A Summary of the Research
Research on the long-term consequences of early reading difficulty provides an incentive for early intervention.
Juel (1988) found that students who are poor readers in first grade are almost certain to remain poor readers at the end of fourth grade.
Cunningham and Stanovich (1997) found that first-grade reading achievement strongly predicts 11th-grade reading achievement.
Other researchers have shown that students at risk for reading failure can be identified early, using tests of phonological awareness, and treated successfully with intensive, explicit instruction in phonological awareness, followed by systematic phonics instruction.
Early intervention for reading problems reduces the number of students identified as learning disabled (Dickson & Bursuck, 1999; Jenkins & O’Connor, O’Connor 2000).
One-on-one tutoring is the gold standard for reading instruction, and the benefits of that type of tutoring is supported by research (Cohen, Kulik, & Kulik, 1982; Juel, 1996; Waskik, 1998; Wasik & Slavin, 1993).
That’s why the No Child Left Behind Act includes a mandate that failing schools make one-on-one tutoring available for their students.
Yet most schools do not have enough trained personnel available to offer one-on-one tutoring.
Innovative schools are using the Barton Reading & Spelling System to train volunteer tutors for their Early Intervention Programs – and are getting very impressive results.
Most schools go through 10 steps to set up an Early Intervention Program using the Barton Reading & Spelling System.
If you need to convince your principal to bring in the Barton Reading & Spelling System, click here.
Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children
by Catherine Snow, Susan Burns, and Peg Griffin
Catch Them Before They Fall
by Joseph Torgeson
Identification and Assessment to Prevent Reading Failure in Young Children
Why Reading is not a Natural Process
by Dr. G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D.