Kriah That Lasts
February 20, 2026
Chaim Meir’s Journey: A Case Study
February 20, 2026
Dr. Jon Miztmacher
I remember the summer it seemed that everyone was either listening to a podcast or reading an article about “The Science of Reading”. As the head of a medium-sized Jewish day school, I was both inspired and discouraged – inspired by knowing there was a science to guide our next steps towards greater fluency, and discouraged by how much time and resources had been wasted in trying to do the right things in the wrong ways. And that was about teaching native English speakers to learn to read English.
For Jewish day schools, the challenge and the promise of the Science of Reading (SoR) movement are not only for what we can now do in English, but of course, what we can and are now morally obligated to do for Hebrew. For too long, Hebrew reading has lagged behind, even as our schools have embraced the findings of cognitive science, linguistics, and educational psychology as they apply to English. The implications are existential. Hebrew reading (kriah) occupies a central place in Jewish education of almost every type. It is more than literacy. It is access. It is the central way students access prayer, Torah, and the language of our collective heritage.
The question is not whether the Science of Reading applies to Hebrew, but how it applies. What does this body of research teach us about the most effective ways to develop Hebrew literacy among students whose first language is English? What adaptations are necessary given Hebrew’s unique orthography, morphology, and instructional context?
This article explores those questions by translating the key principles of the Science of Reading into the context of Hebrew instruction. It draws on research in reading fluency and orthographic transparency, including studies of Hebrew oral reading development (Goldberg, Weinberger, Goodman, & Ross, 2010), to highlight how evidence-based frameworks can inform both curriculum and assessment. While several programs have begun to build on these principles, the focus here is not on any single approach or initiative, but on the ideas that enable effective Hebrew instruction.
The Science of Reading: Key Findings and Frameworks
The last thing teachers want is another acronym or an initiative that asks them to change the way they have done things in the past. However, the Science of Reading tells us that if we let science guide our pedagogy and educate the educators, we can successfully teach children to read. It is challenging to explain the science without diving into the technical, but at its heart, it is about helping teachers give children the building blocks they need to read with confidence.
The Science of Reading (SoR) is a broad, interdisciplinary body of research that explains how humans learn to read and how instruction can best support that process. Although sometimes treated as a new movement, its foundations date back decades across various fields, including linguistics, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience.
Research in cognitive science has identified several critical components of reading development:
- phonological awareness: recognizing and manipulating sounds within spoken words
- phonics and orthographic mapping: understanding how written symbols represent those sounds
- fluency: the ability to read text accurately, automatically, and with appropriate expression
- vocabulary and comprehension: deriving and constructing meaning from text
In the last two decades, large-scale implementations of SoR-aligned instruction have led to measurable improvements in English literacy outcomes. These initiatives emphasize
- explicit, systematic instruction in phonics
- regular progress monitoring through curriculum-based measures such as Acadience Reading (formerly DIBELS)
- tiered intervention frameworks, like Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
The underlying goal is to ensure that all students, including and especially those with reading difficulties, receive instruction informed by how the brain learns to read.
Applying the Science of Reading to Hebrew
To apply the Science of Reading to Hebrew, some translation is needed. There are universal ideas that apply across the reading processes of all languages, but there are specialized requirements based on Hebrew’s uniqueness. This introduces distinct opportunities and challenges for educators seeking to design effective kriah instruction.
Hebrew’s transparent orthography means that most letters correspond consistently to single sounds. This high degree of regularity allows learners to master basic decoding relatively quickly when instruction is explicit and sequential. However, that same transparency can mask the need for sustained fluency practice. Students who can decode accurately may not yet read automatically or with comprehension (especially as they transition from nikud (pointed) to ktiv maleh(unpointed) text). As research on reading development in transparent orthographies shows, fluency remains a key predictor of comprehension even when decoding accuracy is high (Goldberg, Weinberger, Goodman, & Ross, 2010; Seymour, Aro, & Erskine, 2003).
A Science of Reading approach to Hebrew begins with systematic phonics and explicit instruction in sound-symbol relationships and orthographic patterns. Next, it recognizes that fluency and comprehension require cumulative practice across increasingly complex texts. With this in mind, instruction must be both explicit and cumulative: each new pattern builds on previously mastered ones, and students read connected text that reinforces those patterns. Decodable texts (reading material that uses words with letter-sound patterns students have already learned) play a crucial role by allowing learners to apply what they have been taught, build automaticity, and experience success.
Many students in Jewish day schools learn to read Hebrew and English concurrently. Because English and Hebrew differ significantly in orthography (norms of spelling, punctuation, etc.) and morphology (how words are built and how their internal structure changes meaning), teachers must help students navigate potential interference. Systematic, data-informed instruction can help teachers identify where students are struggling and tailor interventions accordingly.
