Question: Are there teaching strategies used at the K-12 level that might be effective for teaching alphabetics to adults?

There are six Ideas from the K-12 research in the teaching strategies category. Each is listed along with a link to a brief discussion of the research from the NRP report.

Idea
To teach phonemic awareness skills to ABE beginning and intermediate readers, provide focused and explicit instruction on one or two PA skills rather than teaching a combination of three or more skills. Focusing on two particular skills, blending and segmenting, may be most effective.
Read the discussion of the research.

Idea
To teach phonemic awareness skills to ABE beginning and intermediate readers, teach students how to manipulate phonemes (e.g., how to blend and segment words) using letters rather than using only oral instruction.
Read the discussion of the research.

Idea
To improve ABE beginning and intermediate readers' ability to decode regularly spelled words and read familiar sight words, teach phonemic awareness.
Read the discussion of the research.

Idea
To teach decoding of regularly spelled words and recognition of irregularly spelled sight words to adult beginning and intermediate readers, use systematic as opposed to non-systematic phonics instruction.
Read the discussion of the research.

Idea
To teach decoding of regularly spelled words and recognition of irregularly spelled sight words to adult beginning and intermediate readers, use systematic programs that focus on individual phonemes or that focus on larger parts of words.
Read the discussion of the research.

Idea
To teach word recognition, use fluency instruction (repeated readings and guided oral reading, for example) to supplement regular word recognition instruction.
Read the discussion of the research.