Study Stresses Role of Early Phonics Instruction

A new study of predominantly poor 1st graders concludes that direct phonics instruction should be the first in a sequence of methods used to teach some students to read.

But the study, which has stoked the longstanding debate between phonics and whole-language backers even before its publication, cautions that a balanced approach to reading works best, as long as teachers begin with explicit, systematic phonics.

The findings are making their way into circulation at a time when more and more experts are calling for a balance of skills- and literature-based methods in teaching children to read and the debate is shifting to just what that means and when the different...