Making A Difference in K-12 Education
SPELL/SPELL-Links Research & Results 
SPELL/SPELL-Links is based on the most current and relevant research on best practices in teaching reading and spelling. When you use our word study materials, products and services, you can rest assured that you are using proven effective methods with your students, while eliminating the methods that don’t work.
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ASHA (2009)
The Spelling Sensitivity Score (
ASHA (2008)
This three-year project, examining the effects the SPELL/SPELL-Links prescriptive and multi-linguistic word study model, found nonsense word decoding improved in grades 3 through 5 and real word decoding improved 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.
Criterion Validity of SPELL (2006)
The criterion validity of SPELL spelling assessment software is established by its significant correlation with the Test of Written Spelling - 4 and the Woodcock Diagnostic Reading Battery.
ASHA (2005)
This study documents the benefits of using the SPELL assessment to tailor word study instruction to a student's specific needs. Orthographic instructional goals for 5th grade students were based on each student's spelling performance, as indicated by Spelling Evaluation for Language and Literacy (SPELL), and word study activities were taken from SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing.
Language & Literacy Learning in the Schools (2004)
Third and fourth grade students who received nine weeks of SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing instructional methods demonstrate large, statistically significant gains in spelling skills in comparison to children who received traditional spelling instruction.
Communication Disorders Quarterly (2004)
Fourth grade student shows significant gains in spelling and decoding skills after receiving the SPELL assessment and nine weeks of word study intervention using the instructional methods of the SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing word study curriculum.
Current best practices for teaching spelling and reading are documented in a large and rapidly growing body of research conducted by the leading experts in the science of word study.
Why Teach Spelling (2012)
This article published by the Center on Instruction summarizes the research that explains why proper spelling instruction is crucial for
developing reading and writing skills. The publication includes a checklist of the criteria that a
thorough and effective spelling curriculum should meet. SPELL/SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing meets all criteria.
Teaching Literacy Using a Multiple-Linguistic Word-Study Spelling
Approach (2009)
Dr. Julie Wolter, Associate Professor and member of the Child Language Research Group at Utah State University, presents a systematic review of the peer-reviewed quantitative research related to language and literacy outcomes in school-age children using a multiple-linguistic spelling instructional approach.
Why Spelling is Important and How to Teach it Effectively (2008)
Dr. Virginia Berninger, Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Washington, highlights the relationship between spelling, reading, and writing, summarizes key research, and describes current best practices for spelling instruction. Dr. Berninger cites SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing as an evidence-based instructional tool for explicit spelling instruction.
National Council for Teachers of English (2003)
Dr. Shane Templeton, Foundation Professor of Literacy Studies at the University of Nevada, endorses SPELL-2 as a well-constructed assessment supported by solid research in an article published by the National Council for Teachers of English.