Research shows little benefit from phonics instruction in Grades 2 through 12. However, more recent studies show that students who fall below a decoding threshold fail to benefit from other kinds of reading instruction. This exploration of the evidence suggests that these students are likely to need support in the reading and spelling of…

This paper explores the extent to which student teachers, in their final year of a 3-year undergraduate programme teach phonics as part of a holistic reading programme linked to reading for meaning and for pleasure. It reports the results of surveys, lesson observations and interviews with a sample of students studying at one university in the…

Research has demonstrated the positive effects of systematically teaching phonemic awareness and phonics in kindergarten and first grade, but many commonly used reading curricula do not adequately incorporate these foundational skills. In this study, we examined the efficacy of an instructional program ("UFLI Foundations") in…

We report the effectiveness of using the tablet-game Kalulu Phonics immediately after intervention in kindergarten and on national evaluations the year after. In a previous intervention testing the software with 1st graders, fluency and comprehension were boosted, but only when used in concert with reading instruction at the start of the year.…

Ohio elementary schools are moving to the Science of Reading, an approach that emphasizes phonics along with vocabulary- and knowledge-rich content. Keen on learning what this transition looks like inside classrooms, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute asked Ellen Belcher, a former journalist with the Dayton Daily News, to visit Margaretta Local…

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted educational outcomes, including reading achievement in grades 3-5, particularly in schools primarily serving high-poverty communities of color. This study evaluates the 95 Phonics Lesson Library (95 PLL), a targeted phonics intervention program, in a low socio-economic status, ethnically diverse,…

This study, conducted by LXD Research, evaluates the 95 Phonics Lesson Library (95 PLL), a targeted phonics intervention program in a majority low SES, ethnically diverse midwestern school district from 2023-2024. Using a quasi-experimental mixed-method design, this study compares reading outcomes of fourth and fifth graders using 95 PLL with a…

Recently, the science of reading has garnered much attention in elementary schools across the U.S. The science of reading is a body of research on learning to read that has been accumulated through systematic inquiry. Seth A. Parsons and Joy Dangora Erickson argue that the way the science of reading is being implemented is missing a key…

This paper presents a new theory and model of the teaching of decoding, reading and writing. The first part of the paper reviews a selection of influential models of learning to read and write that to varying degrees have been used as the basis for approaches to teaching, including the "Simple View of Reading." As well as noting some…

Grassroots efforts and other advocacy have led to the vast majority of states adopting policies designed to improve the reading outcomes of all children, including those who struggle to read. Whereas these policies consider various aspects of reading, much of their emphasis has been on developing word reading accuracy and fluency through explicit…

Young children of Color from minoritized communities can co-author decodable stories using phonics skills they have been taught, their lived experiences, and home languages, including nondominant English languages, to develop decoding skills using student-generated decodable readers. While traditional and curricular decodable readers are used…

Author Wiley Blevins is renowned for changing the way educators think about teaching children to read, helping thousands of teachers implement effective phonics instruction. Now, Blevins gets us to think in powerful new ways about differentiating whole-class phonics lessons, so students at every skill level can engage. With Blevins' trademark…

When young children of Color from minoritized communities read decodable readers mandated by their school districts, children approach reading the texts with the expectation that the texts will make sense. While decodable readers allow children to apply their knowledge of phonics skills in context to support their word recognition, they tend to…

Background: The teaching of reading or reading instruction has largely been carried out in terms of well-developed pedagogies in the field. These pedagogical approaches are, however, derived from research and development in a broad international context, and are often adopted by and implemented in various country settings. Given the contextual…

In our first article, we outlined some of the reasons for reading failure at the Early Childhood level and beyond, discussed common challenges students face, and explored essential components for quality reading instruction. We'll revisit the students you met in the first article to provide a window into how the Science of Reading can be…