Phonics First

White Paper
Scientific Research and
Response to Intervention

Reading and Language Arts Centers, Inc.

36700 Woodward Ave.
Suite 20
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
www.rlac.com

Phonics First, Scientific Research

and Response to Intervention
Learning to read is not a natural process. Most children
must be taught to read through a structured and
protracted process in which they are made aware of the
sounds and the symbols that represent them, and then
learn to apply these skills automatically and attend
to meaning. (Moats, 2000, p.vii)
Improving reading instruction in the early elementary
grades is a national priority, with Reading First being the
centerpiece of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. The
Reading First initiative emphasizes the importance of
scientific reading research and its application to reading
in grades K to 3, relying on the findings of the National
Reading Panel (2000) to guide practitioners in
implementing effective reading programs in the
classroom. These findings include reviews of more than
100,000 studies based upon rigorous criteria to ensure
that findings could credibly address the effectiveness of
programs and approaches to teaching reading. The five
key components of reading addressed in this research
are as follows:
Phonemic awareness
Phonics
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension

Phonics First White Paper

In this paper, we will focus primarily on the role of

phonics in the process of teaching children. First, we will
review the current scientific research on effective phonics
instruction, and then describe the Phonics First program
and how it aligns with the scientific research. Next, we
will examine the role of Phonics First in supporting
children at risk for reading failure in the contexts of
Reading First and the Response to Intervention (RTI)
initiative.

Defining Phonics
When young children learn to read, they often sound
out unfamiliar words, sound by sound, letter by letter.
This insight or understanding that words are made up of
individual sounds that can be mapped onto letters is the
alphabetic principle, a key milestone in early reading
acquisition. It is this knowledge that allows one to begin
the process of breaking the code, a process that for
many children requires intentional instruction in
letter-sound relations. This intentional instruction in lettersound relationships is referred to as phonics. How do
children move from the knowledge that letters can be
mapped to the sounds of language to automatic
recognition of words in print?

How Children Learn to Read Words

There are three ways that enable readers to recognize
words they havent read before. First, they may read

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unfamiliar words by a decoding strategy, identifying the

sounds of letters, holding them in memory and then
blending them into pronunciations that are real words.
When readers are more skilled, they pronounce and
blend clusters of letters such as phonograms, syllables,
and spelling patterns (Ehri & Snowling, 2004). Second,
readers learn by analogy recognizing how spellings of
unfamiliar words are similar to familiar words (Trieman,
1985). Third, readers may try to predict what a word
should be by looking at the initial letter or the sentence
context (e.g., Biemiller, 1970). In addition, words can be
read by sight. Sight words are known so well that the
reader does not have to spend any attention or effort
figuring out the word (LaBerge & Samuels, 1974). By
sight words, we do not mean words that cannot be
decoded. Sight words are words that can be recognized
by the reader automatically without having to decode
them. This makes sight word reading particularly valuable
for text reading because it frees up the readers attention
to focus on meaning rather than on figuring out what the
word is. So the goal in teaching children to learn to read
words is for them to develop a considerable sight word
vocabulary in which many words are stored and
remembered easily after reading them only a few times.
We refer to this ease of word reading as automaticity. We
can compare automaticity in word reading to other skills
such as learning to ride a bike. At first, we struggle with
where to put our feet and how to steer and pedal at the
same time. As we become more skilled, we no longer
think about what we have to do to ride the bike, and
instead think about the trip we are taking on the bike.
How do children learn automaticity or automatic sight
word reading? Scientific research (Ehri, 1998) suggests

Phonics First White Paper

that readers learn sight words by making connections

between the graphemes (letter units symbolizing
phonemes) and phonemes (the smallest unit of sound
in a word). These connections or correspondences
become automatic so that after a few exposures, the
spelling, pronunciation, and meaning of the word are
recognized as one unit. Alphabetic knowledge and
phonemic awareness are critical to making these
connections.
Why is phonics so important in the process of learning to
read? Because English is a complex language with an
alphabetic writing system that is difficult to learn, many
children need explicit instruction in this system in order to
learn to read successfully. The goal of phonics instruction
is to read words in or out of text with ease (Ehri, 1991,
1994). A systematic approach to phonics includes
teaching a set of letter-sound relationships in
a clearly defined sequence (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn,
2001, p.13). Some approaches to teaching children
phonics are not systematic, but involve teaching children
letter-sound relationships in the context of connected
text. Sometimes new words are encountered and
taught and not seen again until the following year. When
instruction is not explicit or systematic, struggling readers
have a more difficult time making the critical connections
between graphemes and phonemes, and developing
automaticity will often take far longer to develop if it
develops at all.
In summary, deep and thorough knowledge of
letters, spelling patterns, and words, and of the
phonological translations of all three, are of

