The science of reading refers to a body of research that goes back 50+ years!  Basically, it's rigorous research that looked at how our brains learn to read, write, and spell.  

There has also been research on evidence-based practices that have proved useful when helping children learn to read.  

Such foundational or early literacy skills as:  the alphabetic principle and phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, oral language, accuracy, and fluency when reading texts are crucial for learning to be a skilled reader. We have learned that only about 30% of students will learn to read naturally without being directly taught.  That means that about 70% of our students need to be directly taught these early literacy skills with systematic instruction.  If you want to find out more about this amazing research and effective practices, click HERE

In the 1980's, two cognitive scientists by the name of Philip Gough and William Tunmer came up with the idea of the simple view of reading.  We have learned that reading is anything but simple! The simple view is dependent on two things: word recognition and language comprehension.  In other words, a person must recognize printed words on a page AND understand oral language to comprehend what is read.  A student needs to be strong in both in order to be a skilled reader.  If you want to learn a little more about it, watch this video HERE.