From Struggle to Success: Real Results from Our Evidence-Based Programmes
When parents watch their child struggle with reading, the emotional weight can be overwhelming. Questions flood in: "Will they catch up?" "Are we doing enough?" "What if this affects their confidence forever?" These concerns are valid, and early intervention truly matters.
Today, we're sharing real results from our evidence-based programmes - not just statistics, but a genuine success story that demonstrate the power of structured, systematic literacy instruction.
The Challenge: A Common Story
Meet Sarah (name changed for confidentiality), a bright 6-year-old who loved art, but found reading increasingly frustrating. Her parents noticed she avoided books with lots of text and preferred familiar stories she'd memorised. At school, she was identified as needing reading support, yet no formal intervention was in place.
Sarah's challenges included:
Difficulty blending sounds together despite recognising individual letters
Slow reading rate of just 22 words per minute
Working memory difficulties affecting sentence construction in writing
Low confidence in literacy tasks
Her family history revealed additional risk factors: parent has undiagnosed dyslexia, and her sibling showed similar tendencies. Research consistently shows that dyslexia has a hereditary component, with children having a 40-60% chance of developing reading difficulties if a parent is affected (Pennington & Olson, 2005).
The Intervention: Evidence-Based Excellence
Rather than waiting for Sarah to fall further behind, her parents sought early intervention - a decision supported by decades of research. The National Reading Panel (2000) emphasises that systematic phonics instruction significantly improves reading achievement, particularly for struggling readers.
Sarah's programme incorporated:
Structured Phonological Awareness Training: Beginning with basic sound discrimination and progressing to phoneme manipulation. Research demonstrates phonological awareness as one of the strongest predictors of reading success (Wagner & Torgesen, 1987).
Systematic Phonics Instruction: Using a carefully sequenced scope covering consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, digraphs, blends, and syllable types. This follows the Science of Reading principles that emphasise explicit, systematic instruction (Castles et al., 2018).
Multisensory Learning: Incorporating visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic pathways through techniques like finger spelling, highlighting and dark pencils.
High-Frequency Word Development: Building automatic recognition of common words to improve reading fluency and comprehension.
The Results: Significant Progress
After sessions over 6 months, Sarah's progress was incredible:
Reading Accuracy and Fluency
Accuracy: Improved from 93% to 97%
Reading rate: Increased from 22 to 31 words per minute (41% improvement)
Text level: Advanced from Concept 3 to Concept 12 complexity
Phonological Awareness
Initial sound identification: Progressed from 40% to 100%
Isolating and Blending: Each improved from 80% to 100%
Advanced skills: Now manipulating beginning and end sounds with increasing confidence
Decoding Sounds in Isolation and Psuedo-words
Sounds in Isolation: Individual sounds, digraphs and blends, all progressed to 100%. Now decoding LSASVS, soft sounds, vowel teams and diphthongs
Psuedo-words: Progressed from 50% for closed syllables and digraphs to 100%, plus ability to decode open syllables, triple blends, silent e and more complex sounds.
Word Recognition
High-frequency words: Increased from 33 to 78 words (136% improvement)
Decoding strategy: Shifted from laborious sounding out to automatic recognition
Writing Development
Spelling accuracy: Significant improvement in phonetic representation
Creative expression: Increased confidence and varied sentence structures
Punctuation: Consistent use of capitals and full stops
The Science Behind Success
These results align with extensive research on effective literacy intervention:
Early Intervention Matters: Studies show that children who receive intensive intervention in New Entrants, Year 1 and Year 2 are significantly more likely to achieve average reading levels than those who wait (Torgesen, 2004).
Systematic Phonics Works: Meta-analyses consistently demonstrate that systematic phonics instruction produces substantial gains in reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension (Ehri et al., 2001).
Multisensory Approaches Are Effective: Research validates multisensory structured language education for students with dyslexia, showing greater gains than traditional methods (Birsh, 2011).
One-to-One Instruction Maximises Progress: Intensive individual instruction allows for personalised pacing and immediate feedback, crucial for struggling readers (Wasik & Slavin, 1993).
Beyond the Numbers: Building Confidence
Whilst quantitative data tells an important story, the qualitative changes are equally significant. Sarah's parents report increased willingness to attempt reading tasks, reduced anxiety around literacy activities, and growing confidence in her abilities.
This aligns with research showing that early literacy success creates positive feedback loops - as children improve, they engage more, leading to further improvement (Stanovich, 1986).
Key Takeaways for Parents and Educators
1. Act Early: Don't wait for children to fall significantly behind. Early intervention is more effective and less intensive than later remediation.
2. Seek Evidence-Based Programmes: Look for interventions grounded in the Science of Reading with systematic, explicit instruction.
3. Individualise Instruction: Every child's needs are unique. Personalised scope and sequence based on assessment data optimises progress.
4. Monitor Progress: Regular assessment ensures instruction remains targeted and effective.
5. Support the Whole Child: Address confidence and motivation alongside skill development.
The Path Forward
Sarah's story isn't unique - it's representative of what's possible when evidence-based practice meets dedicated instruction. Her journey continues with ongoing support to consolidate gains and tackle more complex literacy skills.
For families facing similar challenges, remember that struggling with reading doesn't define a child's potential. With appropriate intervention, most children can achieve reading success.
The research is clear: systematic, explicit, multisensory instruction works. The question isn't whether struggling readers can improve - it's whether we'll provide them with the evidence-based support they deserve.
If your child is experiencing reading difficulties, early assessment and intervention can make all the difference. Contact us to learn more about our evidence-based programmes.
References
Birsh, J. R. (Ed.). (2011). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills. Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
Castles, A., Rastle, K., & Nation, K. (2018). Ending the reading wars: Reading acquisition from novice to expert. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(1), 5-51.
Ehri, L. C., Nunes, S. R., Stahl, S. A., & Willows, D. M. (2001). Systematic phonics instruction helps students learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel's meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 71(3), 393-447.
National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Pennington, B. F., & Olson, R. K. (2005). Genetics of dyslexia. In M. J. Snowling & C. Hulme (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 453-472). Blackwell Publishing.
Ritchey, K. D., & Goeke, J. L. (2006). Orton-Gillingham and Orton-Gillingham—based reading instruction: A review of the literature. The Journal of Special Education, 40(3), 171-183.
Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21(4), 360-407.
Torgesen, J. K. (2004). Lessons learned from research on interventions for students who have difficulty learning to read. In P. McCardle & V. Chhabra (Eds.), The voice of evidence in reading research (pp. 355-382). Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
Wagner, R. K., & Torgesen, J. K. (1987). The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. Psychological Bulletin, 101(2), 192-212.
Wasik, B. A., & Slavin, R. E. (1993). Preventing early reading failure with one-to-one tutoring: A review of five programs. Reading Research Quarterly, 28(2), 178-200.
