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SpellRead™

Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 12 claims (8 for, 3 mixed, 1 against) · 10 studies (5 causal, 5 quant-synthesis), q3 · 5 of 10 report an effect size · 10 claims rest on one study

Description

SpellRead™ is a structured literacy programme for struggling readers in grade 2 and above, delivered through systematic explicit auditory and visual reading instruction in small groups and supported by an instructor monitoring system.

Components

  • SpellRead™ literacy program for struggling readers: SpellRead™ (formerly SpellRead Phonological Auditory Training®) is described as "a literacy program for struggling readers in grades 2 or above, including special education students, English language learners, and students more than two years below grade level in reading". It integrates auditory and visual aspects of reading through systematic, explicit instruction in 140 lessons completed over five to nine months. Instruction occurs in small groups of five students with one instructor in 60–90 minute classes, and includes a web-based Instructor Support System for monitoring progress. (What Works Clearinghouse (2007))
  • SpellRead™ small-group literacy program with three instructional phases: SpellRead™, formerly SpellRead Phonological Auditory Training®, is a small-group literacy program for struggling readers in grades 2–12 distributed through PCI Education. It "consists of 105 lessons implemented in three distinct phases that interweave phonemics, phonetics, and instruction in language-based reading and writing". Phase A (50 lessons) trains students to hear and manipulate the 44 sounds of English, Phase B (30 lessons) covers secondary vowel spelling, consonant blends, and two-syllable decoding, and Phase C (25 lessons) covers words of three or more syllables, clusters, and verb forms. The program takes five to nine months and is delivered in small groups of five students with (SpellReadâ"¢)
  • Three-phase sequential skill-mastery structure for remedial reading instruction: SpellRead™ organizes instruction as "140 lessons implemented in three distinct phases that interweave phonemics, phonetics, and instruction in language-based reading and writing". Phase A (50 lessons) trains the auditory process to hear and manipulate the 44 sounds of English; Phase B (30 lessons) covers secondary vowel spelling, consonant blends, and two-syllable syllabication; Phase C (25 lessons) addresses decoding words of three or more syllables, clusters, and verb forms. Each lesson includes activities for phonemic, phonetic, semantic, syntactic, comprehension/vocabulary, and fluency skills. (What Works Clearinghouse (2007))

Claims

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Key Sources

  • What Works Clearinghouse, U.S. Department of Education. (2007). WWC Intervention Report: SpellRead™. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc
  • U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. (2013, January). Adolescent Literacy intervention report: SpellRead™. http://whatworks.ed.gov
Page metadata
Field Value
type product
id spellread
title SpellRead™
description SpellRead™ is a structured literacy programme for struggling readers in grade 2 and above, delivered through systematic explicit auditory and visual reading instruction in small groups and supported by an instructor monitoring system.
status review
moved_from design/spellread-three-phase-structure, element/spellread-program, element/spellread-program-element
product_kind programme
generated by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10
trust unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources 2 — what-works-clearinghouse-2007, us-department-of-education-institute

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