Episode # 423: Nate Hansford
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-2mpt6-1b4e3c3
Nathaniel Hansford has taught every grade from preK to 12th, in places as diverse as South Korea, the United Kingdom, the subarctic of Quebec, and Ontario, Canada. In 2022, he won the Literacy Leader of the Year award from the Ontario International Dyslexia Association. Has taught for 14 years. Nathaniel has written hundreds of articles on the science of teaching. He is most interested in using meta-analysis research to help teachers implement methodologies that have been proven to work. He is the founder of SAGE Online Academy.
He is the author of the following books: The Scientific Principles of Teaching
The Scientific Principles of Reading
The Scientific Principles of Reading and Writing Instruction
The Scientific Principles of Math Instruction (will be out before the podcast episode comes out- is self publishing on Amazon).
Trench story: challenging experience in an alternative school. 2nd teaching experience. It helped him become a better teacher. Became more resilient.
Recent article: (on science of reading):https://www.teachingbyscience.com/reading-comprehension
In your article, you suggest that background knowledge instruction may have a stronger impact on comprehension than traditional comprehension strategies. How should schools balance explicit strategy instruction with systematic knowledge-building across grade levels?
There’s no one size-fits-all approach. Don’t oversimplify literature. It might be true that literacy, history, science is undertaught. There’s a time & place for strategies. Taught grade 2. Taught the main idea of a text. In the early grades, what matters most is vocab. As st’s got older, there was more of a diverse type of skills in reading comprehension. Reading a non-fiction text, st’s will require more background knowledge. Strategies & background knowledge are important from grades 7-8. He recommends teaching non-fiction texts. It’s not always the norm in HS. There’s a time component to this. Benefits of knowledge tend to take longer. Don’t just teach strategies @ the beginning of the year. Anytime a student reads a non-fiction text, they should be asked to summarize it.
Many secondary teachers feel pressured to “cover standards” rather than deeply build content knowledge. What practical shifts would you recommend for middle and high school classrooms that want to improve reading comprehension outcomes?
He’s seen issues on focus on silent reading. Choral reading or popcorn reading helps. Need st’s to follow along while t is reading. Build in vocab & background knowledge into text. If st’s can’t pronounce it, they don’t know the meaning of the word. Break down & model the text. St’s were given a book to read @ home a few decades ago, then to discuss in class. A lot more time needs to be spent on writing. They improve each other. Writing direction is stronger than reading direction.
How do you respond to critics who worry that a strong focus on content knowledge could disadvantage MLLs or students with gaps in prior knowledge? What scaffolds matter most in that context?
Research strategies have less data on MLLs. Alphabets don’t always match. There’s been some resistance for MLLs in phonics instruction. Having more fluency/decoding practice helps. Background knowledge may be more than we think, i.e. social studies.
If a district wanted to redesign its literacy curriculum based on the research you reviewed, what are the first two or three instructional changes you believe would produce the greatest gains in comprehension? He’s tried to be comprehensive in the article and has submitted it for peer review. T’s have collective experience. Don’t throw out everything or fix everything at once. It’s too much of a shock for t’s to absorb. Have a balance b/w fiction & non-fiction. Before grade 3, we see gains in vocab instruction. Be mindful in how to use strategy instruction. Ask “What is the point of the story”? Valuable skill teaching how to research & write an essay despite use of AI.
SAGE Online Academy: has been running since Sept. Isn’t quite a full school- tool to help Tier 1,2,3 instruction for homeschool parents. He got more interested in coding, wanted to make a difference. Found parts of instruction he could decode w/ instruction. Covers many subjects. K-8 w/ some HS instruction. Builds intrinsic motivation. 50 ?’s, then you can play a game. It’s about making school fun. Pretty new. Original inspiration is for kids who need help w/ reading. Has done a lot of initiatives throughout years to support. This provides indiv. reading instruction. It doesn’t require a human right in front of student. It’s very easy to code what st struggles w/ into the app. Can be done w/ parents or teachers w/o a background in reading. It’s free- math & reading program. They pay a subscription to join. There is a monthly cost. If you want access to reading, math & games, it’s free. It’s a motivation tool. They get arcade tokens, can play w/ friends. T’s are encouraged to play the games w/ st’s. Often gets this ? from moms about st’s struggling to read and they can’t afford a tutor.
Talk to me about your new book, The Scientific Principles of Math Instruction, out by August: he’s a big believer in the use of research on math instruction. There’s a benefit from being able to understand research. First 3 chapters are on how to read research. The state of math instruction is worse than the state of reading instruction. Look at research reflected in outcomes, there’s a decline in scores in Canada, US, UK, Canada has gone up in the past year.
PD- he has offerings on demand.
Out of everything: teachers are smart. We’re often told what to think & what’s best practice. We should build up their self-efficacy.
Where can ppl find you: www.teachingteachingbyscience.com (blogs)
www.sageonlineacademy.ca/landing
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nathaniel-Hansford
FB: @pedagogynongrata X;@natejoseph
To learn more about Nathaniel’s work in education, visit teachingbyscience.com, or follow him @Natejoseph19 on X (formerly Twitter). He is the author of The Scientific Principles of Teaching: Bridging the Divide Between Educational Practice and Research.
View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jEosmEaO9Ak