Conference session

This presentation examines how two seemingly distinct movements, the push for universal structured literacy under the “Science of Reading” (SoR) and rising “parental rights” campaigns to ban diverse books, share underlying logics, discourses, and political aims. Drawing on recent policy reports, research, and public debates, the authors interrogate how both movements mobilize narrow constructions of science and human rights to advance standardized, restrictive approaches to education. Centered on the question, what happens when “science” and “rights” are mobilized to constrain rather than expand educational possibilities? this session will be of particular interest to educators, researchers, policymakers, and teacher candidates seeking to better understand current literacy debates and their broader implications for public education. The presentation highlights how SoR advocacy often invokes a claim of “settled science,” privileging experimental research and one-size-fits-all instructional methods while marginalizing alternative perspectives. Increasingly framed as a “rights-based” imperative, these approaches position dissent as a denial of children’s right to read. In parallel, parental rights movements use similar rhetoric, emphasizing safety and child protection, to justify censorship and the exclusion of diverse texts. Participants will leave with insights into how these movements construct teachers and schools as problematic, rely on simplified “common sense” narratives, and advance converging agendas. Ultimately, the session offers critical tools to analyze these discourses and their role in narrowing curriculum, undermining public trust, and supporting the ongoing push toward privatization of public education.