Phonics First White Paper Scientific Research and Response to Intervention

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1 Phonics First White Paper Scientific Research and Response to Intervention Reading and Language Arts Centers, Inc Woodward Ave. Suite 20 Bloomfield Hills, MI

2 Phonics First, Scientific Research and Response to Intervention Learning to read is not a natural process. Most children must be taught to read through a structured and protracted process in which they are made aware of the sounds and the symbols that represent them, and then learn to apply these skills automatically and attend to meaning. (Moats, 2000, p.vii) Improving reading instruction in the early elementary grades is a national priority, with Reading First being the centerpiece of the No Child Left Behind Act of The Reading First initiative emphasizes the importance of scientific reading research and its application to reading in grades K to 3, relying on the findings of the National Reading Panel (2000) to guide practitioners in implementing effective reading programs in the classroom. These findings include reviews of more than 100,000 studies based upon rigorous criteria to ensure that findings could credibly address the effectiveness of programs and approaches to teaching reading. The five key components of reading addressed in this research are as follows: Phonemic awareness Phonics Fluency Vocabulary Comprehension In this paper, we will focus primarily on the role of phonics in the process of teaching children. First, we will review the current scientific research on effective phonics instruction, and then describe the Phonics First program and how it aligns with the scientific research. Next, we will examine the role of Phonics First in supporting children at risk for reading failure in the contexts of Reading First and the Response to Intervention (RTI) initiative. Defining Phonics When young children learn to read, they often sound out unfamiliar words, sound by sound, letter by letter. This insight or understanding that words are made up of individual sounds that can be mapped onto letters is the alphabetic principle, a key milestone in early reading acquisition. It is this knowledge that allows one to begin the process of breaking the code, a process that for many children requires intentional instruction in letter-sound relations. This intentional instruction in lettersound relationships is referred to as phonics. How do children move from the knowledge that letters can be mapped to the sounds of language to automatic recognition of words in print? How Children Learn to Read Words There are three ways that enable readers to recognize words they haven t read before. First, they may read Phonics First White Paper P a g e 2

3 unfamiliar words by a decoding strategy, identifying the sounds of letters, holding them in memory and then blending them into pronunciations that are real words. When readers are more skilled, they pronounce and blend clusters of letters such as phonograms, syllables, and spelling patterns (Ehri & Snowling, 2004). Second, readers learn by analogy recognizing how spellings of unfamiliar words are similar to familiar words (Trieman, 1985). Third, readers may try to predict what a word should be by looking at the initial letter or the sentence context (e.g., Biemiller, 1970). In addition, words can be read by sight. Sight words are known so well that the reader does not have to spend any attention or effort figuring out the word (LaBerge & Samuels, 1974). By sight words, we do not mean words that cannot be decoded. Sight words are words that can be recognized by the reader automatically without having to decode them. This makes sight word reading particularly valuable for text reading because it frees up the reader s attention to focus on meaning rather than on figuring out what the word is. So the goal in teaching children to learn to read words is for them to develop a considerable sight word vocabulary in which many words are stored and remembered easily after reading them only a few times. We refer to this ease of word reading as automaticity. We can compare automaticity in word reading to other skills such as learning to ride a bike. At first, we struggle with where to put our feet and how to steer and pedal at the same time. As we become more skilled, we no longer think about what we have to do to ride the bike, and instead think about the trip we are taking on the bike. How do children learn automaticity or automatic sight word reading? Scientific research (Ehri, 1998) suggests that readers learn sight words by making connections between the graphemes (letter units symbolizing phonemes) and phonemes (the smallest unit of sound in a word). These connections or correspondences become automatic so that after a few exposures, the spelling, pronunciation, and meaning of the word are recognized as one unit. Alphabetic knowledge and phonemic awareness are critical to making these connections. Why is phonics so important in the process of learning to read? Because English is a complex language with an alphabetic writing system that is difficult to learn, many children need explicit instruction in this system in order to learn to read successfully. The goal of phonics instruction is to read words in or out of text with ease (Ehri, 1991, 1994). A systematic approach to phonics includes teaching a set of letter-sound relationships in a clearly defined sequence (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2001, p.13). Some approaches to teaching children phonics are not systematic, but involve teaching children letter-sound relationships in the context of connected text. Sometimes new words are encountered and taught and not seen again until the following year. When instruction is not explicit or systematic, struggling readers have a more difficult time making the critical connections between graphemes and phonemes, and developing automaticity will often take far longer to develop if it develops at all. In summary, deep and thorough knowledge of letters, spelling patterns, and words, and of the phonological translations of all three, are of Phonics First White Paper P a g e 3

