Technical Appendix: Phonics Definition Evidence Rating
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Technical Appendix: Phonics Definition Phonics is an approach to teaching reading, and some aspects of writing and spelling, by developing learners’ phonemic awareness. In linguistics, a phoneme is the smallest unit of speech that can be used to make one word different from another word. Phonics approaches therefore involve the skills of hearing, identifying and using sound patterns or phonemes in English. The aim is to teach learners the relationship between these sounds and the written spelling patterns, or graphemes, which represent them. Phonics emphasises the skills of decoding new words by sounding them out and combining or ‘blending’ the sound-spelling patterns. There are two main approaches to teaching phonics: analytic and synthetic phonics. In both approaches the learner needs to have some phonological awareness (the ability to hear and discriminate sounds in spoken words). Synthetic phonics focuses on the development of phonemic awareness as a key skill. To learn to decode written text into sounds, a reader is taught up to 44 phonemes (the smallest units of sound) and their related graphemes (the written symbols for these phonemes). Analytic phonics, also sometimes known as the "whole word" approach, involves analysis of whole words to detect phonetic or orthographic (spelling) patterns, then splitting them into smaller parts and sounding these out to help with the decoding process. Search terms: Phonics, analytic* phonics, synthetic phonics, phonemic awareness. Evidence rating There are seven meta-analyses and one best-evidence synthesis with quantitative estimates of impact on attainment (effect sizes). Five of the meta-analyses have been conducted in the last ten years. There is high quality evidence in these syntheses where the majority of the included studies have ecological validity and where the outcome measures include curriculum measures or standardised tests in school subject areas. The pooled effect size estimates range from 0.24 to 0.62, with some of the variation explained by intensity (particularly one-to-one and small group) and outcome measures (higher effects for word level measures and lower for comprehension). Overall the evidence is rated as very extensive. Technical Appendix: Phonics References Full references Berkeley, S., Scruggs, S.T. & Mastropieri, M.A. (2010). Reading Comprehension Instruction for Students With Learning Disabilities, 1995--2006: A Meta-Analysis. Remedial and Special Education 31, 423-436. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741932509355988 *Camilli, G., Vargas, S., Ryan, S., & Barnett, W. S. (2008). Meta-Analysis of the effects of early education interventions on cognitive and social development. Teachers College Record, 112.3: pp. 579–620. Connor, C.M., Morrison, F.J., Fishman, B.J., Schatschneider, C. & Underwood, P. (2007). Algorithm-guided individualized reading instruction. Science, 315, 464–465. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1134513 *Ehri, C.L., Nunes, S.R., Stahl, S.A., & Willows, D.M. (2001). Systematic Phonics Instruction Helps Students Learn to Read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel’s Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 71, (3) 393-447. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/00346543071003393 *Galuschka K, Ise E, Krick K, Schulte-Körne G (2014) Effectiveness of Treatment Approaches for Children and Adolescents with Reading Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. PLoS ONE 9(2): e89900. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089900 Gorard, S., See, B. H., & Siddiqui, N. (2014). Switch-on Reading: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary. London: Education Endowment Foundation http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/uploads/pdf/FINAL_EEF_Evaluation_Report_- _Switch-on_-_February_2014.pdf Gorard, S., Siddiqui, N. & See, B.H. ( 2015) Fresh Start Evaluation Report and Executive Summary London: EEF https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/uploads/pdf/Fresh_Start_(Final).pdf *Jeynes, W.H. (2008). A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Phonics Instruction and Minority Elementary School Student Academic Achievement. Education and Urban Society. 40 (2), 151-166. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0013124507304128 King, B. & Kasim, A. (2015) Rapid Phonics Evaluation Report and Executive Summary. London: EEF https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/uploads/pdf/Rapid_Phonics_(Final).pdf *McArthur G, Eve PM, Jones K, Banales E, Kohnen S, Anandakumar T, Larsen L, Marinus E, Wang HC, Castles A. (2012) Phonics training for English-speaking poor readers. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD009115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009115.pub2 Melby-Lervåg, M., Lyster, S. A. H., & Hulme, C. (2012). Phonological skills and their role in learning to read: a meta-analytic review. Psychological bulletin, 138(2), 322. