Spelfabet

There now seems to be a firestorm of people around the English-speaking world working to ensure reading and spelling skills are taught in accordance with current reading science. Publishers/suppliers involved in this effort already have their contacts under the “phonics resources” menu, but here are some others. Let me know if you have suggested additions.

Click here for US public media journalist Emily Hanford’s plain-English documentaries and podcast on how mainstream literacy-teaching approaches let both students and teachers down.

Australia

• The Advancing Structured Literacy Practices Alliance facebook page.
• AUSPELD and its state-based affiliates, is a group behind the Primary Reading Pledge, and has a great website called Understanding Learning Difficulties for Parents.
• The Australian Centre for the Advancement of Literacy is part of the Australian Catholic University.
• Code READ Dyslexia Network
• Dyslexia Victoria Support‘s website links to parent-run facebook groups nationwide.
• Emina McLean, a Speech Pathology academic and school-based literacy specialist, writes a great blog about language and literacy best practice.
• Five from Five is a project started by Dr Jennifer Buckingham, which is now a community project to promote evidence-based reading instruction supported by Multilit, and is a group behind the Primary Reading Pledge.
• Greg Ashman is a teacher in Ballarat who writes a great blog about educational research.
• The Inspiring Change Facebook group was set up by NT teacher Jocelyn Seamer, who has now moved to Tasmania, writes a great blog and has a podcast for teachers.
• Kerry Hempenstall is a Melbourne academic with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the reading /learning research, which he shares here in his blogs.
• Learning Difficulties Australia‘s purpose is to assist students with learning difficulties through effective practices based on scientific research.
• The Literacy Hub is a federal-government-funded website with lots of useful resources including free training, and the Australian Year One Phonics Check.
• Linguist Lyn Stone writes the This Heart Of Stone blog and has lots of videos on Youtube.
• Ollie Lovell is a Melbourne teacher with a great blog and podcast.
• PhOrMeS is a free Primary word reading, spelling and learning curriculum written by teacher Shane Pearson and colleagues at Brandon Park Primary School.
• Professor Pamela Snow writes an excellent blog, The Snow Report, and heads up the Science of Language And Reading (SOLAR) lab at La Trobe University with Associate Professor Tanya Serry. Pam is also one of the people behind the Bendigo Early Language and Literacy Community of Practice.
• Queensland dyslexia advocate Tanya Forbes has some freely available films on YouTube.
• Science of Teaching and Learning (SOTLA) is a nonprofit promoting research-aligned teaching practices.
• Sharing Best Practice (formerly People Who Like To Talk About Teaching) is a Facebook group with lots of great info on EBP, they also run affordable professional development days.
• Reading Science in Schools is a professionals’ group promoting evidence-based literacy instruction in Australian Schools. It grew from its Facebook group.
• Reading Teachers Australia is another Facebook community and also has a website.
• The Tasmanian Literacy Alliance “envisions a 100% literate Tasmania”.
• Think Forward Educators is now a national community of educators seeking to build literacy for social equity.

Canada

• Dyslexia Canada
• Pedagogy Non Grata is a nifty website about educational research.

International

• Developmental Disorders of Language and Literacy Network is an online network of professionals seeking to close the gap between research and practice in literacy teaching.
• International Dyslexia Association, which has branches/affiliates around the world.
• The International Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction
• The Melissa and Lori Love Literacy podcast gives us all a chance to learn about reading science from world experts while doing housework or walking the dog.
• I’m not sure where it’s based but The Reading Ape blog is always interesting.
• ResearchEd is a teacher-led initiative to raise the research literacy of educators and bridge the gap between research and practice in education. Their amazing Youtube channel full of free PD by the world’s experts is here.
• Speech-Language Pathologists for Evidence-Based Practice is a Facebook group
• The Society for the Scientific Study of Reading
• The SpellTalk listserve: is a US-based professional discussion group about spelling, and a good source of information about current research.

New Zealand

• Learning Difficulties Association of New Zealand
• Lifting Literacy Aotearoa now has a website as well as a facebook page.

United Kingdom

Systematic, explicit synthetic phonics teaching is mandated in the early years in the UK, so the main focus of advocates is struggling older readers and related difficulties like DLD:

• Debbie Heppelwhite is a teacher, teacher trainer and author who actively campaigns for evidence-based teaching of reading, spelling and handwriting.
• How To Teach Reading is a blog by UK specialist reading/dyslexia tutor Monique Nowers.
• Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder – this site’s focus is oral language difficulties, but these often co-occur with decoding and spelling difficulties.
• Reading Reform Foundation
• Susan Godsland’s website is a cornucopia of interesting ideas and links.
• The Literacy Blog is by John Walker of Sounds-Write, but discusses broader topics.
• The Reading Ape blog is also excellent.
• The Thinking Reading blog by Dianne and James Murphy focuses mainly on adolescents.

United States

• The Children of the Code website has masses of useful information.
• DLD and Me focuses on learners with oral language difficulties, but they often also have decoding/encoding difficulties.
• The Florida Center for Reading Research has been an engine-room for evidence-based teaching for many years and has many great resources.
• The International Dyslexia Association website and Youtube channel are both full of helpful information.
• Journalist Emily Hanford at APM Reports is a powerful advocate of the reading science.
• Teacher Jared Cooney has some great videos about research translation in education, including two on the Reading Wars here and here.
• National Institute for Direct Instruction (nifty acronym NIFDI).
• The PATTAN network’s literacy team, led by Pam Kastner, has an incredible YouTube channel, some of their key literacy videos are on this playlist. Pam also makes Padlets.
• Teach My Kid To Read is a nonprofit working with libraries and communities, and has a great YouTube channel.
• The Reading League – teachers, academics and others promoting the science of reading, has chapters around the US, and this great Curriculum Evaluation Tool and Youtube channel.
• Reading Rockets is a national public media literacy initiative full of good information.
• There is a Pennsylvania-based Science of Reading Facebook group here.
• Reading specialist teacher Tiffany Peltier writes a great blog called Understanding The Science of Reading.
• Wiley Blevins is a teacher and author whose website contains great information, such as this.