balanced literacy

American  

noun

1. a method of teaching reading in which phonics and whole language approaches are both used to maximize student learning.

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Etymology

Origin of balanced literacy

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

What emerged, though, was an informal truce that came to be known as “balanced literacy” and borrowed from both approaches.

From Seattle Times

Complicating the situation, colleges of education often have stuck with balanced literacy despite concerns about its effectiveness.

From Seattle Times

And it is a sign of how sharply the pendulum has swung in the decades-long, contentious debate over reading instruction, moving away from a flexible “balanced literacy” approach that has put less emphasis on sounding out words, and toward more explicit, systematic teaching of phonics.

From New York Times

In the early to mid-2010s, when high schoolers today were in elementary school, many schools practiced — and still practice — “balanced literacy,” which focuses on fostering a love of books and storytelling.

From New York Times

But Mark Seidenberg, a cognitive scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has studied reading, described the program as “the legacy of balanced literacy” because it offers teachers many options, some more effective than others.

From New York Times