In 2003, the National Assessment of Educational Process (NAEP) fourth grade reading scores showed the percentage of children operating “below basic” achievement level to be at 37%. It has also been shown that 60% of students find learning to read a formidable challenge.

Many of these statistically failing readers, however, are highly intelligent children with reading disabilities. Reading success or failure for these students is directly connected to teaching approaches, and especially to the amount of instructional time devoted to direct teaching. According to the research, children who possess reading disabilities develop into capable readers when taught with an explicit, systematic method.

Current research by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD) demonstrates that the main underlying cause of reading disabilities lies in the area of language, specifically in phonological processing. Phonological processing is the act of segmenting syllables and words into corresponding sound units called phonemes. A student with phonological processing difficulties cannot recognize and use segments of sounds; any variation in the number, identity, or order of the segments cannot be noted and represented by the student. Students with this difficulty do not readily acquire the alphabetic code. This shows up in the students’ inability to link a letter name to the correct sound and to remember the sequence of letters in words. Many of these students also have an inability to rhyme, to link speaking to reading and spelling, and to decode words accurately and fluently.

This knowledge makes for an exciting time in education. We can now identify at-risk children in kindergarten and prevent reading failure with educational programming. By mid-year in kindergarten, we can administer tests of phonological awareness, letter naming, and rapid word naming. These tests can identify students who will need an explicit, systematic method of teaching reading readiness skills and, subsequently, reading skills. At least 20–30 percent of children in kindergarten classrooms will fit the criteria requiring an explicit, systematic approach. These children will fail to acquire literacy if not taught the specific information they need to become readers beginning in kindergarten.

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