There now seems to be a firestorm of people around the English-speaking world working to ensure reading and spelling skills are taught in accordance with current reading science. Publishers/suppliers involved in this effort already have their contacts under the “phonics resources” menu, but here are some others. Let me know if you have suggested additions.

Click here for US public media journalist Emily Hanford’s plain-English audio documentaries and articles on how mainstream literacy-teaching approaches let both students and teachers down.

Australia

• The Advancing Structured Literacy Practices Alliance facebook page.
• AUSPELD and its state-based affiliates, is a group behind the Primary Reading Pledge.
• Code READ Dyslexia Network
• Dyslexia Victoria Support‘s website links to parent-run facebook groups nationwide.
• Emina McLean, a lecturer in Speech Pathology at La Trobe University, writes a great blog about language and literacy best practice.
• Five from Five is a project started by Dr Jennifer Buckingham, which is now a community project to promote evidence-based reading instruction supported by Multilit, and is a group behind the Primary Reading Pledge.
• Greg Ashman is a teacher in Ballarat who writes a great blog about educational research.
• The Inner Northern Melbourne Early Language and Literacy Community of Practice (INMELLCoP) had to be shelved due to COVID-19, but we’ll restart it soon.
• The Inspiring Change Facebook group was set up by NT teacher Jocelyn Seamer, who also writes a great blog.
• Learning Difficulties Australia, is one of the groups behind the Primary Reading Pledge, and runs a professional learning program including free webinars.
• There is a professionals’ Facebook group called Learning Science in Schools
• Linguist Lyn Stone writes the This Heart Of Stone blog and has lots of videos on Youtube.
• Melbourne Language and Literacy Community of Practice (MeLLCoP) is a Melbourne-based Community of Practice organised by Nathaniel Swain, who also seems to be an organiser of Think Forward Educators.
• Ollie Lovell is a Melbourne teacher with a great blog and podcast.
• People Who Like To Talk About Teaching is a Facebook group with lots on EBP.
• Professor Pamela Snow writes an excellent blog, The Snow Report, and heads up the Science of Language And Reading (SOLAR) lab at La Trobe University with Associate Professor Tanya Serry. Pam is also one of the people behind the Bendigo Early Language and Literacy Community of Practice.
• Queensland dyslexia advocate Tanya Forbes’s Outside the Square films are on YouTube.
• Reading Teachers Australia is a Facebook community of teachers & others interested in best practice, the latest research, professional development and opportunities to connect to other teachers and experts in the field from around the world.

Canada

• Dyslexia Canada

International

• Developmental Disorders of Language and Literacy Network is an online network of professionals seeking to close the gap between research and practice in literacy teaching.
• International Dyslexia Association, which has branches/affiliates around the world.
• The International Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction
• I’m not sure where it’s based but The Reading Ape blog is always interesting.
• ResearchEd is a UK-based but now international, teacher-led initiative to raise the research literacy of educators and bridge the gap between research and practice in education.
• Speech-Language Pathologists for Evidence-Based Practice is a Facebook group
• The Society for the Scientific Study of Reading
• The SpellTalk listserve: is a US-based professional discussion group about spelling, and a good source of information about current research.

New Zealand

• Learning Difficulties Association of New Zealand
• There is a Lifting Literacy Aotearoa facebook page with a petition.

United Kingdom

Systematic, explicit synthetic phonics teaching is mandated in the early years in the UK, so the main focus of advocates is struggling older readers and related difficulties like DLD:

• Debbie Heppelwhite is a teacher, teacher trainer and author who actively campaigns for evidence-based teaching of reading, spelling and handwriting.
• How To Teach Reading is a blog by UK specialist reading/dyslexia tutor Monique Nowers.
• Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder – this site’s focus is oral language difficulties, but these often co-occur with decoding and spelling difficulties.
• Reading Reform Foundation
• Susan Godsland’s website is a cornucopia of interesting ideas and links.
• The Literacy Blog is by John Walker of Sounds-Write, but discusses broader topics.
• The Reading Ape blog is also excellent.
• The Thinking Reading blog by Dianne and James Murphy focuses mainly on adolescents.

United States

• The Children of the Code website has masses of useful information.
• DLD and Me focuses on learners with oral language difficulties, but they often also have decoding/encoding difficulties.
• Journalist Emily Hanford at APM Reports is a powerful advocate of the reading science.
• Teacher Jared Cooney has some great videos about research translation in education, including two on the Reading Wars here and here.
• National Institute for Direct Instruction (nifty acronym NIFDI).
• Parker Phonics by teacher Stephen Parker has lots of useful, free information.
• The PATTAN network’s literacy team, led by Pam Kastner, has an incredible YouTube channel, some of their key literacy videos are on this playlist. Pam also makes Padlets.
• The Reading League – teachers, academics and others promoting the science of reading, has chapters around the US, and this excellent Curriculum Evaluation Tool.
• Reading Rockets is a national public media literacy initiative full of good information.