Our Response to The Reading League’s Curriculum Navigation Report
In May 2026, The Reading League released a Curriculum Navigation Report on Reading Simplified as part of their effort to give schools and districts a trustworthy informational resource for evaluating reading programs. We share The Reading League’s mission of advancing evidence-aligned reading instruction, and we are grateful for the rigor and care of their review process.
Our response is available in two formats below. The shorter version is the official Publisher’s Response, also available on The Reading League’s site. The extended version is for readers who want a deeper look at specific findings, supporting research, and page-cited references from our materials.
The official response, also published on The Reading League’s site.
A more detailed response for readers who want the full picture,
including supporting research.
To learn more about The Reading League’s curriculum evaluation work, visit The Reading League Compass Curriculum Decision Makers page.
Inside the Reading Simplified Academy
Reading Simplified is delivered through Reading Simplified Academy, our online professional learning system. The Academy is where teachers learn the program, access the full curriculum (including digital copies of all student materials and decodable texts), and receive ongoing coaching from our team. The Teacher’s Manual is a printed companion that may help once teachers have begun their Academy training, but it is not the primary means of learning or implementing Reading Simplified.
Inside the Academy, teachers have access to:
- Video demonstrations of every core routine (Switch It, Build It, Read It, Sort It, Write It, Guided Oral Reading), modeled across multiple grade levels and student profiles
- Expert-modeled case-study lessons showing how diagnostic teaching works in real classrooms with real students K–3
- Diagnostic thinking training—how to identify a student's Most Pressing Need and plan the next instructional step
- A structured training cycle of learn → implement → reflect → repeat, paced for working teachers
- Individualized coaching through our discussion board and Teachers' Lounge community
- A private podcast for on-the-go professional learning
- The full curriculum—digital copies of all teacher resources, student materials, and decodable texts
This design reflects decades of professional development research. Joyce and Showers (2002) found that theory and study alone—the equivalent of reading a manual—produces near-zero transfer to classroom practice, while combining demonstration, practice, feedback, and coaching raises transfer rates to 95%. A randomized controlled trial by Blazar and Kraft (2022) similarly found that video-based coaching improved student outcomes by the equivalent of more than two additional months of instruction.
Reading Simplified was developed over more than two decades of classroom practice and research, drawing directly from the IES-funded Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI) at the University of North Carolina that later evolved into Targeted Reading Instruction.
The Research Base Behind Reading Simplified
Key recognitions
- More than $12 million in IES funding across two TRI research programs
- 15+ peer-reviewed journal articles examining the efficacy of the underlying approach
- Listed on the What Works Clearinghouse
- Among the highest effect sizes on Evidence for ESSA
- One of the most researched interventions
Why this matters
Reading Simplified is grounded in three decades of empirical research on how foundational reading skills are most effectively taught. The program’s emphasis on a streamlined yet flexible 3-component lesson, diagnostic responsiveness, integrated routines, and accelerated movement toward fluent reading is rooted in that research base.
Independent Evaluation by American Institutes for Research
Building on Reading Simplified’s research foundation, the American Institutes for Research (AIR)—through the Center on Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports—conducted an independent evaluation of Reading Simplified in 2024 across two low-income schools serving more than 450 students in grades K–2.
The results:
- DIBELS proficiency rose from 30% to 70% in a single school year of Reading Simplified implementation.
- Strong, consistent gains in foundational reading skills across both schools.
- Implementation fidelity was achievable for classroom teachers participating in the Reading Simplified Academy.
This represents one of the strongest evaluations of a foundational reading program by an independent third-party research organization in recent years.
What Teachers and Leaders Tell Us
Research and independent evaluation describe Reading Simplified at the population level. The educators implementing it every day describe what it looks like in real classrooms with real students. Below, teachers, coaches, and school leaders share what changes once Reading Simplified is in place.
“We have found a gem with Reading Simplified! Our teachers are loving it, our students are becoming readers, and we are so lucky to continue to learn and grow within the academy!”
-Alison Ferguson, Principal, Meeker Elementary, CO
“My student began his 3rd grade year reading on the 1st grade level. He participated in RSA intervention with me at school for 30 minutes, 3 times a week. On the end of the year screener, he was reading on the 4th grade level and passed his state Reading test!”
-Rhonda, Intervention Reading Specialist
“I am simply amazed at the progress of students when they use the Streamlined Pathway. The results are phenomenal!”
-Glorianne Adams, Kindergarten Teacher
Questions?
If you are a school or district leader considering Reading Simplified, or simply want to learn more about how our program is structured, we’d welcome a conversation. Email us at admin @ readingsimplified dot com. And see more information about district support here.