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inescapable importance to both skillful reading and

its acquisition. By extension, instruction designed
to develop childrens sensitivity to spellings and
their relations to pronunciations should be of
paramount importance in the development of
reading skills. This is, of course, precisely what is
intended of good phonic instruction. (Adams,
1990, p. 416)
Ultimately, the goal of phonics instruction is that most
words will become sight words, words that can be
recognized instantly because they are stored in memory.
In fact, fluent reading requires that most words be read
by sight.

The Phonics First Program

The Phonics First program provides a strong scientific
research-based program in phonics. The scope and
sequence of the program teaches students skills in
phonological awareness, matching sounds to letters, and
then proceeds to systematically and explicitly teach
students more advanced patterns of spelling-sound
relationships contributing to increased sight word
knowledge, a foundation for proficient reading. This
comprehensive program also includes fluency,
vocabulary, and comprehension components so that
students are able to use the decoding skills they learn to
comprehend what they are reading. Teachers with a
strong foundation in the knowledge of the structure of
English can significantly affect literacy learning in young
children (McCutchen, et al., 2002). Phonics First provides

Phonics First White Paper

a strong foundation for teachers, to support and enhance

their teaching impact on struggling readers.
Experts agree that children who initially are at risk
for failure are saved, in most cases, by instruction
that teaches directly the specific language skills on
which proficient reading depends. (Moats, 1999,
p.20)
Teachers who have been trained in Phonics First
develop a deep knowledge base grounded in the science
of reading that includes the essential components of the
structure of language at all levels. This knowledge
acquisition goes far beyond learning a curriculum. School
administrators report that the knowledge and skills
teachers learn when trained in Phonics First, provide a
strong foundation that facilitates the learning of other
explicit/systematic instructional approaches. The
instructional model employed in Phonics First
incorporates a multisensory approach. As an intervention
program, Phonics First requires daily implementation with
fidelity at kindergarten and first grade, followed by 3-4
days a week at second grade and above. As a
supplement to classroom reading instruction, Phonics
First strategies are regularly implemented in conjunction
with core reading lessons to further support struggling
readers.
The flexible Five-part lesson plan includes:
1. a three-part drill as a review of learned concepts;
2. an introduction to a new phonetic skill and immediate
application to reading and spelling of words incorporating
the newly learned concept;

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3. syllabication practice for reading of unfamiliar

multisyllable words;
4. practice with sight words;
5. Oral reading to combine phonetic and non-phonetic
skills taught.
This approach ensures that skills are systematically
taught. Review, introduction of new skills, guided
practice, and independent practice are lesson
components that are supported in research on effective
teaching. The Phonics First program includes
instructional models for teaching new concepts, applying
new concepts, learning to decode through syllable types,
and learning non-phonetically spelled words. Writing and
reading comprehension skills are systematically
integrated into the program as well.

Phonemic Awareness, Decoding,

and Syllabication: Strong
Predictors of Reading Success
There is ample evidence now that phonemic awareness
is a strong predictor of reading success (e.g., Juel, 1988;
Torgesen, 2004). When young children struggle with
early reading skills and do not develop adequate
phonemic awareness by the end of first grade, they rarely
become strong readers. In Juels longitudinal study,
children who were weak in reading skills (including
phonemic awareness) at the end of first grade had a .88
probability of remaining a weak reader by the end of
fourth grade. In fact, the phenomenon of the rich get

Phonics First White Paper

richer (those who learn to decode automatically

accelerate in their reading growth), while the poor get
poorer, (those who do not learn to decode successfully
fall further and further behind) is termed the Matthew
Effects (Stanovich, 1986). The scope and sequence of
Phonics First is designed to prevent children from falling
further and further behind by providing the critical skills in
the early grades that predict later reading success.
In Phonics First, there are five levels of phonological
awareness that reflect the research-based developmental
sequence of phonological awareness skills. These
important auditory skills begin with simple word parts
such as two-part compound words, and then proceed to
more complex skills ending with manipulation of sounds
within patterns (auditory pathway engaged); i.e.,
consonant-vowel-consonant patterns are presented,
building upon skills learned and introducing new more
challenging concepts systematically and explicitly.

