The best phonics program would use a variety of approaches and focus on early and explicit instruction. Such a program would include:

• Explicit instruction on the patterns of English spelling
• Explicit instruction on how to use letter patterns to decode and spell new words when reading and writing
• focus on strategies for reading and spelling rather than rules

Approaches to teaching phonics may be categorized in five ways. The differences among the approaches are relatively small

(Stahl, Duffy-Hester, and Stahl, 1998). The activities in Targeted Reading Interventions represent three approaches to teaching phonics.

• The spelling-based approach teaches students words based on spelling principles.
• The analogy-based approach teaches students how to decode words they do not know by using words or word parts they do know.
• The embedded phonics approach uses instruction that occurs in the context of authentic reading and writing.

These three approaches also have three important components: strategies for decoding words, strategies for spelling words, and a focus on transferring the learning to real reading and writing.

The best approach would include the following basic principles (Stahl, Duffy-Hester, and Stahl, 1998):

• Good phonics instruction should develop the alphabetic principle (the notion that letters in words may stand for specific sounds).
• Good phonics instruction should develop phonological (phonemic) awareness.
• Good phonics instruction should not teach rules, need not use worksheets, should not dominate instruction, and does not have to be boring.
• Good phonics instruction provides sufficient practice in reading words.
• Good phonics instruction leads to automatic word recognition (word wall).
• Good phonics instruction is one part of reading instruction.

Reference:
Stahl, S. A., A. M. Duffy-Hester, and K. A. Stahl. 1998. “Everything You Wanted to Know about Phonics (but Were Afraid to Ask).” Reading Research Quarterly, 33 (3), 338–355.

Although decodable text is often presented as research-based, in fact the NRP (2000, p. 2-137) states, “Surprisingly, very little research has attempted to determine whether the use of decodable books in systematic phonics programs has any influence on the progress that some or all children make in learning to read.” Select texts that students can read and comprehend. If your students are not able to decode well enough to understand a text, consider developing comprehension through read alouds or shared reading with big books. In effective teacher’s classrooms, time is spent wisely and students are expected to think critically (Allington and Johnston, 2000).

Reference:
National Institute of Student Health and Human Development (NISHHD). 2000. 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 (NIH Publication No. 00-4754). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Allington, R. L. and P. H. Johnston 2000. What do we know about effective fourth-grade teachers and their classrooms? Albany, NY: The National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement.

Children do need phonics to read words but not to comprehend. Read alouds, coupled with listening comprehension strategies, develop comprehension before students are proficient decoders. Listeners use the same strategies readers use to understand text. Comprehension strategy instruction helps students become active listeners and readers. Applying those strategies to read alouds allows students to focus on the strategy without having to also attend to decoding.

Using read alouds to build listening comprehension allows students to focus on a strategy without also applying decoding strategies. However, students must learn to use decoding strategies and comprehension strategies simultaneously. Supporting students as they learn to decode and think about text will consume a great deal of instructional time. Duke, Pressley, and Hilden (2004 in Allington, 2009) suggest that there are many struggling readers with adequate decoding skills but poor comprehension, and the percentage of students that fit this profile increase in the upper grades (grades 3–8).

To accelerate the learning of below-level readers, teachers must provide students with time during school to read, read, read! Students need to read books that are at levels of difficulty that require teacher support and scaffolding (Kuhn, et al, 2006) and they need time every day to independently read easy texts at 97% to 100% word accuracy. Easy text reading should occur during Self-Selected Reading and when students are not participating in intervention lessons during Extended Learning Time.

References:
Duke, N. K., M. Pressley, and K. Hilden. 2004. “Difficulties with Reading Comprehension.” In C. A. Stone, E. R. Siliman, B. J. Ehren, and K. Apel (Eds.), Handbook of language and literacy: Development and disorders (pp. 501-520). New York, NY: The Guilford Press. In Allington, R. L. 2009. What really matters in response to intervention: Research-based designs. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Kuhn, M. R., P. J. Schwanenflugel, R. D. Morris, L. M. Morrow, D. G. Woo, E. B. Meisinger, R. A. Sevcik, B. A. Bradley, and S. A. Stahl. 2006. “Teaching Children to Become Fluent and Automatic Readers.” Journal of Literacy Research, 38 (4), 357–387.

The best reading program would focus on phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, personal reading, and personal writing. There are many packaged reading/language arts programs on the market. Most have the right components but may not be right for the students you serve. Look carefully at the reading materials provided, the type of writing activities suggested and the use of worksheets and workbooks. Opportunities for real reading and writing promote student learning and motivation; decodable books and fill in the blank pages may not provide students those opportunities. The best program will meet state and district grade level expectations (GLEs) for language arts and may include materials that meet GLEs for science and social studies.

Rather than attempting to choose a reading program some schools have opted to find or develop a literacy model. A model identifies the important content to be taught, the structure through which the instruction will take place, the assessments that will determine whether the content has been learned and a plan for intervention for students that are not yet successful. One model, The Four Blocks, structures the communication arts block so that all important areas of the curriculum are addressed with the materials and grade level expectations provided by the school district.

Refer to the Recommended Resources for professional materials that will support the development of lessons for state and local language arts GLEs. Building a professional library for teachers, providing quality professional development, and building a classroom library of interesting reading materials for students will be the foundation for the best reading program.

In effective schools, reading intervention lessons are linked to classroom instruction allowing students to transfer what they learn in intervention to classroom work (Allington, 2009). The best approach would include a wide range of Informal assessments so teachers can determine what to teach in daily comprehensive core literacy model lessons to all students, as well as how to support struggling readers. The information collected on informal assessments should identify targeted areas of instruction for struggling readers. That means these readers get all of the instruction during core reading lessons and specific support on strategies they need the most.