4 inescapable importance to both skillful reading and its acquisition. By extension, instruction designed to develop children s sensitivity to spellings and their relations to pronunciations should be of paramount importance in the development of reading skills. This is, of course, precisely what is intended of good phonic instruction. (Adams, 1990, p. 416) Ultimately, the goal of phonics instruction is that most words will become sight words, words that can be recognized instantly because they are stored in memory. In fact, fluent reading requires that most words be read by sight. The Phonics First Program The Phonics First program provides a strong scientific research-based program in phonics. The scope and sequence of the program teaches students skills in phonological awareness, matching sounds to letters, and then proceeds to systematically and explicitly teach students more advanced patterns of spelling-sound relationships contributing to increased sight word knowledge, a foundation for proficient reading. This comprehensive program also includes fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension components so that students are able to use the decoding skills they learn to comprehend what they are reading. Teachers with a strong foundation in the knowledge of the structure of English can significantly affect literacy learning in young children (McCutchen, et al., 2002). Phonics First provides a strong foundation for teachers, to support and enhance their teaching impact on struggling readers. Experts agree that children who initially are at risk for failure are saved, in most cases, by instruction that teaches directly the specific language skills on which proficient reading depends. (Moats, 1999, p.20) Teachers who have been trained in Phonics First develop a deep knowledge base grounded in the science of reading that includes the essential components of the structure of language at all levels. This knowledge acquisition goes far beyond learning a curriculum. School administrators report that the knowledge and skills teachers learn when trained in Phonics First, provide a strong foundation that facilitates the learning of other explicit/systematic instructional approaches. The instructional model employed in Phonics First incorporates a multisensory approach. As an intervention program, Phonics First requires daily implementation with fidelity at kindergarten and first grade, followed by 3-4 days a week at second grade and above. As a supplement to classroom reading instruction, Phonics First strategies are regularly implemented in conjunction with core reading lessons to further support struggling readers. The flexible Five-part lesson plan includes: 1. a three-part drill as a review of learned concepts; 2. an introduction to a new phonetic skill and immediate application to reading and spelling of words incorporating the newly learned concept; Phonics First White Paper P a g e 4

5 3. syllabication practice for reading of unfamiliar multisyllable words; 4. practice with sight words; 5. Oral reading to combine phonetic and non-phonetic skills taught. This approach ensures that skills are systematically taught. Review, introduction of new skills, guided practice, and independent practice are lesson components that are supported in research on effective teaching. The Phonics First program includes instructional models for teaching new concepts, applying new concepts, learning to decode through syllable types, and learning non-phonetically spelled words. Writing and reading comprehension skills are systematically integrated into the program as well. Phonemic Awareness, Decoding, and Syllabication: Strong Predictors of Reading Success There is ample evidence now that phonemic awareness is a strong predictor of reading success (e.g., Juel, 1988; Torgesen, 2004). When young children struggle with early reading skills and do not develop adequate phonemic awareness by the end of first grade, they rarely become strong readers. In Juel s longitudinal study, children who were weak in reading skills (including phonemic awareness) at the end of first grade had a.88 probability of remaining a weak reader by the end of fourth grade. In fact, the phenomenon of the rich get richer (those who learn to decode automatically accelerate in their reading growth), while the poor get poorer, (those who do not learn to decode successfully fall further and further behind) is termed the Matthew Effects (Stanovich, 1986). The scope and sequence of Phonics First is designed to prevent children from falling further and further behind by providing the critical skills in the early grades that predict later reading success. In Phonics First, there are five levels of phonological awareness that reflect the research-based developmental sequence of phonological awareness skills. These important auditory skills begin with simple word parts such as two-part compound words, and then proceed to more complex skills ending with manipulation of sounds within patterns (auditory pathway engaged); i.e., consonant-vowel-consonant patterns are presented, building upon skills learned and introducing new more challenging concepts systematically and explicitly. The Phonics First Instructional Sequence: Systematic and Explicit Lesson Components 1. Three-Part Drill: A review of previously learned concepts using visual and auditory cues and a combination of both in the final blending part of the drill. For example, (1) a student looks at letters on cards and names the sounds of the letters to strengthen the visual pathway for reading. Then, (2) the teacher says the letter Phonics First White Paper P a g e 5