The Phonics First Instructional

Sequence: Systematic and Explicit
Lesson Components
1.

Three-Part Drill: A review of previously learned

concepts using visual and auditory cues and a
combination of both in the final blending part
of the drill. For example, (1) a student looks at
letters on cards and names the sounds of the
letters to strengthen the visual pathway for
reading. Then, (2) the teacher says the letter

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sounds and the student writes the letter that

makes that sound. This strengthens the auditory
pathway to promote spelling. Finally, (3) cards with
consonant-vowel consonant patterns/words are
presented to the students and the students
pronounce the sounds in isolation and then blend
the sounds to say the words (real and/or nonsense
and/or syllables). This activity is the first step into
gaining fluency.
2.

Introduction of a new concept: The teacher

provides a multisensory cue followed by the
application of the new concept through dictation.
For example, if the /b/ sound is the target, the
teacher may make the sound and ask students to
repeat it. The next step involves linking the sound
to the grapheme. The teacher would show a b on
a flash card providing the /b/ sound. A key word is
used to help students remember the sound (e.g.,
bubbles for /b/). Students then write the grapheme
in the sand while saying the sound (i.e., writing b,
then saying /b/ while writing). Students then
brainstorm words that begin with this new sound.
There are a number of additional components that
facilitate learning for those students who
experience difficulty with concepts. Immediate
application involves a dictation component in
which students finger tap the sounds of a word
followed by writing the word. A kinesthetic cue can
be important in learning a new concept to
automaticity. During this component, the teacher
provides assistance with finger tapping as

Phonics First White Paper

necessary and monitors the written work of all

students.
3.

Decoding: The Phonics First program teaches

phonics in eight steps using syllable types. These
are the basis for learning decoding skills beyond
the individual grapheme-sound correspondences.
The importance of accurate decoding is critical for
students since the goal is for most words to be
recognized as sight words. As words become
more complex, students need decoding strategies
so that they can quickly and accurately identify
unknown words. The eight syllable types in
Phonics First provide a systematic routine to allow
for efficient learning of new words with a high
degree of fluency.

4.

Red Words (non-phonetic words): In the Phonics

First program, students are not only taught to
memorize important non-phonetic words, but also
to spell them. Learning to spell as well as read
Red Words provides a strong foundation in the
process of developing both visual and motor
memory. A step-by-step neurolinguistic process is
used to learn and reinforce each sight word for
reading and spelling.

5.

Oral Reading: In the Phonics First program,

students are provided decodable books that match
their skill level. They are provided opportunities to
read aloud with the teacher in small groups, a
setting which can be as powerful as one on one
instruction (Vaughn, etc.). Reading focuses on

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accurate decoding and building of fluency along

with supporting comprehension and vocabulary
development.

The Importance of a Multisensory

Approach to Reading Instruction
In a multisensory reading program, the essential content
includes instruction in phonological processing, the
alphabetic principle, English Orthography, handwriting,
automaticity, language structure, vocabulary, and
comprehension. The following instructional strategies are
employed in multisensory reading programs and included
in the Colorado State Department description of
multisensory instructional program components:
Use of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways;
a systematic and cumulative scope and sequence from
easiest to most difficult elements;
explicit teaching of all elements;
diagnostic and prescriptive teaching that incorporates
continuous assessment;
synthetic and analytic teaching of component parts.
(Colorado Department of Education, Special Education
Services Unit, Fall 2000)
The Phonics First program incorporates all of these
powerful instructional elements so that teachers are able
to use more than one pathway to effectively teach
struggling readers, ensuring that these children will learn
the skills they need to become proficient readers.

Phonics First White Paper

Phonics First, Professional

Development and Teacher
Expertise
The importance of a strong scientific knowledge base in
reading for teachers cannot be underestimated. A recent
study (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2006)
examined the content of reading courses in higher
education teaching programs. In an examination
of elementary reading courses from a sample of 72
teacher education programs, only 15% were found to
teach all of the scientific components of reading.
Future teachers need the knowledge and skills to
Understand sound reading strategies for
themselves and to be able to transmit these to
their students. (National Council on Teacher
Quality, 2006, p. 19)
If teacher education programs are not providing teachers
with the knowledge and skills they need to teach reading,
then they must rely on published programs that are
based on scientific research. Professional development is
often the best resource for filling the teacher knowledge
and skill gap in reading instruction. The Phonics First
program provides teachers with a strong foundation in
the structure of language, and a research based
scope and sequence of instruction. Teachers learning the
Phonics First program not only learn a curriculum, but
they develop a deep understanding of the reading
process so that instructional decisions are always
grounded in research and effective practice. Principals

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and teachers who have participated in Phonics First

professional development report that they learned far
more than a curriculum. They learned how to teach
children to read.

