Balanced Literacy vs. Structured Literacy: Understanding the Key Differences

When it comes to teaching reading, two prominent approaches often come up for debate: balanced literacy and structured literacy. However, many educators are unclear on the differences between the two and may try to blend aspects of both—specifically adding phonics into a balanced literacy framework. Let’s break down each approach to understand how they work and why structured literacy is the more effective option for all students.

What is Balanced Literacy?

Balanced literacy is a teaching philosophy designed to combine skill-based instruction with meaning-based instruction. It seeks to strike a balance between the two, incorporating both phonics and comprehension strategies. However, research shows that balanced literacy often aligns more closely with the whole language approach, which emphasizes learning through exposure to text, rather than systematic, explicit instruction (Wexler, 2019).

One of the key components of balanced literacy is guided reading (GR), a small group instruction method where students are grouped according to their reading level. Teachers focus on helping students read for meaning and encourage the use of various reading strategies through the three-cueing system: meaning, structure, and visual cues (Burkins & Yates, 2021). This method involves prompting students to use background knowledge, sentence structure, and visual clues to guess words they don’t know. For instance, if a student is struggling to decode a word, the teacher might say, “Does that make sense?” or “Does that look right?”

While the intention is to build comprehension, guided reading does not prioritize phonics instruction or explicitly teach students how to connect sounds to letters (phoneme-grapheme mapping). This lack of phonics instruction means students are often encouraged to guess words based on context, which can leave gaps in their understanding of foundational reading skills.

Another common practice within balanced literacy is the reader’s workshop model, where students select books based on their interests and reading level. Teachers provide mini-lessons and one-on-one conferences, but this method often lacks explicit phonics or decoding instruction, leaving struggling readers at a disadvantage (Calkins, 2015; Shannahan, 2017). Without the systematic teaching of critical literacy skills, many students fail to develop the necessary tools for fluent reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986).

What is Structured Literacy?

Structured literacy, a term introduced by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), refers to a set of instructional approaches grounded in evidence-based practices. Unlike balanced literacy, structured literacy emphasizes explicit, systematic instruction, particularly in phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (Spear-Swerling, 2022). These methods are effective not only for students with dyslexia but for all learners.

Structured literacy is explicit—teachers directly teach literacy skills through clear explanations and modeling—and systematic, meaning instruction progresses logically from simple to complex skills. Structured literacy also includes targeted feedback, teaching for transfer, and data-driven decision-making (Spear-Swerling, 2020).

One of the cornerstones of structured literacy is synthetic phonics instruction, which explicitly teaches students how to decode words by blending sounds together. The goal is to provide students with the tools they need to independently decode unfamiliar words, without relying on guessing or context clues.

Transitioning to Structured Literacy

Many educators who are used to the more flexible approach of balanced literacy might find structured literacy practices to be rigid or unnatural. Teachers often develop a “web of belief” around their teaching practices and may feel conflicted when presented with new, research-backed methods (Feldman, 2019). Structured literacy’s emphasis on systematic phonics instruction can seem counterintuitive to those who prioritize fostering curiosity and intrinsic motivation through student choice and self-directed learning.

However, research shows that explicit phonics instruction and systematic literacy practices are essential for students to become successful readers. Making this shift requires educators to re-evaluate their teaching philosophy and adapt their methods. For many teachers, this can be a difficult process, but it is crucial for supporting students’ long-term reading success.

How Can Schools Make the Transition?

For schools looking to move from balanced literacy to a more evidence-based approach like structured literacy, it’s important to provide strong support and professional development opportunities for teachers. Ongoing professional learning communities (PLCs), instructional coaching, and other forms of collaborative learning can help educators feel confident and supported during this transition.

Advice for Teachers

Teachers don’t have to abandon everything they’ve done in the past. Fostering a love of reading remains a crucial part of literacy instruction. Teachers should still read aloud to students, choosing a wide range of texts, even those that are at higher levels. Encouraging students to engage with books they enjoy is key to maintaining motivation and building a lifelong love of reading.

Even if the district hasn’t fully transitioned to structured literacy, teachers can begin integrating literacy strategies into other subject areas, such as science and social studies. Teaching students how to summarize articles or identify the main idea of a passage about historical events can help reinforce reading skills across disciplines.

Conclusion

While both balanced literacy and structured literacy aim to develop skilled readers, the methods behind each approach are very different. Structured literacy provides a more systematic, evidence-based framework for teaching essential reading skills, while balanced literacy often relies on more naturalistic methods that may not provide enough explicit instruction for struggling readers. For students to succeed, particularly those who face challenges like dyslexia, structured literacy’s focus on explicit, systematic instruction is key to ensuring that all students have the foundation they need to become fluent, confident readers.

References

Burkins, J. & Yates, K. (2021). Shifting the balance: 6 ways to bring the science of reading into the balanced literacy classroom. Stenhouse Publishers. 

Catts, H. W. (2022). Rethinking how to promote reading comprehension. American Educator, 45(4), 26-40. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1322088.pdf

Fountas, I. C. & Pinnell, G. S. (2016). Guided reading: Responsive teaching across the grades. Heinemann.

Seidenberg, M. & Borkenhagen, M. C. (2020). Lost in translation? Challenges in connecting reading science and educational practice. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1) S119–S130. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.341

Shanahan, T. (2019, September 23). What do you think of the reading workshop? Or how not to teach reading comprehension. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-literacy/what-do-you-think-reading-workshop-or-how-not-teach-reading-comprehension

Spear-Swerling, L. (Ed). (2015) Structured literacy interventions: Teaching students with reading difficulties, Grades K-6. The Guilford Press.

Wexler, N. (2019). The knowledge gap: The hidden cause of America’s broken education system and how to fix it. Avery.