6 sounds and the student writes the letter that makes that sound. This strengthens the auditory pathway to promote spelling. Finally, (3) cards with consonant-vowel consonant patterns/words are presented to the students and the students pronounce the sounds in isolation and then blend the sounds to say the words (real and/or nonsense and/or syllables). This activity is the first step into gaining fluency. 2. Introduction of a new concept: The teacher provides a multisensory cue followed by the application of the new concept through dictation. For example, if the /b/ sound is the target, the teacher may make the sound and ask students to repeat it. The next step involves linking the sound to the grapheme. The teacher would show a b on a flash card providing the /b/ sound. A key word is used to help students remember the sound (e.g., bubbles for /b/). Students then write the grapheme in the sand while saying the sound (i.e., writing b, then saying /b/ while writing). Students then brainstorm words that begin with this new sound. There are a number of additional components that facilitate learning for those students who experience difficulty with concepts. Immediate application involves a dictation component in which students finger tap the sounds of a word followed by writing the word. A kinesthetic cue can be important in learning a new concept to automaticity. During this component, the teacher provides assistance with finger tapping as necessary and monitors the written work of all students. 3. Decoding: The Phonics First program teaches phonics in eight steps using syllable types. These are the basis for learning decoding skills beyond the individual grapheme-sound correspondences. The importance of accurate decoding is critical for students since the goal is for most words to be recognized as sight words. As words become more complex, students need decoding strategies so that they can quickly and accurately identify unknown words. The eight syllable types in Phonics First provide a systematic routine to allow for efficient learning of new words with a high degree of fluency. 4. Red Words (non-phonetic words): In the Phonics First program, students are not only taught to memorize important non-phonetic words, but also to spell them. Learning to spell as well as read Red Words provides a strong foundation in the process of developing both visual and motor memory. A step-by-step neurolinguistic process is used to learn and reinforce each sight word for reading and spelling. 5. Oral Reading: In the Phonics First program, students are provided decodable books that match their skill level. They are provided opportunities to read aloud with the teacher in small groups, a setting which can be as powerful as one on one instruction (Vaughn, etc.). Reading focuses on Phonics First White Paper P a g e 6

