Explicit spelling instruction improves spelling skills more than incidental instruction (Hedges' g = 0.43) and more than no instruction (g = 0.54)¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · reviewr3·q3·i2medium
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
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This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i2 Explicit spelling instruction increases spelling skills relative to incidental instruction by g = 0.43 and over no instruction by g = 0.54, with additional explicit instruction yielding greater improvements. → Steven C. Pan 2021
Evidence¶
Steven C. Pan 2021¶
Steven C. Pan, Timothy C. Rickard, Robert A. Bjork. (2021). Does Spelling Still Matter— and If So, How Should It Be Taught? Perspectives from Contemporary and Historical Research. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09611-y
q3 · i2 · review · r3
The review reports a meta-analysis of 23 studies directly comparing explicit and incidental approaches: "explicit instruction was reported to increase spelling skills relative to incidental instruction by an effect size of Hedges' g = 0.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.25, 0.60]" and over no instruction by g = 0.54, CI [0.39, 0.70].
"Graham and Santangelo (2014) meta-analyzed 23 studies that directly compared the explicit and incidental approaches"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Phonics instruction has a small but statistically confirmed effect for children with reading disabilities, while Orton-Gillingham structured-literacy programs show positive but non-significant effects — related
- Intentional vocabulary learning yields higher, faster gains and better retention than incidental learning through reading — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
explicit-spelling-instruction-beats-incidental |
title |
Explicit spelling instruction improves spelling skills more than incidental instruction (Hedges' g = 0.43) and more than no instruction (g = 0.54) |
description |
Explicit spelling instruction improves spelling skills more than incidental instruction (Hedges' g = 0.43) and more than no instruction (g = 0.54) |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2021 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-22 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — steven-c-pan-2021 |
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