Assessment also plays a key role in aligning instruction with student needs. Dynamic measures of oral reading fluency, modeled after curriculum-based measurement tools such as Acadience Reading, provide insight into students’ accuracy, rate, and automaticity. These data support differentiated instruction within an MTSS framework, ensuring that Tier 1 instruction is evidence-based while Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions target specific skill gaps.
Translating the Science of Reading into Hebrew literacy is not simply a matter of pedagogy; it requires a system of support and planful intervention. The Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework is a way of saying that we meet children where they are. Ideally, within an MTSS framework, effective literacy instruction rests on the connectivity of its three tiers:
- high-quality, evidence-based teaching for all students
- targeted small-group intervention for those who need additional practice
- and intensive, individualized support for those with persistent difficulties
For Hebrew, this model begins with Tier 1 instruction that is explicit, systematic, and cumulative. Tier 2 intervention focuses on students who, despite strong core instruction, demonstrate limited automaticity or accuracy. They receive additional practice and feedback in structured settings. Tier 3 support provides diagnostic teaching that addresses clearly defined skill gaps, often in collaboration with specialists trained in both literacy and second-language acquisition.
Accurate and efficient assessment enables this differentiation. Short, curriculum-based measures of oral reading fluency, adapted from research-validated tools used in English literacy (e.g., Acadience Reading), can provide reliable indicators of progress. Such dynamic assessments allow teachers to track growth over time, identify students at risk, and adjust instruction before gaps widen. Research in Hebrew reading fluency (Goldberg et al., 2010) confirms that rate and accuracy predict comprehension outcomes, underscoring the value of frequent progress monitoring.
Schools that take this seriously recognize that implementing assessment and intervention systems requires ongoing professional development. Teachers must understand what the data mean and how to respond instructionally. Leaders must ensure that time, training, and resources align. Schools that approach assessment as a learning tool rather than as evaluation create cultures in which data support reflection and growth.
Beyond pedagogy, there is a question of equity. Students with reading challenges – whether stemming from dyslexia, limited exposure to Hebrew, or other factors – deserve access to instruction grounded in evidence rather than tradition or intuition. When schools adopt data-informed systems, they reduce the risk that Hebrew learning becomes a barrier to participation in prayer, text study, or Jewish identity formation. In this sense, evidence-based Hebrew instruction is not only a pedagogic priority but a moral one. It declares that every child can enter Jewish life through the gateway of literacy.
In over 20 years of running and coaching Jewish day schools, I have found very few schools whose English and Hebrew departments meet regularly to share science and methods. (When they finally do, the conversations are seismic.) However, over the past few years, many schools have begun to apply these Science of Reading principles to Hebrew reading instruction. They have adopted structured frameworks that include explicit teaching routines, cumulative scope and sequence, and progress monitoring. Programs built around these principles reveal how SoR can be adapted responsibly to the particularities of Hebrew without importing English methods wholesale. In many of our schools, the systems and expertise that already exist for English are right there for modeling and collaboration. The same models for support, remediation, intervention, and enrichment that we offer for English are ripe for influencing our work in Hebrew. Their success suggests that the question is not whether the Science of Reading applies to Hebrew, but how to apply it faithfully and thoughtfully.
We have the science. Now we need the will. Hebrew instruction, as a field, must apply the science while keeping in mind Hebrew’s linguistic and cultural uniqueness. The factors that drive successful literacy instruction in any language also apply to Hebrew. The work ahead will require collaboration across the field, with researchers continuing to investigate Hebrew reading development, school leaders creating conditions for implementation, and teachers bringing these insights to life in classrooms. Dynamic assessments, such as Acadience Reading and its Hebrew adaptations, can provide meaningful progress data; however, data alone is not the goal. The goal is for every child, regardless of their background or learning profile, to decode, read fluently, and comprehend Hebrew with confidence and joy.
At the end of the day, this isn’t about decoding letters. It is about opening doors to prayer, to Torah, and to a living Jewish language that belongs to all our students. Ken y’hi ratzon.
Dr. Jon Mitzmacher is a Senior Director at Scott Goldberg Consulting, bringing more than two decades of leadership experience across Jewish day schools, national networks, and innovation-driven educational initiatives. He is known for his deep understanding of school culture, instructional leadership, and alignment with Jewish mission. Jon has served as a head of school in multiple communities, most recently heading the Ottawa Jewish Community School. He was the Executive Director of the Schechter Day School Network and served as the Vice President of Innovation at Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools.