I just can’t take research from Scholastic about Scholastic books seriously. They kind of have a huge bias, don’t you think?

good points about one size not fitting all and decodable books – thanks!

thanks, Chanelle.

Some Research on using decodable text.

“Students’ accuracy & word recognition skills positively, significantly correlated with reading more highly decodable texts (Hoffman et al., 2000)
Readers’ performances on decoding & comprehension measures were superior when receiving direct phonics instruction with decodable texts (Foorman et al., 1998)
Students involved in scripted phonics lessons supplemented with decodable books performed better in reading pseudo-words (Juel & Roper-Schneider, 1985)
Students given explicit instruction in phonics & phonological awareness with decodable texts outperformed a less explicit phonics group that did not use decodable texts (Torgeson et al., 1999)”
(from presentation by Wick & Woodruff)

SUMMARY from a research study on decodable text (Scholastic Readers)
“Results of this study reveal that Scholastic Phonics Readers do make a
significant difference in beginning reading skills. The positive impact of this
teaching method is measurable through standardized assessments, such as the
Woodcock Reading Mastery Test, as well as more informal phonics, spelling,
and reading attitude instruments. Phonics instruction in addition to reading
practice with decodable text also made a positive impact on spelling ability,
which was demonstrated in students’ independent writing. It is evident that
using controlled text as an alternative to traditional trade literature for phonics
lesson follow-up is preferable for getting young children off to the best
start in learning to read. Furthermore, the results indicate that children gain
reading self-confidence using Scholastic Phonics Readers, which then leads to
reading enjoyment. Scholastic Phonics Readers contain stories that both
teachers and children will enjoy spending time with — stories that are
worth reading, discussing, and writing about. Thus, decodable texts can be
engaging and motivating to students. Most importantly, the evidence is that
they make a significant difference in teaching young children to read.”

This 58-page teacher’s guide provides a framework for using the findings of the National Reading Panel in the classroom. It describes the NRP findings and provides analysis and discussion in five areas of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. Each section also suggests implications for classroom instruction with examples of how the findings can be implemented.