Association for Behavior Analysis International

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss how verbal behavior research on reading can positively impact children’s academic outcomes. Low reading proficiency significantly affects children, their families, and their communities. For instance, third grade children who cannot read proficiently are four times less likely to graduate from high school than those who can. When students do not graduate from high school, they are more likely to have lower wages and poorer health outcomes than high school graduates. In fact, over time, low literacy costs society billions of dollars in lost earnings, employability, and related social outcomes. For these reasons, ensuring that all children have access to effective reading instruction is critical. In this presentation, I will describe the importance of proficient literacy for historically marginalized children such as children with disabilities and economically disadvantaged children. I will then describe how research on reading in verbal behavior analysis has identified effective instructional practices that can impact children’s reading outcomes. This presentation will conclude with recommendations for addressing educational inequities by advocating for literacy as a form of social justice.

The target audience for this presentation is behavior analysts and educators interested in PK-12 education and in reading instruction. The target audience also includes behavior analysts and educators who are interested in issues of social justice.