麻豆淫院

Forget the dreaded Friday spelling test, and don't count on spell check to do the job. For too long, spelling has been treated as rote memorization or dismissed as unnecessary in an age of autocorrect and artificial intelligence writing tools.

A new study led by Assistant Professor Brennan Chandler has found that spelling instruction plays a critical role in helping students with learning disabilities succeed in both reading and writing.

The meta-analytic review, in the Journal of Learning Disabilities, analyzed 59 research trials including more than 2,200 students in grades K-9. The research team reviewed decades of evidence on spelling-focused interventions to understand their impact on students with or at risk for learning disabilities, such as dyslexia.

The results were clear: teaching spelling improves more than just spelling. Students in spelling interventions made measurable gains in both their ability to spell words correctly and their ability to read them. Certain approaches proved especially effective, such as teaching students to use multi-linguistic methods (integrating sounds, spelling patterns and word parts) and use study strategies. Other approaches, like phonics-based spelling instruction, not only improved spelling but also strengthened word reading skills.

Yet the review also revealed a gap: there are relatively few commercially available spelling intervention programs for schools to adopt. To address this, Chandler is working with his team to adapt and develop research-based spelling intervention routines that can be layered into existing reading instruction to intensify support for both reading and writing outcomes.

"For years, spelling has been treated as memorizing weekly word lists or something technology can fix with spell check," Chandler said. "But our findings show that direct and systematic spelling instruction is a powerful tool for learning. When schools give students, especially those with dyslexia, meaningful spelling instruction, it strengthens the foundation for both reading and writing and serves as an important tool for learning."

This is the first meta-analysis to comprehensively synthesize nearly five decades of spelling interventions research for students with or at-risk for learning disabilities. This study provides educators and policymakers with clear evidence that spelling instruction is an important piece of science-aligned literacy instruction.