by Playfuls Staff |
31st January 2007
Educators have long debated whether phonics is most effective in teaching reading but a U.S. researcher says an [more] individualized program is best.
Florida State University Assistant Professor Carol Connor and colleagues at the University of Michigan have determined lots of individualized instruction is the most effective method -- vastly preferable to the standard "one size fits all" approach to reading education that is prevalent in many U.S. elementary schools.
"There is too much of a tendency in education to go with what 'sounds' really good," Connor said. "What we haven't done very well is conduct comprehensive field trials and perform the rigorous research that (is) the norm in other fields of science. With this study, we sought to do just that -- to take a systematic approach to what works, what doesn't, and why" when teaching students to read."
The study appears in the Jan. 26 issue of the journal Science.
© 2007 UPI
