Imagine a soccer coach who spends every single practice only teaching fundamentals.
Players spend hours working on passing technique, first touches, shooting form, and positioning. Every week, they play a match, the coach provides feedback, tracks their stats, and then sends them right back to drills practicing those same skills.
Most coaches would see a major problem here. Where is the scrimmage? Where are the opportunities for players to simply play soccer? Athletes don't improve through isolated mechanics alone. They don't improve through evaluation alone. They improve when they get meaningful repetitions between the drills and the match.
As a former teacher and lifelong coach, I've been wondering whether literacy faces a similar challenge.
The Gap Between Learning to Read and Choosing to Read
Over the past several years, schools across the country have invested significantly in literacy instruction. Districts have adopted evidence-based curricula, strengthened professional development, and improved literacy outcomes grounded in the Science of Reading.
That's good news. The Science of Reading has helped educators build stronger instructional foundations for students and improve comprehension skills in meaningful ways.
But as schools continue this important work, many are discovering that proficiency and engagement aren't always the same thing. Students may be developing reading skills while still struggling to see themselves as readers outside the classroom.
In other words, students are learning how to read. So why aren't they reading?
I don't see this as a debate between the Science of Reading and reading engagement. The strongest districts I talk to are focused on both. They understand that teaching students how to read is essential, but it's only part of the equation.
No athlete becomes great through drills alone, and no student becomes a lifelong reader through instruction alone.
They need low-stakes environments to practice their skills in depth. They need the scrimmage. Students must have opportunities and motivation to use those skills regularly, because reading is ultimately both a skill and a behavior. The goal isn't simply teaching students how to read…it's helping them become readers.
Why Reading Motivation Matters
If practice is the goal, motivation becomes incredibly important. After all, students rarely accumulate hundreds of hours of reading because an adult tells them to. They do it because they find books they enjoy, develop confidence, and begin to see themselves as readers.
That's why motivation deserves a place alongside instruction.
Motivated students tend to read more frequently. They build stronger habits, practice skills more consistently, and develop greater reading stamina over time. The brain doesn't become a fluent reading engine through isolated drills alone; it requires countless hours of reading to automate the very skills learned during direct instruction.
Motivation is often what drives that necessary volume. Because when students choose to read, they create the very practice opportunities that literacy growth depends on.
The Goal Is Bigger Than Reading Proficiency
Of course, proficiency matters. But most educators would agree the ultimate goal is bigger than a test score. We want students who see themselves as readers, choose reading voluntarily, build lifelong literacy habits, discover books they genuinely enjoy, and continue reading long after a classroom assignment ends.
So why aren't students reading?
It's probably not because educators aren't teaching reading effectively. It's because literacy requires more than instruction alone. Students need skills, but they also need motivation, confidence, and access to books that make them want to practice.
The Science of Reading helps students learn to read. Joyful reading experiences help students choose to read. And when schools support both, they move closer to the goal every educator is working toward: students who not only can read, but who actually do.