Targeted Interventions should focus on one skill or strategy that will provide the most support for the struggling reader. Lessons on that strategy will be designed so the reader gains confidence and skill over the course of a few weeks. An essential component of each lesson will be reading! A skills only approach does not help the reader learn how to transfer the information to real reading and writing.

Allington (2009) has identified eight research-based principals that accelerate reading development:

• Develop an intervention plan for struggling readers.
• Match reader and text level.
• Dramatically expand reading activity.
• Use very small groups or one-on-one tutoring.
• Coordinate interventions with classroom instruction.
• Deliver intervention by expert teacher.
• Focus instruction on meta-cognition and meaning.
• Use texts that are interesting to students.

The document, Learning to Read and Write, states:

• Research shows that when reading and writing are taught together, the benefits are greater than when they are taught separately. When children write words, they attend to the details of those words. As a result, writing leads to improved phonemic awareness and word recognition. Reading leads to better writing performance, and combined instruction leads to improvements in both areas (Pikulski, 1994; Tierney & Shannahan, 1991).
• When reading and writing are taught together in the context of meaningful activities, children are required to use a higher level of thinking than when either process is taught alone (McGinley & Tierney, 1989).
• When children have opportunities to write their own stories, to read their own and others’ stories, and to write in response to reading and art, they are able to employ much of their knowledge of reading in meaningful and purposeful ways (Braunger & Lewis, 1997).

Writing instruction, writing models, and daily time to write support students as they become literate.

Learning to Read and Write. (Retrieved July 7, 2009 from www.nwrel.org/cfc/publications/LearningReadWrite.html)

References:
Pikulski, J.J. (1994, September). Preventing reading failure: A review of five effective programs. The Reading Teacher, 48(1), 30-39.

Tierney, R.J., & Shannahan, T. (1991). Research on the reading-writing relationship: Interactions, transactions, and outcomes. In R. Barr, M.L. Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal., & P.D. Pearson (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 2, pp. 246-280). New York, NY: Longman.

Braunger, J., & Lewis, J.P. (1997). Building a knowledge base in reading. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory; Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English; & Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Response to Intervention, or RTI, is intended to provide early intervention, frequent progress monitoring, and targeted research-based instructional interventions for struggling readers. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, was rewritten and signed into law in December 2004. This revision includes a pre-identification strategy called Response to Intervention (RTI) (http://www.rtinetwork.org/).

RTI is a multi-tier process for the identification and support of struggling students. Tier 1 features high-quality, daily instruction and ongoing assessments designed for all students. In Tier 2, struggling learners receive a specific intervention that has been shown to help similar struggling students. The amount of intervention is determined by individual student needs. The student’s progress is carefully monitored to see if the intervention is working, and changes are made in the intervention until success is achieved. Tier 3 is for the provision of highly intense intervention or Special Education Services. In some settings, Tier 2 students receive intervention support from a certified teacher or reading teacher and Tier 3 students receive intervention support from other specialists.

At the building level there is a means by which to monitor all student progress, identify below level students and provide them expert assistance to accelerate their learning.

At the classroom level teachers know which children are below level, they know how to support each child and have a plan for them (not to be confused with an IEP), and there is time in their daily schedule to meet the specific needs of the below level child. Specific reading intervention lessons focus on what each child needs most to be successful.

The book, Targeted Reading Interventions, is intended to support schools and teachers as they implement RTI and begin to accelerate student learning. Some key components of the plan are:

• A building assessment wall that visually displays the reading level of every student in the building.
• Grade level meetings that create plans for all below level students.
• Time devoted to intervention, often called Extended Learning Time, in each teacher’s daily schedule.
• A plan that promotes reading and writing development for all students that do not need intervention during Extended Learning Time.

Professional development should meet the needs of the intended learners. Large group professional development may provide an overview of a new concept, strategy, or model. Small group professional development for schools, grade level teams, or individual teachers provide ongoing support and differentiation that can be provided through modeling, coaching, and problem solving sessions.

The online article, Teacher Learning That Supports Student Learning: What Teachers Need to Know: Preparing teachers to be more well-rounded educators (Darling-Hammond). States:

Professional development strategies that succeed in improving teaching share several features (Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin, 1995). They tend to be:

• Experiential, engaging teachers in concrete tasks of teaching, assessment, and observation that illuminate the processes of learning and development;
• Grounded in participants' questions, inquiry, and experimentation as well as profession-wide research;
• Collaborative, involving a sharing of knowledge among educators;
• Connected to and derived from teachers' work with their students, as well as to examinations of subject matter and teaching methods;
• Sustained and intensive, supported by modeling, coaching, and problem solving around specific problems of practice; and
• Connected to other aspects of school change.

Growing evidence suggests that this kind of professional development not only makes teachers feel better about their practice, but it also reaps learning gains for students, especially in the kinds of more challenging learning that new standards demand (Darling-Hammond, 1997; NFIE, 1996). Creating a profession of teaching in which teachers have the opportunity for continual learning is the likeliest way to inspire greater achievement for children, especially those for whom education is the only pathway to survival and success.

This article is adapted from Educational Leadership Vol. 55, No. 5, February 1998, and is excerpted with permission. That article draws in substantial part on the author's book, The Right to Learn (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997). (Retrieved July 7, 2009 from http://www.edutopia.org/teacher-learning-supports-student-learning)

References:
Darling-Hammond, L., and M. W. McLaughlin. (1995)."Policies That Support Professional Development in an Era of Reform." Phi Delta Kappan 76, 8: 597-604.

Darling-Hammond, L. (1997).Doing What Matters Most: Investing in Quality Teaching. New York: The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.

National Foundation for the Improvement of Education. (1996).Teachers Take Charge of Their Learning: Transforming Professional Development for Student Success. Washington, D.C.: Author.s