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…

Reading instruction has been the subject of significant controversy for more than five decades, and Kappan has allowed advocates of many different types of reading instruction to make their cases in the magazine's pages. Teresa Preston chronicles the history of the reading wars as they played out in Kappan. Researchers and scholars have debated…

Despite training in phonics and phonemic awareness during literacy methods courses, preservice teachers indicate having a limited understanding of how to apply these two critical components of reading in their own classrooms. As preservice teachers enter the classroom, they will need support from principals, literacy professionals, and colleagues…

Recent stories raising the alarm about students' poor reading skills and calling for greater attention to the "science of reading" represent the latest round in the ongoing "reading wars." Going back at least as far as the 1950s, scholars, pundits and policy makers have debated which teaching strategies are most successful at…

Current conversations about children's literacy have focused on the need for more phonics and decoding instruction and have sidelined the importance of children's language development, argues George Hruby. Language development involves more than the ability to decode written language. The ability to understand the meaning of those words is also…

Many reading problems are caused by using the wrong teaching methods. This article advocates using a reading style inventory and matching the teaching method to the student's reading style. The author holds copyright to this article. (Contains 3 figures.)

Authors take issue with an article by Elaine Garan, "Beyond the Smoke and Mirrors: A Critique of the National Reading Panel Report on Phonics," that appeared in the March 2001 issue of "Phi Delta Kappan" wherein she criticized the report's findings on the effectiveness of phonics instruction in helping children to read. (PKP)

Author makes a point-by-point rebuttal to Ehri and Stahl's criticism of her critical analysis of the National Reading Panel report on the effectiveness of phonics instruction in helping children to read. (PKP)

Questions the quality and accuracy of the phonics research base. Widely taught and promoted in official publications, the system is being even more heavily promulgated by current educational reformers. Extensive discrepancies between Jeanne Chall's findings and actual data show design flaws in "The Great Debate" that contradict phonics'…

Outlines the story of one first-grade student's successful struggle with learning to read. (MD)

Although the vast majority of articles cited by Jeanne Chall and Marie Carbo fit the patched-up program evaluation category, the outcomes of nine randomized field experiments are the best evidence available in the research literature. Systematic phonics is an example of the weak instructional treatments presently plaguing education. Includes 16…

In round two of a debate begun in November 1988, this article again reemphasizes the poor quality of Jeanne Chall's experimental phonics research and reporting inaccuracies that invalidate her conclusions. The basic flaw might lie in Chall's belief system. Includes 57 references. (MLH)

Furthering the "Kappan" phonics debate, the author claims that her research results were misunderstood by critic Marie Carbo and that evidence concerning phonics' instructional benefits is cumulative, particularly for children at risk. Based on 80 years' empirical and theoretical support, Carbo's "no conclusion" stance is unsupportable. Includes…

This article evaluates the "Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction: Reports of the Subgroups" (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000). The author also examines the…

Uses reading-guide pyramid based on U.S. Department of Agriculture's food-guide pyramid to develop argument that new federal guidelines for scientific-based research will result in an unbalanced, phonics-rich approach to reading instruction. Argues for a balanced approach that includes comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, and phonics. (PKP)