Scarborough's Reading Rope

Conceptualized by Hollis Scarborough (2001), her reading rope breaks down the Simple View of Reading word recognition and language comprehension domains into specific skill areas. The illustration of the rope provides understanding that there are three skill areas that make up word recognition, including phonological awareness, decoding (and spelling), and sight word recognition. These three areas form the foundation of reading comprehension and automaticity as these skills are critical for skilled reading. The top of the rope, the language comprehension domain, includes skills that are necessary for comprehension of spoken language, which support readers becoming more strategic as they develop these skills.