Glossary · Reading science and reading difficulty
What is Scarborough's reading rope?
Definition
Scarborough's reading rope is a diagram showing skilled reading as a rope woven from two groups of strands: word recognition and language comprehension.
Hollis Scarborough published it in 2001. The word recognition strands are phonological awareness, decoding and sight recognition. The language comprehension strands are background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning and literacy knowledge.
The word recognition strands become more automatic over time. The language strands become more strategic. Together they twist into fluent reading with comprehension.
The rope is useful for planning and for explaining a student's needs. Instead of saying a student is behind in reading, you can point to the strand that's thin. It also reminds teachers that phonics alone isn't enough, and that comprehension work alone won't fix weak word recognition.
In a lesson
At a parent meeting, a teacher points to the rope: “Her vocabulary and knowledge strands are strong. Decoding is the thin strand, so that's where her extra time goes.”
Why does this matter for the record?
Organize notes by strand when a student's profile is uneven. It makes the record readable for the next teacher.
Rate each skill as you teach it
Needs support, Developing, Secure. The rating schedules the review and builds the report.