Reading the Science of Reading: Curriculum, Politics, and White Supremacy

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Race, Racism, Representation, and the Politics of Reading (Table 30)

Abstract

My paper examines how the Science of Reading—-as a field finding powerful expression in state legislation across the U.S. and prescribing scripted curricula and the tight control of student bodies and thought—-expresses current conservative anxieties about our country’s increasing racial diversity. However, it is not only conservative politicians and organizations pushing for the Science of Reading, but also liberal ones. In my own state of Minnesota, Science of Reading legislation was originally proposed by Democrats (and then passed with the support of Republicans). I argue that, in the end, the Science of Reading is something upon which white conservatives and liberals can agree, because of how—-in its exclusions, practices, and assumptions—-it reproduces white supremacy.

Author

• Timothy J. Lensmire, University of Minnesota