Read America Research

Throughout this series we have looked at various uses of Phono-Graphix. The following three studies conclude this series and lend further support to Phono-Graphix's efficacy with the disadvantaged. Please contact Read America if you have research you would like to share.

Prison Reading Therapy Program Roxanne H. McCarty (18) reports on an extreme of this population: 9 adult inmates in a Federal Prison. The highest initial reading score among these men was at a 4.1 grade equivalent. These men are among the results of our failure to teach every child to read. Imagine how difficult it was for these men to try again, after a lifetime of failure with reading. After just 33 hours of instruction, these men were well on their way to remediation, with much improved phonemic awareness and SS gains of: 11.77 in Word Identification 26 on Word Attack

Juvenile Detention Center Study Candace Head-Dylla (19) brings us data from a juvenile detention center in New Mexico. These kids are in trouble and in serious need of reading instruction. Only 11 of the 135 students tested read at grade level. Students tested were up to ten years below grade level with a three year reading deficit on average. We need to get more kids reading and we need to do it quickly. As you can imagine, remediation in this environment is uniquely challenging. Head-Dylla points out that frustration levels are sky-high, self-esteem is desperately low, and the population is so very transient. Phono-Graphix is uniquely suited to this environment, since students see immediate results and the program can be completed so rapidly. Twenty-four of the 67 students chosen for remediation completed the program (the rest received instruction but were transferred before post-testing was possible). Average gains in Word Identification were 9 months; gains in Word Attack were 1 year, 8 months. Average length of remediation was just over seven hours. Head-Dylla reports that even with the speed of Phono-Graphix, her staff just does not have the time and resources to work with all of the 4,000 children coming in and out of the facility each school year. They already limited themselves to those who would be at the facility for 30 days or more, and were forced to give preference to the youngest with the lowest reading performances. Here are 24 students, at least, who now know that they can learn. Imagine how few students the center could reach with a program that takes 80, 120 or 600 hours.

Addressing the Adult Literacy Crisis in South Africa Finally, Jenny Taylor (20) reports from South Africa. The Sparrow Center provides technical training for young adults who lack education and training, drawing from black townships and informal settlements. Instruction is given in English, although this is the second or third language for most students and teachers. Sparrow previously provided no literacy training prior to its entry level courses, but found that many students had limited reading skills and could not access their content. Students dropped out, disheartened and unmotivated. Taylor indicates that this is typical of the adult literacy crisis in South Africa today. Phono-Graphix was evaluated as a short, cost-effective means to quickly teach these young adults to read English before they enter the technical training courses. This quasi-experimental study shows that the results did not differ significantly between groups taught by experienced teachers versus those who were newly trained. Nor did group versus individual instruction differ significantly. These students made solid improvement in their phoneme awareness. What was the pay-off for this work? Sparrows' pass rate (21) on tests of literacy and numeracy (which involves many word problems requiring reading) jumped dramatically, far outstripping its previous two year's performance as well as that of the nation. If Phono-Graphix can be this effective in such a setting, I'm excited to see what might result in Dr. Torgesen's proposed study. Phono-Graphix should fit well into the plan. It is effective within the instructional hours that are budgeted. (In fact, we are presented with a unique problem: what to do with the additional 88 hours!). It is effective with newly trained, inexperienced instructors, in a range of instructional models, including the proposed small-group model. It is effective with a range of student types including high and low SES, 3rd and 5th graders, and students with either mild or severe reading problems.

Holding Onto Hope These published studies and uncontrolled field reports suggest new hope in the race to save children. With Phono-Graphix's remarkable efficiency and affordability, we should do all we can to see it tested against other methods and put into the hands of anyone working with children, especially those with limited time and resources who desperately need a practical means to save as many children as they possibly can.