Phonics First and Reading First

Reading First is an initiative designed to improve
classroom reading instruction so that all children will be
successful readers by the end of grade 3 or sooner.
Reading First schools must select core reading programs
that are based upon the scientific research in reading
instruction and the program requires ongoing
professional development and support for teachers as
they implement their reading programs. Accountability is
provided through an assessment system that includes
systematic screening, progress monitoring, diagnostic
and outcome assessments.

How does Phonics First fit into a

Reading First classroom?
Beginning in kindergarten, children are screened for early
phonemic awareness skills. The phonemic awareness
and phonics components of Phonics First provide a
powerful sequence of skills taught systematically and
explicitly with opportunities for practice and review. While
Phonics First is not a comprehensive core reading
program, Phonics First strategies incorporated into the
core program enhances reading instruction, especially for

Phonics First White Paper

struggling readers. Further, Phonics First fills a critical

role as a supplemental and intervention program to help
build early reading skills.
When Reading First screening and progress monitoring
data indicate that some children need supplemental
support in learning basic decoding and syllabication
skills, Phonics First can easily be integrated into the core
reading instructional block. For those students in Reading
First classrooms who need a more intensive intervention,
Phonics First can be taught as a separate intervention
program for phonemic awareness, decoding/word study
and spelling.

Phonics First and Response to

Intervention
Response to Intervention (RtI) provides an alternative to
the current discrepancy model for identifying children with
learning disabilities and embraces the belief that teachers
can no longer wait for children to fail before providing
intervention support.
Most importantly, RtI requires that all teachers, whether
regular education or special education, become experts
in understanding the reading process and how to prevent
and remediate reading difficulties. The strength of
Phonics First lies in the fact that it provides all teachers
with firsthand understanding of the reading process and
how to effectively reach those students who simply arent
performing to their potential. Response to Intervention

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requires school wide commitment to supporting all

children and their learning, beginning in kindergarten.
Many RtI models implement a 3-tier model as
an essential component of the process. Tier 1 is the core
reading curriculum for the classroom. Phonics First
provides teachers with a Tier 1 component that builds
decoding skills within the context of a core reading
program. In addition, it provides teachers with the
knowledge and tools to continually differentiate their
instruction for the whole group, small groups, or
individually. Tier 2 is the first level of intervention
/prevention and it adds an additional 30 minutes of
instruction that is aligned with the core program with
small groups of 3-5 students, providing focused
instruction on identified areas of need. Phonics First
provides targeted intervention instruction in phonemic
awareness, phonics, decoding/encoding and fluency. A
Tier 3 intervention is a more intense intervention and can
be conducted in small groups of 2-3 or in an individual
tutoring context. Phonics First is an excellent Tier 2 or
Tier 3 program because it provides the level of intensity
of instruction that is required according to the needs of
students. The program includes a Student Progress
Report that charts student progress toward meeting the
goals of the Phonics First intervention, enabling the
teacher to easily determine when to allow the
student to return to the Tier 1 classroom reading
program.

Phonics First White Paper

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can teachers integrate
Phonics First into a core reading
program?
The Phonics First program provides a comprehensive
approach to decoding that includes phonemic
awareness, spelling, and comprehension skills. It is both
systematic and sequential so that skill instruction can be
easily linked to the skills in a core reading program. In
addition, Phonics First can be taught as a stand-alone
spelling program.

2. Why is Phonics First a good

choice for children who are
struggling readers?
Phonics First provides teachers with a comprehensive
approach to teaching children how to read words. The
instructional model is clearly defined and guided practice
and systematic review is included. The scope and
sequence of skills are based on the scientific research in
early reading, and the instructional approach is
consistent with the recommendations for teaching
phonics found in the National Reading Panel Report
(2000) and other key reading research. School districts
that have implemented the Phonics First program report
significant achievement gains by struggling students

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(Reading and Language Arts Centers Research Report,

2007).
Phonics First is accredited at the Teaching Level and
Instructor of Teaching Level by the International
Multisensory Structured Language Education Council
(IMSLEC). Teachers who participate in an accredited
Phonics First program and continue on for certification
must demonstrate, through rigorous professional
development and guided practicum experiences, their
personal expertise in the understanding and application
of multisensory instructional methods.