7 accurate decoding and building of fluency along with supporting comprehension and vocabulary development. The Importance of a Multisensory Approach to Reading Instruction In a multisensory reading program, the essential content includes instruction in phonological processing, the alphabetic principle, English Orthography, handwriting, automaticity, language structure, vocabulary, and comprehension. The following instructional strategies are employed in multisensory reading programs and included in the Colorado State Department description of multisensory instructional program components: Use of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways; a systematic and cumulative scope and sequence from easiest to most difficult elements; explicit teaching of all elements; diagnostic and prescriptive teaching that incorporates continuous assessment; synthetic and analytic teaching of component parts. (Colorado Department of Education, Special Education Services Unit, Fall 2000) The Phonics First program incorporates all of these powerful instructional elements so that teachers are able to use more than one pathway to effectively teach struggling readers, ensuring that these children will learn the skills they need to become proficient readers. Phonics First, Professional Development and Teacher Expertise The importance of a strong scientific knowledge base in reading for teachers cannot be underestimated. A recent study (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2006) examined the content of reading courses in higher education teaching programs. In an examination of elementary reading courses from a sample of 72 teacher education programs, only 15% were found to teach all of the scientific components of reading. Future teachers need the knowledge and skills to Understand sound reading strategies for themselves and to be able to transmit these to their students. (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2006, p. 19) If teacher education programs are not providing teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to teach reading, then they must rely on published programs that are based on scientific research. Professional development is often the best resource for filling the teacher knowledge and skill gap in reading instruction. The Phonics First program provides teachers with a strong foundation in the structure of language, and a research based scope and sequence of instruction. Teachers learning the Phonics First program not only learn a curriculum, but they develop a deep understanding of the reading process so that instructional decisions are always grounded in research and effective practice. Principals Phonics First White Paper P a g e 7

8 and teachers who have participated in Phonics First professional development report that they learned far more than a curriculum. They learned how to teach children to read. Phonics First and Reading First Reading First is an initiative designed to improve classroom reading instruction so that all children will be successful readers by the end of grade 3 or sooner. Reading First schools must select core reading programs that are based upon the scientific research in reading instruction and the program requires ongoing professional development and support for teachers as they implement their reading programs. Accountability is provided through an assessment system that includes systematic screening, progress monitoring, diagnostic and outcome assessments. How does Phonics First fit into a Reading First classroom? Beginning in kindergarten, children are screened for early phonemic awareness skills. The phonemic awareness and phonics components of Phonics First provide a powerful sequence of skills taught systematically and explicitly with opportunities for practice and review. While Phonics First is not a comprehensive core reading program, Phonics First strategies incorporated into the core program enhances reading instruction, especially for struggling readers. Further, Phonics First fills a critical role as a supplemental and intervention program to help build early reading skills. When Reading First screening and progress monitoring data indicate that some children need supplemental support in learning basic decoding and syllabication skills, Phonics First can easily be integrated into the core reading instructional block. For those students in Reading First classrooms who need a more intensive intervention, Phonics First can be taught as a separate intervention program for phonemic awareness, decoding/word study and spelling. Phonics First and Response to Intervention Response to Intervention (RtI) provides an alternative to the current discrepancy model for identifying children with learning disabilities and embraces the belief that teachers can no longer wait for children to fail before providing intervention support. Most importantly, RtI requires that all teachers, whether regular education or special education, become experts in understanding the reading process and how to prevent and remediate reading difficulties. The strength of Phonics First lies in the fact that it provides all teachers with firsthand understanding of the reading process and how to effectively reach those students who simply aren t performing to their potential. Response to Intervention Phonics First White Paper P a g e 8

9 requires school wide commitment to supporting all children and their learning, beginning in kindergarten. Many RtI models implement a 3-tier model as an essential component of the process. Tier 1 is the core reading curriculum for the classroom. Phonics First provides teachers with a Tier 1 component that builds decoding skills within the context of a core reading program. In addition, it provides teachers with the knowledge and tools to continually differentiate their instruction for the whole group, small groups, or individually. Tier 2 is the first level of intervention /prevention and it adds an additional 30 minutes of instruction that is aligned with the core program with small groups of 3-5 students, providing focused instruction on identified areas of need. Phonics First provides targeted intervention instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding/encoding and fluency. A Tier 3 intervention is a more intense intervention and can be conducted in small groups of 2-3 or in an individual tutoring context. Phonics First is an excellent Tier 2 or Tier 3 program because it provides the level of intensity of instruction that is required according to the needs of students. The program includes a Student Progress Report that charts student progress toward meeting the goals of the Phonics First intervention, enabling the teacher to easily determine when to allow the student to return to the Tier 1 classroom reading program. Frequently Asked Questions 1. How can teachers integrate Phonics First into a core reading program? The Phonics First program provides a comprehensive approach to decoding that includes phonemic awareness, spelling, and comprehension skills. It is both systematic and sequential so that skill instruction can be easily linked to the skills in a core reading program. In addition, Phonics First can be taught as a stand-alone spelling program. 2. Why is Phonics First a good choice for children who are struggling readers? Phonics First provides teachers with a comprehensive approach to teaching children how to read words. The instructional model is clearly defined and guided practice and systematic review is included. The scope and sequence of skills are based on the scientific research in early reading, and the instructional approach is consistent with the recommendations for teaching phonics found in the National Reading Panel Report (2000) and other key reading research. School districts that have implemented the Phonics First program report significant achievement gains by struggling students Phonics First White Paper P a g e 9