If you missed PART ONE, TWO, or THREE you can view them in the Autumn 2002, Holiday 2002, and Winter 2003 Issues. References used in this series: Published Phono-Graphix (by Read America Inc.) Data Dias, K. and Juniper, L. 2002. Phono-Graphix: Who Needs Additional Literacy Support? An Outline of Research in Bristol Schools. Support for Learning 17:34-38. McGuinness, C., McGuinness, D., and McGuinness, G. 1996. Phono-Graphix: A New Method for Remediating Reading Difficulties. Annals of Dyslexia 46:73-96. McGuinness, C. 1998. Shifting The Reading Paradigm - Implicit Versus Explicit Instruction. Paper presented to the Office of Standards in Education. McGuinness, C. and McGuinness, G. 1998. Reading Reflex. Simon and Schuster (US version). McGuinness, C. and McGuinness, G. 1998. Reading Reflex Penguin Books. (UK version). McGuinness, C. 2000. Meta Analysis of Research on British School Children. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Scottish Dyslexia Association. McGuinness, C. and McGuinness, G. 2000. How to Increase Your Child’s Verbal Intelligence. Yale University Press (US version). McGuinness, C. and McGuinness, G. 2000. How to Increase Your Child’s Verbal Intelligence. Penguin Books (UK version). Palmer, S. 2000. Assessing the Benefits of Phonics Intervention on Hearing Impaired Children's Word Reading. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Conference, Cardiff University.

Research Details: (18) Reading Therapy Project Author: Roxanne H. McCarty, Learining Specialist/Diagnostician, Paul Smith's College Location: Federal Correctional Institute in Ray Brook, New York Primary Instructor: Licensed Phono-Graphix Trainer Type of Instruction: 1-on-1 Subjects: Nine inmates, ages 26-66, with uniformly low reading scores Average Instruction Hours: Thirty-Three (2-3 one-hour sessions per week for 15 weeks) Average Phoneme Awareness Scores: Pre-Test Post-Test Segmenting (63 items) 27.8 56 Blending (15 items) 8.6 11 AAT (10 items) 2.3 7.4 Average Standard Scores on the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test: Word Identification = 11.77 Word Attack = 26 (19) August 1999-May 2000 Reading Program Report Author: Candace Head-Dylla, New Mexico Reading & Training Location: Bernadillo County Juvenile Detention Center Type of Instruction: 1-on-1 Subjects: incarcerated youths averaging 15.3 years old Average Instruction Hours: 7.3 Average Phoneme Awareness Scores: Pre-Test Post-Test Segmenting (63 items) 27.8 56 Blending (15 items) 8.6 11 AAT (10 items) 2.3 7.4 Average Woodcock Reading Mastery Test Grade Equivalent Gains: Word Identification: 9 months Word Attack: 1 year, 8 months (20) Exploring the Phono-Graphix Reading Method with young adult learners for whom English is a second or third language. A research report on a study conducted in partial fulfillment of a Masters Degree in Education. Author: Jenny Taylor, Read for Africa Location:Sparrow Technical Skills Centre, Sophiatown, Johannesburg, South Africa Primary Instructors: An experienced Phono-Graphix Trainer and two newly trained teachers Type of Instruction: experimental groups of 1-on-1 and small group instruction Subjects: 13 young adults (between 15 and 22 years old) Instruction Hours: 1 hour, 3 times per week, over 11 weeks Average Phoneme Awareness Scores: Pre-Test Post-Test Segmenting (63 items) 38% 94% Blending (15 items) 39% 81% AAT (10 items) 18% 52% (21) Synopsis of IEB ABET English Literacy and Numeracy Pass Rates at Sparrow Skills Centre and Nationally SUBJECT Sparrow: Nov. 1999 National: Nov. 1999 Sparrow: Nov. 2000 National: Nov. 2000 Sparrow: Nov. 2001 National: Nov. 2001 Level 1: Literacy Merit 64% 11% merit 64.65% 84% 13% merit 61.90% 99% 81% merit 80.51% Level 1: Numeracy Merit 68% 15% merit 66.57% 78% 9% merit 66.06% 98% 44% merit 70.62% Level 2: Literacy Merit 79% 8.3% merit 71.19% 86% 22% merit 80.44% 91% 52% merit 71.98% Level 2: Numberacy Merit 47% no merit 31.52% 18% 3% merit 39.79% 73% 12% merit 37.78% Phono-Graphix was introduced at Sparrow in January 2001.

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