New York City Department of Education Literacy Intervention Pilot Project

A combination of teacher effort and fidelity to THE SPALDING METHOD® have strongly contributed to the improvement of literacy skills across all types of classes with many different types of learners.

In collaboration with Reading Reform Foundation and the Rose Institute for Learning and Literacy at Manhattanville College

This report presents evidence regarding the progress of students in kindergarten, first and second grades who received the collaboration’s intervention between September 2015 and May 2016. It examines student achievement as the result of both professional development and ongoing coaching to improve teachers’ effectiveness teaching beginning reading and spelling with the Spalding approach.

word decoding first grade
Figure 1: First grade word decoding results comparison from before and after implementing THE SPALDING METHOD®.

(Gates-MacGinitie test results from September 2015 vs. May 2016).
word decoding first grade mb
Figure 1: First grade word decoding results comparison from before and after implementing THE SPALDING METHOD®.

(Gates-MacGinitie test results from September 2015 vs. May 2016).
spelling first grade
Figure 2: First grade spelling results comparison from before and after implementing THE SPALDING METHOD®.

(Morrison McCall Spelling test results from September 2015 vs. May 2016).
spelling first grade mb
Figure 2: First grade spelling results comparison from before and after implementing THE SPALDING METHOD®.

(Morrison McCall Spelling test results from September 2015 vs. May 2016).
letters and sounds kindergarten
Figure 3: Kindergarten letters and sounds knowledge results comparison from before and after implementing THE SPALDING METHOD®.

(Sands test results from September 2015 vs. May 2016).
letters and sounds mb
Figure 3: Kindergarten letters and sounds knowledge results comparison from before and after implementing THE SPALDING METHOD®.

(Sands test results from September 2015 vs. May 2016).
spelling second grade
Figure 4: Second grade spelling results comparison from before and after implementing THE SPALDING METHOD®.

(Morrison McCall Spelling test results from September 2015 vs. May 2016).
spelling second grade mb
Figure 4: Second grade spelling results comparison from before and after implementing THE SPALDING METHOD®.

(Morrison McCall Spelling test results from September 2015 vs. May 2016).

Substantial growth was found across all measures for all kindergarten, first and second grade classes. The instructional program that involved teacher coaching combined with THE SPALDING METHOD® of explicit phonics instruction improved students’ alphabetic knowledge, word reading, reading comprehension, and spelling performance. Regardless of the type of classroom (i.e., general education, ICT, or self-contained) all classes improved significantly from September to May on literacy skills.

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