In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, I am joined by Dr. Trina Spencer, a leading researcher in language and literacy and the co-developer of Story Champs. We dive deep into why oral academic language is the true, widely misunderstood foundation of reading comprehension. Dr. Spencer challenges the status quo of literacy instruction by unpacking why we absolutely shouldn’t wait for skilled decoding before teaching comprehension.
Tune in as we explore:
- Why the idea that academic language develops naturally is a damaging myth.
- Why some students struggle despite strong phonics teaching
- How just 30 minutes of explicit spoken language instruction daily can close the achievement gap.
- Why expecting teachers to act as instructional designers is an unfair burden.
If you are looking for practical, evidence-based ways to boost your students’ language skills without adding impossible workloads, this conversation is a must-listen.
Resources mentioned:
- Story Champs
- trinaspencer.com/
- CUBED
- DYMOND
- MAP (Measuring Academic Progress)
- Spencer, T. D. (2021). Ten instructional design efforts to help behavior analysts take up the torch of direct instruction. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 14(3), 816-830.
- Pamela Snow, Why the Big Six should actually be the Big Five.
- Doug Peterson
You can connect with Trina:
Twitter/X: @TrinaDSpencer2
Instagram: @trinastoolbox/
Website: trinaspencer.com/
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net
About Trina
Dr. Spencer is a senior scientist and director of the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project and is a professor in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas. Drawing from learning sciences and multiple disciplines (e.g., behavior analysis, speech-language pathology, applied linguistics, and education), she concentrates her efforts on the oral academic language that serves as a foundation to the reading comprehension and writing composition of preK to 3rd grade students, with and without disabilities.
Dr. Spencer maintains a spirited research agenda that has yielded 76 peer review publications, 184 invited presentations, $16M in external funding, and several commercialized curricula, interventions, professional development systems, and assessment tools. Her innovations are used broadly in several countries, and she continues to develop culturized interventions with international collaborators for their contexts. Dr. Spencer values researcher-practitioner partnerships, community engagement, and inter-disciplinary collaborations to accomplish high impact and
innovative applied research. www.TrinaSpencer.com
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