, so does literacy.”² The last 15 years have brought the advent of mobile devices, social media, an infinite flow of data, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Justin Reich, Director of the Learning Lab at MIT, refers to AI as an “arrival technology”—a party crasher that is not waiting for an invitation to show up and fundamentally change how information processing, learning, and teaching occur.³

McKinsey and Company goes further, declaring these changes significant enough to be considered a “fourth industrial revolution.”⁴ Given the magnitude of these technology-driven changes, we should expect a similarly significant change in literacy. How we consume, validate, and analyze information with the intent to communicate and create new knowledge has changed substantively. While these changes are sometimes mentioned in current standards, a comprehensive evolution of secondary literacy practice and education has yet to manifest.

The Path to Personalized Efficacy

Alongside a comprehensive change in literacy, it is essential for the supporting literacy tools to also evolve. Richard Culatta, CEO of ASCD, recently discussed his concerns with Education Week, “What’s missing… is ensuring that AI tools are built with student learning in mind.”⁵ That means that tools coming to market must:

1. Incorporate the Science of Learning.
2. Recognize the profound shift that technology has created in modern literacy.
3. Ensure that student and educator voices are part of the development process.

As a community of learners and educators, we must also be patient enough to allow research to occur to validate efficacy before assuming that any one tool or practice will reliably lead to success.

Reflection and Projection

I come back to my dyslexic learner. She is brilliant and has so much to contribute to the world, yet her path is often constrained by what most schools provide. For her, personalized learning would be a game-changer, not only with its tailored instruction but also in its allowance of her to be seen for the learner she is–both by her community and herself. In this, I think she ceases to be different. Personalization benefits all students.  

We have been chasing personalized learning for decades and remain without broad implementation, especially in disciplines as complex as secondary literacy. For this work, technology alone will not be enough. It will take the connection and dedication that teachers provide. It will take research to establish efficacy. It will take acknowledgment that our changing world has in turn changed what it means to be literate. Literacy for all will take a revolution, but perhaps in a different form than you might think. A revolution tends to be an abrupt action that brings about change. For this work, no single action will bring the change we want; rather the revolution must manifest in how we think about solving the problem and how we come together to solve it.

1. NAEP. (n.d.). NAEP report card: Reading. The Nation’s Report Card. https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading/nation/achievement/
2. NCTE. (2020, April 23). What does literacy mean in our digital age?. National Council of Teachers of English. https://ncte.org/blog/2020/05/nctes-definition-literacy-digital-age/#:~:text=
3. Reich, J. (2025, October 3). What past education technology failures can teach us about the future of AI in schools. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/what-past-education-technology-failures-can-teach-us-about-the-future-of-ai-in-schools-265172 
4. McKinsey & Company. (2022, August 17). What are industry 4.0, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and 4IR?. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-are-industry-4-0-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-and-4ir
5. Langreo, L. (2025, October 23). The ed. dept. wants to steer grant money to ai. what that means for schools. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/technology/the-ed-dept-wants-to-steer-grant-money-to-ai-what-that-means-for-schools/2025/07