Examining representations of reading education in images and headlines accompanying Education Week articles on the Science of Reading

Abstract

This study examined how Education Week, an education news magazine, represented reading, students, and educators in headlines and images accompanying articles on the Science of Reading. This study drew from multimodal content analysis, thematic analysis, and discourse analysis methods to analyze 87 images from 62 unique articles, opinion pieces, or special reports on the Science of Reading. The authors examined who the images featured and analyzed how these images depicted reading and reading education. The multilayered data analysis resulted in the construction of five themes: (1) the Science of Reading model was presented in uninterrupted ways; (2) reading was depicted as mysterious and goal-less and also as (3) a process in pieces; (4) the wholeness of students and teachers was not recognized; and (5) the images offered narrow representations of education expertise. Ultimately, education journalism enacts powerful public pedagogy that shapes and is shaped by audiences that include policymakers. When literacy education news reporting does not represent the nuance, divergence, and full breadth of conversations about reading instruction, education news risks becoming more aligned with advocacy than with the deep communication of significant issues.