You can find key information about how we read and spell, and how to teach reading and spelling, here:

• The International Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction (IFERI).
• Effective reading Instruction in the early years of school is a plain-English, 18-page 2017 report and audio file by NSW’s Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation.
• Essentials of Assessing, Preventing and Overcoming Reading Difficulties by David Kilpatrick.
• Three presentations by David Kilpatrick at the 2017 Reading in the Rockies conference are available free online. For the time-poor, I have summarised them here, here and here.
• Language at the Speed of Sight by Mark Seidenberg.
• Early Reading Instruction: What science really tells us about how to teach reading, by Diane McGuinness. By the same author is Language Development and Learning to Read, now out of print, but available as a free pdf here.
• Reading in the Brain by Stanislas Dehaene. Watch him on video here and  here.
• Articles by Louisa Moats (many available free online – just search by title and author). Two video lectures by Dr Moats are here and here.
• Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf.
• AUSPELD and its state-based affiliates have research information on their websites, or try the easy-to-read Understanding Learning Difficulties: A Guide for Parents website.
• Learning Difficulties Australia’s website
• The Five from Five website
• The Reading League website
• The Children of the Code website
• Outside the Square’s Australian films about dyslexia, now free on Youtube.
• Association for Direct Instruction
• LD Online, and in particular this article.
• Developmental Disorders of Language and Literacy Network – online network of professionals seeking to close the gap between research and practice in literacy teaching.
• SpellTalk listserve: US-based professional discussion group about spelling, a good source of information about current research.

Literacy statistics

How literate are Australians? Recent large-scale international studies suggest that far too many Australians are struggling with reading and spelling. Click here for more information and links to these studies.

National Inquiries

National inquiries into the teaching of reading have been held in Australia, the UK and the USA.

All the reports are online so you can read them yourself – click here for the links and what I regard as a few key excerpts.

Dyslexia reports

Dyslexia is part of Specific Learning Disability in the latest edition of the diagnostic manual used by medical and allied professions (DSM-5). In Australia and the UK there have been recent reports describing about the difficulties and needs of people with decoding problems. Click here for more information and the relevant links.

Literature reviews

A useful literature review on literacy-teaching in Australia was published by ACER in 2002, called Closing the gap between research and practice – foundations for the acquisition of literacy.

Scottish Studies – Clackmannanshire and West Dunbartonshire

Two key, long-term studies into literacy-teaching methodology in Scotland have been published in recent years and are worth highlighting – one conducted in Clackmannanshire and one in West Dunbartonshire. Click here for a brief overview and links to their reports.

Policy papers

Two of Australia’s most respected reading scientists wrote a paper in 2007 called Learning to Read in Australia, which remains very relevant.

Exercise caution

It’s often hard to know whether or not an approach is backed up by good evidence. Click here for more information to help you figure out what is likely to be effective, and what isn’t.

Teachers are being let down

Journalist Emily Hanford’s 2018 audio documentary “Hard Words: Why aren’t kids being taught to read?” is about the US, but Australian universities also typically fail to teach teachers how to teach reading well. Hanford’s NY Times article “Why are we still teaching reading the wrong way?” is also relevant to Australia.

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