Balanced Literacy vs Structured Literacy

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-10-07

Two approaches to teaching reading

Balanced literacy and structured literacy are two approaches to teaching reading.

To us, this is a question about teaching methods, not about any teacher. We judge neither side here.

Balanced literacy, as its supporters describe it

Supporters of balanced literacy say it is built around guided reading. Guided reading means teaching in small groups. Reading aloud, shared reading and writing together support it. We could read only short summaries of what they wrote.

A term used in different ways

We found no neutral definition of balanced literacy in the sources we read. The term is used in different ways.

Castles, Rastle and Nation (2018) wrote a review that takes a side. In their view, the term often stands for a bit of everything. They said such teaching usually has little phonics, in no set order. They cited a blog post for this.

Bowers (2020) described balanced literacy as meant to mix whole language with systematic phonics. He wrote that many call balanced literacy just whole language by another name. We read his paper's summary and an early version of the paper.

Structured literacy, as IDA defines it

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) coined the term structured literacy in 2014. IDA's working definition of structured literacy is dated 2024. It describes direct, planned teaching of how written language is built. That teaching builds on spoken language. It covers sounds and spelling too. IDA calls structured literacy an approach, not a program.

IDA takes a side in the reading debate. It calls structured literacy evidence-based. IDA also calls it essential for those who need extra support.

What the comparisons we read cover

The National Reading Panel (2000) compared systematic phonics with five kinds of teaching. Whole language was one of them. None of the five was called balanced literacy. The Panel labeled the whole-language groups by how each study's authors described them. Those groups were not all taught the same way.

Of the sources we read in full, none compares balanced and structured literacy directly.

Our page on phonics and whole language covers the Panel's findings and the debate.

Questions to ask your child's school

Ask the teacher what a typical reading week looks like. Ask whether letters and sounds are taught in a planned order. Ask how a mistake is corrected in the moment.

To us, these are fair questions. A school can answer them.

Our guide to reading programs and methods has more questions to ask a school.

When to ask for help

Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.

• Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
• Reading well below what school expects.
• A teacher who raises a concern about reading.
• Extreme upset about reading.
• Complete avoidance of reading.
• Hopelessness about learning.
• Sadness or worry that lasts.
• Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
• A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

If no skill has gone, start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.

Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.