3. What screening and progress

monitoring tools can be used to
document progress
in Phonics First?
There is a Student Progress Report included in the
Phonics First program. In addition, measures such as the
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills
(DIBELS) and AimsWeb can provide important screening
and progress monitoring data on students in a Phonics
First program. The measures in assessments such as
these include phonemic awareness, decoding skills, and
rate and accuracy in connected text reading.

Phonics First White Paper

4. How much time is required to

implement Phonics First in
Kindergarten through third grade?
Can Phonics First be integrated
into the general education
classroom?
Phonics First is easily incorporated into the core reading
program in primary grade classrooms. Phonics First
strategies and techniques are utilized during lessons,
allowing teachers to add critical multisensory
components to significantly impact beginning and
struggling readers. Students needing additional
instruction for skill acquisition and mastery receive
Phonics First lessons during small-group instruction.

5. What is the focus of instruction

at the different skill levels of
Phonics First? What other skills
are emphasized in the program?
At all levels, the program addresses basic reading skills
and building fluency as well as spelling and syllabication.
In the Reading/Fluency component, the main emphasis is
on accurately reading words both in isolation and in
connected-text selections with controlled passages.
Further, both vocabulary and comprehension skills are

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addressed. In Levels 3 and 4, additional emphasis on

syllabication for multisyllable words is included. Dictation
and spelling words within sentences, including strategies
for spelling multisyllable words are emphasized in the
Spelling/Syllabication component of the program.

First is a powerful approach to teaching English language

learners.

6. What should teachers consider

when teaching Phonics First to
English language learners?

7. Does an explicit, multisensory,

systematic phonics program such
as Phonics First facilitate the
process of learning to read for
English Language Learners?

Some children learned to read in a language that is very

different from English. Some languages have logographic
writing systems such as Chinese in which each written
character represents a meaning unit or morpheme. In
syllabic writing systems such as Japanese and
Cherokee, each written symbol represents a syllable
(Peregoy & Boyle, 2000). Spanish is the native language
of 77% of children in schools in the United States.
Many of the consonant phonemes in Spanish represent
sounds that can easily be transferred to English.
However, unlike English, there is a one-to-one
correspondence between vowel letters and their sounds
in Spanish. Teachers may need to spend more
time focusing on teaching the distinctions between the
two languages when teaching the vowel sounds.
Phonics First provides a systematic, explicit instructional
sequence that minimizes confusion for children who are
not familiar with the structure of the English language and
provides a multisensory approach to maximize the
instructional impact and minimize confusion. Phonics

Research suggests that the basic sequencing of teaching

for native English speakers and language-minority
students is likely to be the same. There is a need for
greater attention to word-level skills early to be followed
by attention to reading comprehension. A recent study
(Stuart, 1999) involved 2 groups of ELL students (N =96)
living in England who were 5 years old. There was an
experimental and a control group with the intervention
lasting 12 weeks. The experimental group was taught
with a very systematic, explicit, multisensory phonological
awareness and phonics approach, and the control group
was taught with Big Books. Teachers using the Big
Books were told to focus on word level instruction. Those
in the phonological awareness and phonics group were
taught structured, focused, fast paced skills in phoneme
segmentation, blending skills and grapheme-phoneme
correspondence. Precise articulation of phonemes was
another characteristic of the phonics/PA group. Results
indicated very strong, significant results for the phonics
intervention. Even a year after the intervention, the

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experimental group was still significantly ahead in

phoneme awareness and phonics knowledge.
In the Executive Summary of the National Literacy Panel
on language Minority and Youth (August & Shanahan,
2006), recommendations included the following:
Providing additional work on English phonemes that are
not present in the students native language;
Explicit instruction in phonemic awareness;
Systematic phonics instruction coupled with a print-rich
environment;
ELL students may need additional time to master
phonics and will need extra practice to learn to hear
and produce the sounds of English, and to learn the
multiple combinations of letters that make the same
sound.
Phonics First provides a strong, explicit systematic
approach to learning phonics that includes sufficient
practice and review opportunities for young children
learning English. It is an outstanding choice for teachers
who are working with English language learners
and it includes the key components that have been
identified in the research as important for providing the
essential phonological awareness and phonics skills that
lead to reading success for ELL children.

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Marcia Davidson
University of Maine, 2007

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