Faizan Zaki, age 13, spelled the word “eclaircissement” and collapsed on the floor in victory as confetti showered him at the 100th Scripps National Spelling Bee last week.
The annual competition took place just outside the District of Columbia, with 243 spellers from across all 50 states. Spellers, who have won a regional competition, must be younger than 15 years old and at an 8th grade level or below to participate.
So, what exactly drives students and educators to participate in a spelling bee, whether at their school or on the national stage?
Research indicates that learning to spell is directly correlated with improved reading and writing skills, especially for young learners. Yet many schools across the country no longer do spelling tests and have cut explicit spelling instruction from their curriculum.
Spelling bees can help fill the gaps. Experts told Education Week that spelling bees are both educational and enjoyable for kids, in part because they allow for some friendly competition.
“Some people think of it as memorization, but the national spelling bee is not memorization at all. It is the origin of the word and where it comes from—it’s quite amazing, actually,” said Nikki Montana, the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee Educator of the Year and an instructional coach at Edwin Forrest Elementary School in Philadelphia.
The science behind spelling
Before becoming the associate provost and dean of the graduate college at Missouri State University, Julie Masterson focused her research on linguistics and literacy.
Masterson said there are four skills that students hone through practicing spelling: learning how certain letters make a specific sound, how specific letters create meaning, how sound and meaning work together to form a word, and then associating mental pictures with words.
“The problem is when some people view spelling as some sort of memorized non-meaningful ability that just has to be learned,” said Masterson. But in reality, “kids who are preparing for these spelling competitions are taught to appreciate, develop, hone, and sharpen these [four] skills.”
These skills are reflected in the questions competitors ask during a spelling bee. Spellers can ask for clarifying information, such as language of origin, definition, part of speech, or an alternate pronunciation of a word.
Champion Faizan, who is in 7th grade in Dallas, uses these questions during his hour-long practice sessions, according to The Washington Post. Faizan also said he spends dozens of hours a week studying words, practicing deductive reasoning, and doing vocabulary drills with his coach to develop the skills needed to be a competitive speller.
Benefits of spelling bees
Learning to spell can increase students’ reading proficiency, Masterson noted. She and her colleagues developed software to analyze how students spell and methods to help them learn better.
“When we did interventions based on the nature of the errors that we saw in children’s spelling, not only did spelling get better, but we actually got even bigger effects on word-level reading,” said Masterson.
Montana, who helped build her schoolwide spelling bee contest over the last 10 years, has noticed that spelling bees have been especially beneficial for English learners in her school, who make up 300 of the 800 students.
“A lot of classroom winners are English-language learners, and their parents come in and get to see their growth,” said Montana.
The skills developed in learning to spell and through participating in spelling bees can build camaraderie between students and teachers, said Montana. Plus, it’s accessible.
“I knew my kids needed some kind of academic competition,” said Montana. “This is something anybody can do at home.”
