The purpose of this blog is to assist teachers nationwide in learning and using a reading program that I have personally found highly effective: Road to Reading: A Program for Preventing & Remediating Reading Difficulties by Dr. Benita A. Blachman and Dr. Darlene M. Tangel (published in 2008 by Brookes Publishing).
When I started this blog in 2011, I was a graduate student at Syracuse University (where Dr. Blachman taught). Having pursued first a Master's in Childhood Education and then a Master's in Literacy Education, I view Road to Reading as one of the most important tools I learned to use in helping children develop literacy skills. I have personally used Road to Reading with over a hundred students in different settings, and my former classmates and colleagues have used it with countless other children.
I can tell you that I have seen tremendous gains in student reading achievement as the result of my personal use of Road to Reading, but more importantly, this phonologically-based program is the result of many years of research by the authors and their colleagues. The results from several studies show significant positive gains for students who participated in the Road to Reading program compared to those who did not. For more detail on the research, see the following article:
Blachman, B. A., Schatschneider, C., Fletcher, J. M., Francis, D. J., Clonan, S., M., Shaywitz, B. A., & Shaywitz, S. E. (2004). Effects of intensive reading remediation for second and third graders and a 1-year follow-up. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 444-461.
Road to Reading takes a systematic approach to phonics instruction, using a logical 5-step lesson plan and teaching the 6 syllable patterns that exist in the English language. While I had the good fortune of learning the program from Dr. Blachman herself and from her close colleagues, teachers and teacher candidates at other institutions and across the country do not have this luxury. At Syracuse University, my classmates and I got to watch video footage of the original research using Road to Reading. However, for privacy and confidentiality reasons, these videos cannot be shared with a wider audience. Because I believe so strongly in the Road to Reading program, and because I would like teachers across the country to have the opportunity to learn how to use the program by watching video footage and reading tips from a user, I created this blog. It is my hope that readers of this blog will develop a thorough understanding of how to implement the Road to Reading program. I also hope that active users of Road to Reading will share their comments and tips with one another in the discussion sections of posts.
Please know that this blog is not officially sanctioned by Drs. Blachman or Tangel, nor by Brookes Publishing. It is simply my project, as a satisfied user of Road to Reading who wishes to share its utility with a wider audience. This blog is also certainly not a substitute for purchasing the program manual and reading it thoroughly.
Thank you for visiting, and thank you for being involved in the important work of teaching children to read!
Best,
Andrea Farrow
andreasuefarrow@gmail.com
