Structured Literacy: Forward to the Past

The Reading Instruction Show · Nov 2, 2026 · 28m

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 mandates and the reduction of literacy instruction to rigid compliance. Drawing upon autobiographical reflections from early career teaching in 1983 and connecting them to current "Science of Reading" and structured literacy policies, the author demonstrates that contemporary commercial basal programs repackage historical scope-and-sequence routines under modern educational jargon. Rather than advancing teacher expertise, these…