Structured literacy provides effective evidence-based literacy instruction for students with dyslexia and other students who struggle to learn to read. 

Structured literacy is direct and explicit, systematic, cumulative, intensive, multimodal, and focused on the internal structures of language. It has a scope and sequence, and a plan to cover all topics needed. Structured literacy progresses from the simple to complex, and common to less common patterns.

It is delivered in a diagnostic, prescriptive manner by well-trained teachers and academic therapists who use student errors to identify areas of need and to inform ongoing lesson planning. Topics are fully explained by the instructor and practiced by the student following a progression of gradual release, from I Do, to We Do, to You Do. 

Structured literacy interleaves practice of prior concepts for ongoing review and builds upon prior knowledge with increasing degrees of complexity.

Structured literacy is multimodal, involving the simultaneous use of visual (letters), auditory (sounds), and kinesthetic (letter formation) pathways to enhance learning and retention of written language. It covers all aspects of written language, including foundational word recognition skills (phoneme awareness, phonics, syllable patterns) and language comprehension (vocabulary, morphemes, syntax, and ultimately, meaning). To allow a student to learn and retain information, structured literacy instruction should be provided with sufficient intensity, frequency, and duration. 

A typical structured literacy lesson includes: 

• phoneme awareness

• practice moving from letter combinations to the sounds they represent, and from a specific sound to the possible spellings of that sound in context

• direct instruction of a new reading skill

• application of those new skills to read words, sentences, and connected text (at a significantly higher number of exposures than neurotypical peers require)

• spelling of words, phrases, and sentences

• morphology–commonly used prefixes, bases, and suffixes that comprise most multisyllable language

• age- and grade-appropriate vocabulary with high academic utility

• grammar

Structured literacy as the evidence-based model for teaching struggling readers is based on a wide and deep body of knowledge derived from multiple disciplines including education, psychology, speech and language, and neurobiology. Structured literacy is also the most effective approach for literacy instruction for neurotypical readers, making it the ideal approach for use in all Tiers (1-3) in schools.