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0026744 Merrell, C. & Kasim, A. (2015) Butterfly Phonics Evaluation Report and Executive Summary. London: EEF https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/uploads/pdf/Butterfly_Phonics_(Final).pdf Savage, R., Burgos, G., Wood, E., & Piquette, N. (2015). The Simple View of Reading as a framework for national literacy initiatives: a hierarchical model of pupil‐level and classroom‐ level factors. British Educational Research Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/berj.3177 Sheard, M., Chambers, B. & Elliott, L.2015) Units of Sound Evaluation Report and Executive Summary. London: EEF https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/uploads/pdf/Units_of_sound_(Final).pdf * Sherman, K. H. (2007). A meta-analysis of interventions for phonemic awareness and phonics instruction for delayed older readers. Doctoral Thesis University of Oregon. UMI No: 3285626 ProQuest Dissertations and Theses: Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304825094 * Slavin, R. E., Lake, C., Davis, S., & Madden, N. A. (2011). Effective programs for struggling readers: A best-evidence synthesis. Educational Research Review, 6(1), 1-26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2010.07.002 Suggate, S. P. (2010). Why what we teach depends on when: Grade and reading intervention modality moderate effect size. Developmental Psychology, 46(6), 1556. Technical Appendix: Phonics http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0020612 Swanson, H. L., Trainin, G., Necoechea, D. M., & Hammill, D. D. (2003). Rapid naming, phonological awareness, and reading: A meta-analysis of the correlation evidence. Review of Educational Research, 73(4), 407-440. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/00346543073004407 *Torgerson, C., Brooks, G., & Hall, J. (2008). A Systematic Review of the Research Literature on the Use of Phonics in the Teaching of Reading and Spelling. Department for Education and Skills. *Studies included in the summary of effects. References for Australasia-specific studies can be found in the Australasian Research Summary for this topic, available as a link on the Toolkit page. Summary of Effects Meta-analyses Overall effect size Camilli, Vargas & Yurecko, 2003 0.24 Ehri, Nunes, Stahl & Willows, 2001 0.41 Galuschka et al. 2014 0.32 Jeynes, 2008 0.30 McArthur et al. 2012 (word reading accuracy) 0.62 (reading comprehension) 0.35 Sherman, 2007 (older readers) 0.39 Slavin et al. 2011 (one-to-one phonics tutoring) 0.62 (small group phonics) 0.35 Torgerson, Brooks & Hall, 2006 0.27 Recent single studies ¶Gorard, Siddiqui & See, 2015 (EEF Fresh Start) 0.24 Gorard, See & Siddiqi, 2014 (EEF Switch-on Reading) 0.24 King & Kasim, 2015 (EEF Rapid Phonics) -0.07 ¶Merrell & Kasim, 2015 (EEF Butterfly Phonics) 0.43 ¶Sheard, Chambers, Elliott, 2015 (EEF Units of Sound) -0.08 Weighted mean effect size 0.35 ¶Due to the nature of the study design and the implementation of intervention this finding has limited security. For more information about the effect sizes in the Toolkit, click here. Meta-analyses and abstracts Camilli et al. 2003 Examined the findings of the "Teaching Children To Read" study of the National Reading Panel and the procedures of the study. Meta-analytic techniques found that the methodology and procedures were not adequate. Findings suggest that phonics, as an aspect of the complex reading process, should not be over-emphasized. Ehri et al. 2001 A quantitative meta-analysis evaluating the effects of systematic phonics instruction compared to unsystematic or no-phonics instruction on learning to read was conducted using 66 treatment-control comparisons derived from 38 experiments. The overall effect of phonics instruction on reading was moderate, d = 0.41. Galuschka, Ise, Children and adolescents with reading disabilities experience a significant Krick, & Schulte- impairment in the acquisition of reading and spelling skills. Given the Körne 2014 emotional and academic consequences for children with persistent reading disorders, evidence based interventions are critically needed. The present meta-analysis extracts the results of all available randomized controlled trials. The aims were to determine the effectiveness of different treatment approaches and the impact of various factors on the efficacy of interventions. The literature search for published randomized-controlled trials comprised an electronic search in the databases ERIC, PsycINFO, Technical Appendix: Phonics PubMed, and Cochrane, and an examination of bibliographical references. To check for unpublished trials, we searched the websites clinicaltrials.com and ProQuest, and contacted experts in the field. Twenty-two randomized controlled trials with a total of 49 comparisons of experimental and control groups could be included. The comparisons evaluated five reading fluency trainings, three phonemic