Bowers ("Educational Psychology Review," 32, 681-705, 2020) reviewed 12 meta-analytic syntheses addressing the effects of phonics instruction, concluding that the evidence is weak to nonexistent in supporting the superiority of systematic phonics to alternative reading methods. We identify five issues that limit Bowers' conclusions: (1)…

Educational stakeholders are keen to know the magnitude and importance of different interventions. However, the way evidence is communicated to support understanding of the effectiveness of an intervention is controversial. Typically studies in education have used the standardised mean difference as a measure of the impact of interventions. This…

This review examines patterns found in early (preschool-grade 3) literacy research appearing in English-language publications during the period from 2006 through 2015. It focuses on studies related to early literacy learning and teaching in home and school/school-like environments. The review sought to answer two questions: (1) What has early…

Purpose: Children with autism have an increased likelihood of reading difficulties. The reasons for this are numerous and varied, but many children with autism can learn to read when they are provided with evidence-based early reading instruction. Method: Here, we provide an overview of some of the factors that impact early reading development for…

This document begins by providing four tips parents and care takers can use to supporting childrens' reading skills at home: (1) Have conversations before, during, and after reading together; (2) Help children learn how to break sentences into words and words into syllables; (3) Help children sound out words smoothly; and (4) Model reading…

Teachers make numerous decisions each day, yet processes undergirding these decisions are elusive and have not been the subject of many in-depth investigations within special education. The purpose of this qualitative investigation, therefore, was to complete a micro-level analysis of the influence of curriculum on 11 middle school teachers'…

Background: Educational interventions are often complex, and their outcomes could be due to factors not focused on in the impact evaluation. Therefore, educational evaluations using a randomised control trial (RCT) design approach need to go beyond obtaining the impact results alone. Purpose: Process evaluation is embedded in the evaluation design…

This paper argues that direct control of the early years literacy curriculum recently exercised by politicians in England has made the boundaries between research, policy and practice increasingly fragile. It describes how policy came to focus most effort on the use of synthetic phonics programmes in the early years. It examines why the…

This article presents an overview of literacy teaching and learning, based on the author's extensive research and, in particular, the recently revised and extended "Learning to be Literate: Insights from Research for Policy and Practice" (Routledge, 2016). It is set against a background in England in which government policy dictates…

Research in special education has yielded beneficial outcomes for students with disabilities as well as typical achieving students. The authors provide examples of the valuable knowledge special education research has generated, including the elements of response to intervention (e.g., screening and progress monitoring), instructional practices…

Now in its fourth edition, the "Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts" -- sponsored by the International Literacy Association and the National Council of Teachers of English -- remains at the forefront in bringing together prominent scholars, researchers, and professional leaders to offer an integrated perspective on…

Basals have played an important role in classroom instruction for almost 200 years. Historically, basal programs have been influenced by both important research and policy reports. This study analyzed one publishing company's basal program across seven editions in order to trace the interaction of research, policy, and publication. Teacher's…

"Words Their Way"[TM] is an approach to phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction for students in kindergarten through high school. The program can be implemented as a core or supplemental curriculum and aims to provide a practical way to study words with students. The purpose of word study (which involves examining, manipulating,…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has updated its 2009 intervention report for SuccessMaker®, a set of computer-based courses designed to supplement regular K-8 reading instruction. The program is designed to improve skills in areas such as concepts of print, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and…

"Open Court Reading"[c] is a core reading program for grades K-6 developed by SRA/McGraw-Hill that is designed to teach decoding, comprehension, inquiry, and writing in a logical progression. Part 1 of each unit, Preparing to Read, focuses on phonemic awareness, sounds and letters, phonics, fluency, and word knowledge. Part 2, Reading…