Interview w/ Linnea Ehri

When we think of those people who have made significant contributions to teaching and learning, and specifically to our understanding of how children learn to read, Dr. Linnea Ehri is at the top of the list. From her work with the National Reading Panel to her contributions toward our understanding of young children’s language development, she continues to provide clarity on some of the most important and relevant issues in reading instruction. In this podcast episode, Dr. Ehri talks about the movement of our profession from whole language theories to evidence-based practices, fighting the “bark at words” characterization of phonics instruction, and the stories behind the National Reading Panel report. She also sheds light on accessing words “by sight,” and the importance of making the connections between phonemes and graphemes that form the “glue” which stores words in memory. Finally, she shares why she insists on “phases” rather than “stages” in her seminal work. Dr. Ehri’s best advice for novice researchers is to be both persistent and collaborative; these qualities characterize her decades-long work in this field. All of us engaged in this work will benefit from hearing from Dr. Ehri, whose contributions continue to impact educators worldwide.