Dr. George Hruby: PART TWO Dr. George Hruby’s Model of Comprehension: An Interview Conducted by Dr. Sam Bommarito

Some may remember when Dr. George Hruby first posted his video entitled What the Phonics is the Science of Reading? The video was an instant hit on YouTube, garnering over 12,000 views. In it, Dr. Hruby pushed back on the notion that the science around literacy instruction is settled. Instead, he made a strong case for the existence of the Sciences of Reading (Sciences with an s). That way of looking at things counters much of the misinformation and misdirection being made by proponents of the so-called Science of Reading. As P.D. Pearson has said, the term settled science is an oxymoron. The claims by some SOR advocates that it’s all settled science are problematic at best. Here is the  LINK to that YouTube video.

What the Phonics is the Science of Reading?

The YouTube video was a warm-up piece for The Literacy Research Association Conference. Normally such introductions are done in person. However, in that particular year, 2020, we were in the midst of the COVID crisis, and most conferences had gone to a remote format. It is still worth watching.

Let’s fast-forward. As you may recall, in July 2023, I did a two-part interview with Dr. Hruby about his views LINK, LINK. This year, I’m adding a three-part interview covering some new ground. This is Part Two of that series, and it will focus on what Dr. Hruby has to say about comprehension.

Before we look at the interview, here is some information about Dr. George Hruby and his background:

LINKS FROM THE ABOVE SCREEN CAPTURE:

Published works LINK. Handbook of Reading Instruction LINK

Here is a link to the YouTube interview:

Here are the Talking Points and Questions from Part One of the interview:

MODELS OF READING COMPREHENSION DISCUSSED IN THE INTERVIEW:

NOTICE THAT THE ABOVE MODEL FROM SCANLON INCLUDES MOTIVATION AS PART OF THE MODE.

I have three important takeaways from Part Two of this interview and from my previous conversations with Dr. Hruby.

1. There is much more to teaching reading comprehension than simply building background knowledge and vocabulary. Many of the social media SOR folks promote that idea and the idea that we need to do much less teaching of reading comprehension strategies. I would point out that researchers like Timothy Shanahan, a well-known proponent of SOR, have criticized that position LINK.
2. Part of my five-year journey in writing this blog has been to seek out common ground. As I looked at Dr. Hruby’s model and the other models he talked about, it is apparent that there is a great deal of common ground around models of comprehension. As educators use research to inform their decisions about literacy practices, they should take a long, hard look at that common ground. Once again- I advocate that we use all the research as we discuss these important issues.
3. I am very happy that Dr. Hruby included Scanlon’s model. Many of the SOR folks often ignore her research. It is especially important to note that her model includes motivation as one of its components.   

Next week, we will discuss what Dr. Hruby had to say about following the dollars and the influence of big corporations on the great debate in reading. Until then:

Happy Reading and Writing.

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2024 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.