Resources
DISCUSSION GROUP
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BOOKSTORE
Read these landmark books to learn more about research-based practices in spelling assessment and word study instruction.
READING ROOM
Browse these on-line articles to further your
understanding of research-based practices in spelling
assessment and word study instruction.
Current Approach to Teaching Spelling Is Challenged
This article summarizes research published in a journal of the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). The research demonstrates improvements
in students’ reading, writing, and spelling when teachers use a language-based approach
for spelling instruction.
What Do Spelling Errors Tell Us about Language Knowledge?
This article describes how a deficit in any one area of word study knowledge - phonological awareness, knowledge of orthography,
vocabulary, morphological and semantic relationships, and mental orthographic images - will manifest as a specific pattern of misspelling
in a student's writing and how the analysis of an individual's spelling errors can be used to identify underlying linguistic deficits.
Improving Written Language Skills Through Multiple-Linguistic Spelling Instruction
This article demonstrates the importance of integrating multiple linguistic processes within spelling instruction. The
research shows multiple-linguistic spelling instruction to be more effective than traditional classroom spelling instruction
for improving both spelling and reading performance.
Put
Reading First – The Research Building Blocks for
Teaching Children to Read
This easy-to-read publication, developed by the Center for the Improvement of
Early Reading Achievement and funded by the National Institute for Literacy, describes the findings of the
National Reading Panel Report and summarizes what researchers have discovered about how to successfully teach
children to read. This is an excellent resource for both teachers and parents!
Classroom Implementation of the Multilinguistic Model for Literacy Instruction
This three-year project was designed to determine the effects of word study based on the SPELL/SPELL-Links prescriptive and multilinguistic model. Scores increased in nonsense word reading in grades 3 through 5 and in real word reading in grade 5. Standardized scores in spelling to dictation did not increase; however, accuracy in writing samples did increase both within and across grade levels.
The Spelling Sensitivity Score: Representing Increases in Accuracy and Complexity
The Spelling Sensitivity Score (SSS) was designed to capture developmental changes in children's literacy performance. Based on the SPELL/SPELL-Links multiple-linguistic approach, the SSS represents what children's spellings reveal about their phonological, orthographic, semantic, and morphological knowledge of words. The SSS is then weighted based on length, complexity, and frequency of words spelled. Data based on 4,229 spellings indicate that the weighted SSS scores distinguished between performance among students in grades 1 through 6.
Tailored Reading-Spelling Instruction
This research study documents the benefits of word study instruction
tailored to a student's specific needs. Orthographic instructional goals
were based on each student's spelling performance, as indicated by
Spelling Evaluation for Language and Literacy (SPELL), and word-study
lessons were taken from SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing.
SPELL-Links Outcomes Report
This classroom study using the SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing instructional methods demonstrates large, statistically significant
gains in thrd-grade students’ spelling skills in
comparison to children who received traditional classroom spelling instruction.
SPELL/SPELL-Links Outcomes Report
This case study documents significant gains in both spelling and decoding skills of a fourth grade student using the SPELL
assessment and the instructional methods of the SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing word study curriculum.
Criterion Validity of SPELL
This research study measured the extent to which SPELL performance scores correlate with scores on the Test of Written Spelling - 4 and
on two subtests of the Woodcock Diagnostic Reading Battery was measured for 135 students in Grades 1 through 6.
Spelling: Best Ideas = Best Practices
This article published by the National Council for Teachers
of English (NCTE) summarizes spelling assessment and
instruction methods that are supported by solid
research.
10 Things Parents Can Do to Help Their Children Become Better Spellers
This popular handout describes easy, practical things parents can do every day to improve their children's spelling.
Roles and Responsibilities of Speech-Language Pathologists in the Schools
This professional issues statement is an official policy statement of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
Spelling: The New American Idol?
This editorial article authored by four nationally-recognized literacy experts
promotes public awareness about the importance of spelling with compelling arguments
to help teachers, parents, and students understand that good spelling is for
everyone and poor spelling is an impediment for future education and employment
opportunities.
Literacy-Speech-Language Pathologists Play a Pivotal Role
This brief position statement of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association helps parents and school personnel understand the role
of the speech-language pathologist in the improvement of literacy.
Suggestions for Implementing Research-Based Spelling Instruction in the Language Arts Curriculum
This listing provides a quick reference to recommended activities for spelling instruction.
Re-conceptualizing Spelling Development & Instruction
This article by Shane Templeton & Darrell Morris highlights current and developing practices in classroom spelling instruction,
with an extensive list of related readings.
Spelling Performance Evaluation for Language & Literacy
This technical report summarizes historical and contemporary perspectives on spelling instruction and the relationship between
reading and spelling, outlines the theoretical basis of the SPELL program and discusses the importance of performance-based
word study instruction for improving literacy.
Children with Deafness: Spelling Development and Proficiency
This report provides a review of the literature regarding spelling development and proficiency of
children with hearing impairment. Study findings were examined
for evidence of phonological awareness, morphological knowledge, orthographic
knowledge, and visual orthographic memory evidenced in the spellings of children with
hearing impairment. This project lends to the
future development of a protocol for assessing the spelling skills of children with hearing
impairment and may also help in developing individualized intervention goals and
strategies for children of the same group.
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