Attend the final Human Development of the semester at UMD, featuring MILE’s Director, DJ Bolger.
Talk abstract: Cognitive scientists and neuroscientists have long studied the processes involved in understanding how children learn to read. However, battles over how to teach children to learn to read have raged for decades (going back to the founding of public education in America) culminating in what has been dubbed "The Reading Wars". The nation is in the midst of a tidal wave of change to literacy policy with 40 out of 50 states passing laws or policies governing the way that literacy is taught to adhere to the "Science of Reading". In this talk, I will begin by exploring the nature of the evidence supporting practices in literacy instruction, drawing attention to significant blind spots in both the research and the prescribed approaches—most notably, the failure to integrate the cultural assets of diverse communities. Building on this foundation, I will delve into how culturally-sustaining practices not only align with current scientific understanding but also highlight an urgent need for cognitive research. Specifically, I will underscore the importance of studying how literacy processes are influenced by and grow from the cultural strengths of varied communities (à la Prather, 2023).
About DJ Bolger
Dr. Donald (DJ) Bolger, is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology where he directs the Laboratory for the Neurodevelopment of Reading and Language. He also co-directs the Maryland Initiative for Literacy and Equity, a joint institute with Morgan State University focused on bridging research and practice in literacy in pK-12 education and communities. For over 20 years, Dr. Bolger has studied reading and language achievement with typically developing children as well as those with learning disabilities including dyslexia and autism spectrum disorder using behavioral and functional neuroimaging methods. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense. Dr. Bolger has a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Research and Development Center.