"Making Sense of Decoding and Spelling: An Adult Reading Course of Study" is an evidence-based course of study designed to teach adult learners to decode and spell words more accurately and fluently. It is designed to be used as one component of a comprehensive adult reading course. The target population for the course is adult basic education…

This article reports the results from a randomized control field trial that investigated the impact of an enhanced decoding and spelling curriculum on the development of adult basic education (ABE) learners' reading skills. Sixteen ABE programs that offered class-based instruction to Low-Intermediate-level learners were randomly assigned to either…

To compare the efficacy of instructional programs for adult learners with basic reading skills below the 7th-grade level, 300 adults were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 supplementary tutoring programs designed to strengthen decoding and fluency skills, and gains were examined for the 148 adult students who completed the program. The 3 intervention…

This tenth edition of the best-selling book teaches reading using sounds and spelling patterns. These sounds and patterns are introduced one at a time, and slowly built into words, syllables, phrases, and sentences. Simple step-by-step directions begin every lesson. Although originally designed for K-2 emergent readers, this award-winning book is…

As a contribution to research on the reading behavior of adult beginning readers, two experiments were performed with adults reading on the first, second, and third grade levels. The experiments sought to determine whether the pattern of developing strategies in these adults differed from evolving patterns in children learning to read; differences…

The participants in this study, Joelle, Peter, Troy, and Malia (pseudonyms), are part of the approximately 25% of adults in the United States who function in the realm of low literacy. Adult literacy educators continually strive to meet the needs of this population. One challenge is to provide meaningful literacy programs for adults that will…

An Israeli study determined what happens when persons with low-literacy levels read news accounts that presuppose general knowledge that the writer expects them to have, but that they may not necessarily possess. The study sample consisted of about 600 students, mostly women, in 30 literacy centers throughout the country. In each class, adult…