10 (Reading and Language Arts Centers Research Report, 2007). Phonics First is accredited at the Teaching Level and Instructor of Teaching Level by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC). Teachers who participate in an accredited Phonics First program and continue on for certification must demonstrate, through rigorous professional development and guided practicum experiences, their personal expertise in the understanding and application of multisensory instructional methods. 3. What screening and progress monitoring tools can be used to document progress in Phonics First? There is a Student Progress Report included in the Phonics First program. In addition, measures such as the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) and AimsWeb can provide important screening and progress monitoring data on students in a Phonics First program. The measures in assessments such as these include phonemic awareness, decoding skills, and rate and accuracy in connected text reading. 4. How much time is required to implement Phonics First in Kindergarten through third grade? Can Phonics First be integrated into the general education classroom? Phonics First is easily incorporated into the core reading program in primary grade classrooms. Phonics First strategies and techniques are utilized during lessons, allowing teachers to add critical multisensory components to significantly impact beginning and struggling readers. Students needing additional instruction for skill acquisition and mastery receive Phonics First lessons during small-group instruction. 5. What is the focus of instruction at the different skill levels of Phonics First? What other skills are emphasized in the program? At all levels, the program addresses basic reading skills and building fluency as well as spelling and syllabication. In the Reading/Fluency component, the main emphasis is on accurately reading words both in isolation and in connected-text selections with controlled passages. Further, both vocabulary and comprehension skills are Phonics First White Paper P a g e 10

11 addressed. In Levels 3 and 4, additional emphasis on syllabication for multisyllable words is included. Dictation and spelling words within sentences, including strategies for spelling multisyllable words are emphasized in the Spelling/Syllabication component of the program. 6. What should teachers consider when teaching Phonics First to English language learners? Some children learned to read in a language that is very different from English. Some languages have logographic writing systems such as Chinese in which each written character represents a meaning unit or morpheme. In syllabic writing systems such as Japanese and Cherokee, each written symbol represents a syllable (Peregoy & Boyle, 2000). Spanish is the native language of 77% of children in schools in the United States. Many of the consonant phonemes in Spanish represent sounds that can easily be transferred to English. However, unlike English, there is a one-to-one correspondence between vowel letters and their sounds in Spanish. Teachers may need to spend more time focusing on teaching the distinctions between the two languages when teaching the vowel sounds. Phonics First provides a systematic, explicit instructional sequence that minimizes confusion for children who are not familiar with the structure of the English language and provides a multisensory approach to maximize the instructional impact and minimize confusion. Phonics First is a powerful approach to teaching English language learners. 7. Does an explicit, multisensory, systematic phonics program such as Phonics First facilitate the process of learning to read for English Language Learners? Research suggests that the basic sequencing of teaching for native English speakers and language-minority students is likely to be the same. There is a need for greater attention to word-level skills early to be followed by attention to reading comprehension. A recent study (Stuart, 1999) involved 2 groups of ELL students (N =96) living in England who were 5 years old. There was an experimental and a control group with the intervention lasting 12 weeks. The experimental group was taught with a very systematic, explicit, multisensory phonological awareness and phonics approach, and the control group was taught with Big Books. Teachers using the Big Books were told to focus on word level instruction. Those in the phonological awareness and phonics group were taught structured, focused, fast paced skills in phoneme segmentation, blending skills and grapheme-phoneme correspondence. Precise articulation of phonemes was another characteristic of the phonics/pa group. Results indicated very strong, significant results for the phonics intervention. Even a year after the intervention, the Phonics First White Paper P a g e 11

