A century ago, spelling skills were highly valued and widely taught in schools using traditional methods, such as weekly lists, drill exercises, and low- and high-stakes spelling tests. That approach was featured in best-selling textbooks such as the "Horn-Ashbaugh Speller" of 1920. In the early 21st century, however, skepticism as to…

Advocates of the science of reading have argued that (a) teacher preparation programs do not provide adequate preparation to teach code-related reading skills; (b) as a result, teachers lack knowledge of this area of literacy development; and (c) without that knowledge, teachers are unable to effectively teach students to read. In this integrative…

A large body of research supports the conclusion that early reading instruction in English should emphasize phonics, that is, the teaching of grapheme-phoneme correspondences. By contrast, we argue that instruction should be designed to make sense of spellings by teaching children that spellings are organized around the interrelation of…

Although the orthographic processing skill of recognizing and producing letters and letter patterns has been established as an important skill for developing spelling, a majority of the research focus has been on early orthographic intervention that did not progress beyond the unit of the letter. The purpose of this article is to provide a best…

This synthesis examined the effects of spelling interventions on spelling outcomes for students with disabilities in Grades 6 through 12. Thirteen single-case design studies were identified for inclusion in the review. No studies used a treatment/comparison design. The most common types of interventions involved systematic study strategies, such…

Because teacher-to-student ratios often make it difficult for teachers to work individually with students on skill-building activities, educators and researchers have developed and evaluated procedures in which audio-recordings are used to improve basic academic skills. In the current paper, we describe and analyze reading, math, and spelling…

The author reviews research on working memory and short-term memory abilities of deaf individuals, delineating strengths and weaknesses. Among the areas of weakness that are reviewed are sequential recall, processing speed, attention, and memory load. Areas of strengths include free recall, visuospatial recall, imagery, and dual encoding.…

This paper will review research on working memory and short-term memory abilities of deaf individuals delineating strengths and weaknesses. The areas of memory reviewed include weaknesses such as sequential recall, processing speed, attention, and memory load. Strengths include free recall, visuospatial recall, imagery and dual encoding.…

Examines instructional approaches to spelling presented in several college-level texts, showing their shortcomings. (FL)

What logic should educators use in choosing words for students to learn to spell? Common sense provides the answer: students should learn to spell the words they use in writing. What these words are has been a subject of concern since the beginning of this century. Dozens of word frequency lists have been developed over the years, based primarily…

In response to the preceding article by Robert L. Hillerich in the same issue of "Educational Leadership," the author argues that Hillerich's recommendations for spelling instruction do not take into account recent research on the cognitive processes involved in learning to spell. (RW)

Argues that knowing the stages of spelling development can help teachers guide students to spelling improvement, consciousness, and competency. Suggests teaching methods. (FL)

Discusses the immediate and long-term results upon spellers of the deletion of the second consonant from most of the core root words derived from Old and Middle English. Offers new directions for future spelling instruction. Clarifies past and present misperceptions about the underlying orderly character of English spelling. (RS)

Offers a fanciful dialog between Socrates and his followers to present findings about spelling development. Discusses the work of two scholars (Frank Smith and Steven Krashen); then discusses various hypotheses. Concludes that effective spellers get to be that way because they read as if they were writers; and a strong relationship exists between…

Reviews literature on the natural learning approach as it pertains to spelling instruction, which focuses on incidental and informal methods of learning to spell. Emphasizes there is only partial support for the inherent assumptions of the approach and reports young children who receive little or no spelling instruction do as well as their…