National Reading Panel recommends the systematic teaching of explicit phonics.

In spring of 2000, the National Reading Panel released the results of their congressionally mandated review of 100,000 research studies on reading. Their goal was to help parents, teachers, and policymakers identify key skills and methods that consistently produced reading success. In the preface of the report, Susan Neuman states,

"In addition to identifying effective practices, the work of the National Reading Panel challenges educators to consider the evidence of effectiveness whenever they make decisions about the content and structure of reading instruction programs. By operating on a "what works" basis, scientific evidence can help build a foundation for instructional practice. Teachers can learn about and emphasize methods and approaches that have worked well and caused reading improvement for large numbers of children." Susan B. Neuman Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education Former Director, the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement “Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read” by the NICHD. Order from www. nationalreadingpanel.org At STEPS Reading Center, we are vitally interested in the findings of these studies. Of these 5 key components of reading instruction, STEPS provides for the systematic teaching of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary. According to the report, "Systematic and explicit phonics instruction significantly improves children's reading comprehension." It is imperative that explicit phonics instruction be done early in a child's school career. Again, the article reiterates, "Systematic phonics instruction produces the greatest impact on children's reading achievement when it begins in kindergarten or first grade." But what about the older struggling student who did not have the benefit of an explicit phonics program like STEPS? We, at the STEPS Reading Center, have used the same principles of systematic and explicit phonics instruction to retrain older students and adults. A learner can be taught the basic phoneme sounds through handwriting and be taught to use the blending and decoding skills necessary to read and write. We have also used STEPS very successfully to teach both children and adults for whom English is a new language. As the report suggests, the most effective time to teach students these skills is K.-2nd grade. However, STEPS can provide you with the tools to meet the needs of a diverse population of any age. Teachers cannot teach what they do not know. STEPS provides teachers with the tools necessary to better understand the alphabetic system and rule based nature of the English language. With these tools and the multi-sensory process involved in STEPS, the teacher will be prepared to follow the research based scientific guidelines delineated in this groundbreaking national report. Read more on how STEPS meets these guidelines with the Bridge to Research. * Please refer to: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2001). Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read (NIH Publication No.R305R70004). Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing For additional copies: "Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read," please contact: National Institute for Literacy at ED Pubs PO Box 1398 Jessup, MD 20794-1398 Phone 1-800-228-8813 Fax 301-430-1244 EdPubOrders@aspensys.com To download the document, go to the National Institute for Literacy website at http://www.nifl.gov