PHOENIX, Nov. 30, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A recently completed four-year study by Arizona State University–Technology Based Learning & Research shows students using Spalding Education International's "The Writing Road to Reading" had significantly higher achievement test scores when compared to those using mainstream reading programs.
The study started in the 2006-2007 school year and concluded with the 2009-2010 school year. It included 11 Arizona schools where an average of 1,000 general education kindergarten through third-grade students participated in each of the four years. Five experimental schools used "The Writing Road to Reading" (also referred to as The Spalding Method) and six control schools used one of two mainstream reading programs, published by Harcourt School Publishers or Houghton Mifflin. All students were tested three times annually on Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS).
The report states, "In each administration, Spalding students had consistently higher mean values on all DIBELS areas, which provides evidence that Spalding has been more effective than the methods used in the control schools to teach those reading skills."
According to the researchers, since both the control and experimental groups used detailed teacher guides evaluated by the Arizona Department of Education for research-based reading components, theoretically, they should have produced similar results. That was not the case as Spalding students' results differed dramatically. For example, in the final test for second graders the mean oral reading fluency score for those using The Spalding Method was 109.96, compared to 87.48 for those using one of the two mainstream reading programs at a control school.
"This research validates what we've known for years: Teaching reading is best when the program is based on explicit, multisensory, structured instruction incorporating all sensory pathways to the brain," said Spalding Director of Research & Curriculum Mary North, Ph.D. "Unlike mainstream programs, 'The Writing Road to Reading' connects speech to print, rather than print to speech, allowing children to first concentrate on hearing the sounds in spoken words. Research shows that children who struggle to hear or manipulate sounds in spoken words have trouble decoding. In Spalding, phonemic awareness is quickly coordinated with teaching the letters and letter combinations that represent speech sounds."
According to North, the researchers' observations provided data that principals can use to determine the professional development needs of their teachers.
"Most colleges of education do not provide the research-based instruction that teachers need to most effectively teach all children to read," added North.
The organization offers professional development courses throughout the U.S. and abroad in concert with school districts, colleges, universities and others for teachers to become certified in the Spalding Method.
About Arizona State University – Technology Based Learning and Research (TBLR)
TBLR is an independent research development entity founded by Dr. Gary G. Bitter at Arizona State University. TBLR's main goal is to provide a unified structure to coordinate various technology-based research and development projects. As an integral part of the College of Education TBLR focuses on research and large-scale delivery of educational materials as well as technology training and integration using computers and other information and communication technologies.
About Spalding Education International
Spalding Education International (SEI) is dedicated to teaching all students to spell, write and read. The organization was founded in 1986 by Romalda B. Spalding, author of "The Writing Road to Reading, The Spalding Method for Teaching Speech, Spelling, Writing, and Reading" — a comprehensive K-6 total language arts program. In the Spalding Method, instruction is explicit, systematic, interactive, diagnostic and multi-sensory. SEI is accredited by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC) for its literacy instructional programs for teachers and Spalding teacher trainers. Classroom and resource room teachers, adult educators, as well as home educators in the United States, Canada, Australia, Central America, Europe, Singapore and Taiwan are currently using the Spalding Method. SEI is a nonprofit, tax exempt 501(c)(3) corporation based in Phoenix, Ariz. For more information, call 1-623-434-1204 or visit www.spalding.org.
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The following pictures are available for download:
| [Image] | The Writing Road to Reading |
| [Image] | Romalda Spalding, author of "The Writing Road to Reading" and creator of The Spalding Method |
| [Image] | The Spalding Method teaches children how to read in kindergarten |
| [Image] | A four-year Arizona State University study shows students using The Spalding Method language arts program had significantly higher achievement test scores when compared to those using mainstream reading program |