TCRWP developed methods and tools for the teaching of reading and writing through research. Their curriculum material called "Units of Study" is published through Heinemann, now a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

In response to criticisms by Emily Hanford on her "Sold a Story" podcasts, Calkins wrote a controversial essay entitled "No One Gets to Own the Term "The Science of Reading."

Mark Seidenberg, a neuroscientist and psycholinguist at University of Wisconsin who writes the website Reading Rockets, wrote a very critical reply, "This Is Why We Don't Have Better Readers."

In September 2023 Columbia University dissolved the Reading and Writing Project and Calkins has now started a private company, Mossflower Reading and Writing Project, where she has developed a comprehensive phonics-based reading and writing curriculum with dozens of decodable texts.