From Policy to Action: Why 8 States Banned 3-Cueing from K-3 Reading Instruction

From Excel In Education: The Three-Cueing Systems Model is a flawed literacy instructional practice that teaches students to read based on meaning, structure and syntax, and visual cues—collectively known as “MSV.” While this sounds wonky, it can be boiled down to this: Teachers using this method instruct students to guess. This approach is soundly criticized by many reading experts, because it encourages students to guess, not sound out, words they do not know by using pictures or what they think might make sense given the context of the sentence.

Extensive research has revealed that the practice of three-cueing does more harm than good, yet it persists in many states. It’s found in elementary school classrooms as well as in curriculum used to train up-and-coming teachers.

An EdWeek Research Center survey a few years ago found that 75% of K-2 and elementary special education teachers use the three-cueing method to teach students how to read. The survey also found that 65% of college of education professors were still teaching it.

The science of reading (SoR), on the other hand, is a body of evidence from multiple disciplines that includes strategies for instruction that are tried, scientifically tested and proven to work, as the name suggests. According to reading experts who have successfully improved students’ reading proficiency, the foundational skills taught using SoR are essential for students to become skilled readers and lifelong learners.