Although spelling instruction has traditionally treated almost every spelling word as requiring a separate learning act, recent research indicates that over 90% of American-English orthography actually is determined by a set of rules for unit phoneme-grapheme relationships, based with decreasing productivity upon three levels of…

In an attempt to resolve the controversy about the nature of our spelling system, researchers conducted a study of American English orthography which reaffirmed the case for teaching spelling on the basis of patterns of sound-to-letter correspondences. The controversy involved the Paul Hanna-James Moore study and Ernest Horn's critique of their…

Research evidence from linguistic studies of American English orthography and from neurophysiological and psychological research in ways that children learn indicates that the content and instructional practices of current spelling instruction programs should be drastically revised. Initial spelling instruction should encourage children to analyze…