Structured literacy (SL), according to the International Dyslexia Association (which coined the term), is the systematic teaching of reading that focuses on the following elements: [5]
SL is taught using the following principles: [1]
The International Dyslexia Association provides a detailed outline of its Key Performance Standards of its Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading. [6]
It is beneficial for all early literacy learners, especially those with reading disabilities such as dyslexia. [12]
SL has many of the elements of systematic phonics and few of the elements of balanced literacy. The following is an explanation of how Structured literacy is different from Balanced literacy: [1]
| Feature | Structured literacy | Balanced literacy |
|---|---|---|
| Basis | Science of reading [13] | Whole language [13] |
| Areas covered | Phonology, phonemic awareness, sound-symbol association, syllables, morphology, syntax, and semantics [14] | Learn from exposure, reading, instruction, and support in multiple environments [14] |
| Teaching method | Direct, explicit, systematic, cumulative, and multisensory [14] Mostly teacher-led (e.g., The teacher leads the students through decoding activities.) [15] Lessons involve phonics and word reading, from easier to more difficult [15] Corrective feedback: students are asked to "sound-out" the word [15] | Implicit, constructivist, and less structured [16] Often student-directed (e.g., independent learning, students choose reading material, etc.) [15] Lessons relate to comprehension of books or literature themes. [15] Corrective feedback: students are asked "does that make sense", and are told to check the cues (e.g., pictures, first letter, etc.) [15] |
| Phonics | Taught via the alphabetic principle, systematically, including the most frequent phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters), beginning with the easiest and progressing to the more complex [14] | Taught as needed via mini-lessons, or not at all [14] |
| Text for reading instruction | Decodable text until grade 2 [15] | Leveled text, but not corresponding to phonics taught [15] |
| Reading | decoding and sounding out words [14] | read the whole word using cues (context, word analogies, and pictures) to guess the word [14] |
| Effectiveness | a mean unweighted effect size of .47, and a fixed weighted mean effect size of .44. Structured literacy approaches "tend to yield larger positive effects on student learning compared to balanced literacy approaches". (meta-analysis 2024) [17] | a mean unweighted effect size of .21, and a weighted mean effect size of .33. [17] |
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