12 experimental group was still significantly ahead in phoneme awareness and phonics knowledge. In the Executive Summary of the National Literacy Panel on language Minority and Youth (August & Shanahan, 2006), recommendations included the following: Providing additional work on English phonemes that are not present in the students native language; Explicit instruction in phonemic awareness; Systematic phonics instruction coupled with a print-rich environment; ELL students may need additional time to master phonics and will need extra practice to learn to hear and produce the sounds of English, and to learn the multiple combinations of letters that make the same sound. Phonics First provides a strong, explicit systematic approach to learning phonics that includes sufficient practice and review opportunities for young children learning English. It is an outstanding choice for teachers who are working with English language learners and it includes the key components that have been identified in the research as important for providing the essential phonological awareness and phonics skills that lead to reading success for ELL children. References Adams, M. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Armbruster B., Lehr F., & Osborn, J. (2001) Put reading first: the research building blocks for teaching children to read. Jessup, MD: National Institute for Literacy. August, D., & Shanahan, T. (2006) (Eds.). Executive summary. Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on language-minority children and youth. Matwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Biemiller, A. (1970). The development of the use of graphic and contextual information as children learn to read. Reading Research Quarterly, 6(2), Ehri, L.C. (1991). Development of the ability to read words. In r. Barr, M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, & P. Pearson (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. II, pp ). New York: Longman. Ehri, L.C. (1994). Development of the ability to read words: Update. In R. Ruddell, & H. Singer (Eds.). Theoretical models and processes of reading (pp ). Ehri, L.C. (1998). Grapheme-Phoneme knowledge is essential for learning to read words in English. In J.L. Metsala & L.C. Ehri (Eds.), Word recognition in beginning literacy. (pp. 3-40). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Juel, C. (1988). Learning to read and write: A longitudinal study of 54 children from first to fourth grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(4), Phonics First White Paper P a g e 12

13 Ehri, L., & Snowling, M.J. (2004). Developmental variation in word recognition. In Stone, C.A., Silliman, E.R., Ehren, B.J., and Apel, K. (Eds.), Handbook of language and literacy: Development and disorders, (pp ). New York: Guilford Press. LaBerge, D., & Samuels, S.J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information processing in reading. Cognitive Psychology, 6, McCutchen, D., Abbott, R.D., Green, L.B., Beretvas, S.N., Cox, S., Potter, N.S., Quiroga, T., & Gray, A. (2002). Beginning literacy,: Links among teacher knowledge, teacher practice, and student learning. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35, Moats, L. C. (1999). Teaching reading is rocket science: What expert teachers of reading should know and be able to do. Washington, D. C.: American Federation of Teachers. Stuart, M. (1999). Getting ready for reading: Early phoneme awareness and phonics teaching improves reading and spelling in inner city second language learners. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 69, Torgesen, J.K. (2004). Lessons learned from research on intervention for students with difficulty learning to read, in McCardle P, Chhabra V (Eds): The Voice of Evidence in Reading Research. (pp ). Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing. Trieman, R. (1985). Onsets and rimes as units of spoken syllables: Evidence from children. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 39, Walsh, K. (May, 2006). What education schools aren t teaching and what elementary teachers aren t learning. National Council on Teacher Quality, Washington, D.C. Moats, L.C. (2000). Whole language lives on: The illusion of balanced reading instruction. Washington, D.C.: Thomas Fordham Foundation. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: Report of the subgroups. Washington, D.C.: Author. Peregoy, S.F., & Boyle, O.F. (2000). English learners reading English: What we know, what we need to know. Theory into Practice, 39(4), Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21, Marcia Davidson University of Maine, 2007 Phonics First White Paper P a g e 13