Research Basis for All Aboard Phonics
All Aboard Learning began as Oxford Learning Solutions and has been a research-based organisation since 2008.
We have collated different strands of research into the causes of reading impairment from different domains of the research community, in order to get a global view of the possible causes of reading difficulty. We have discovered nine possible independent reasons why a child might be frustrated by reading.
Using that knowledge, we began building reading intervention resources in 2008 and testing them with thousands of learners. We tracked each learner individually, working with them individually around the world over the internet and learning from that experience.
That knowledge has now been compiled into our resources for All Aboard Phonics, which is getting unmatched results in the classroom as a result. See details on our two academic papers below.
Randomised Control Trial of Our Methodology
The Open University collected data in six London schools between October 2011 and June 2013, through a randomized control trial (RCT). Results show that children who were on average 2 years behind in reading age caught up to the national standard within 120 lessons.
That’s an average gain of 2 years in 4-6 months of daily lessons. You can see the published article in the Journal of Research in Reading. In 2019 it was shortlisted for an award for exemplary literacy research.
Correlational Study of All Aboard Phonics
A correlational study in five British state (public) schools found a 39% reduction in reading failures at the end of Year 1 (1st Grade).
You can read the full paper here.
Research Sources
We have taken research and opinions from a full range of academics, educationalists and other specialists. The methodology and tools we use combine this with our own research.
Books
Barry, S. R. (2009). Fixing My Gaze, Philadelphia: Basic Books.
Beresford, S. M., Muris, D.W., Allen, M. J. and Young F. A. (1996). Improve Your Vision, New York: Simon and Schuster.
Brooks, G. (2013). What works for children and young people with literacy difficulties?, London: Dyslexia-SpLD Trust.
Chall, J. (1967). Learning to Read: The Great Debate. New York: McGraw Hill.
Dehaene, S. (2009). Reading in the Brain. New York: Penguin.
Doyle, J. (1996). Dyslexia an Introductory Guide. London: Whurr Publishing.
Eide, B. and Eide, F. (2006). The Mislabelled Child. New York: Hyperion.
Fletcher-Campbell, F., Soler, J. and Reid, G. (2009). Approaching Difficulties in Literacy Development, Milton Keynes: The Open University.
Freis, C. C. (1962). Lingusitics and Reading. New York: Holt, Rinehard and Winston Inc.
Ginsburg, H. and Opper, S. (1979). Piaget’s Theory of Intellectual Development. Prentice Hall.
Goddard Blythe, S. (2009). Attention, Balance and Coordination, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Goodrich, J. (1996). Help Your Child To Perfect Eyesight Without Glasses, Berkeley: Celestial Arts.
Hulme, C. and Snowling, M. J. (2009). Developmental Disorders of Language Learning and Cognition. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Jager Adams, M. (1994). Beginning To Read. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Jama, D. and Dugdale, G. (2012). Literacy: State of the Nation. London: National Literacy Trust.
Lesnick, J., Goerge, R. M., Smithgall, C., & Gwynne, J. (2010). Reading on grade level in third grade: How is it related to high school performance and college enrollment? A longitudinal analysis of third-grade students in Chicago in 1996-97 and their educational outcomes. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.
Mathews, M. M. (1976). Teaching to Read: Historically Considered. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
McGuinness, D. (1998). Why Children Can’t Read, London: Penguin.
McGuinness, D. (1998). Reading Reflex, London: Penguin.
Meyers, L. S., Gamst, G. and Guarino, A.J. (2006). Applied Multivariate Research, London: Sage Publications.
Morgan, D. H. and Forrest, S. (2018). The 9 Main Causes of Reading Difficulty. Oxford: Helping Children to Read.
Norbury, C. F., Tomblin, J. B. and Bishop, D. V. M. (1998). Understanding Developmental Language Disorders. Hove: Psychology Press.
Pumfrey, P. (1991). Special Needs in Ordinary Schools. London: Cassell Educational.
Pumfrey, P. and Reason, R. (1991) Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia). London: Routledge.
Reid, G. (2009). Dyslexia. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Shaywitz, S. (2005). Overcoming Dyslexia. New York: Random House
Siegel, L. (2013). Understanding Dyslexia and Other Learning Disabilities, Vancouver: Pacific Education Press.
Smith, F. (1978). Understanding Reading: A psycholinguistic analysis of reading and learning to read. Holt, Rihehard and Winston.
Snowling, M. (2000). Dyslexia. Oxford: Blackwell.
Snowling, M. J. and Hulme, C. (2005), The Science of Reading. Oxford: Blackwell.
Soler, J., Fletcher-Campbell, F. and Reid, G. (2009). Understanding Difficulties in Literacy Development. Milton Keynes: The Open University.
Sousa, D. A. (2005). How the Brain Learns to Read. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
Warchowsky, J, H. (2012). How Behavioural Optometry Can Unlock Your Child’s Potential. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Wolf, M. (2008). Proust and the Squid. Cambridge: Icon Books.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge: Harvard University.
Research Papers
Billiet, C.R., Bellis, T.J. (2011). “The relationship between brainstem temporal processing and performance on tests of central auditory function in children with reading disorders”. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, Vol 54, 228-242
Blanchard, M. (2023). “The Relationship between Socioeconomic Status and Literacy: How Literacy is Influenced by and Influences SES”. Michigan Journal of Economics website: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mje/2023/01/05/the-relationship-between-socioeconomic-status-and-literacy-how-literacy-is-influenced-by-and-influences-ses
Boets, B., Wouters, J., van Wieringen, A., and Ghesquiere, P. (2007). “Auditory processing, speech perception and phonological ability in pre-school children at high-risk for dyslexia: A longitudinal study of the auditory temporal processing theory”. Neuropsychologia, vol 45, 1608–1620.
Booth, J. R., Perfetti, C. A., MacWhinney, B., and Hunt, S. B. (2000). “The association of rapid temporal perception with orthographic and phonological processing in children and adults with reading impairment”. Scientific Studies of Reading, vol 4, 101–132.
Bretherton, L., and Holmes, V. M. (2003). “The relationship between temporal auditory processing, phonemic awareness, and reading disability”. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, vol 84, 218–243.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). “Ecology of the family as a context for human development: Research perspectives”. Developmental Psychology, vol 22, 723-742.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). “Nature-Nuture Reconceptualized in Developmental Perspective: A Bioecological Model”. Psychological Review, vol 101, 568-586.
Bucci, M., Nassibi, N., Gerard, C-L., Bui-Quoc, E. and Seassau, M. (2012). “Immaturity of the Oculomotor Saccade and Vergence Interaction in Dyslexic Children: Evidence from a Reading and Visual Search Study”. PLoS ONE, vol 7, issue 3
Castles, A., Rastle, K. and Nation K. (2018). “Ending the Reading Wars: Reading acquisition from novice to expert”. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Vol 19(1), 5-51.
Cestnick, L., and Jerger, J. (2000). “Auditory temporal processing and lexical/nonlexical reading in developmental dyslexics”. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, vol 11, pp 501–513.
Chiappe, P., Stringer, R., Siegel, L. S., and Stanovich, K. E. (2002). “Why the timing deficit hypothesis does not explain reading disability in adults”. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol 15, 73–107.
Clearinghouse (2013), What works in literacy, http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/topic.aspx?sid=8, accessed 15/06/2013
Conole, G., Dyke, M., Oliver, M. and Seale J. (2004). “Mapping pedagogy and tools for effective learning design”. Computers and Education, vol 43, 17-33.
DFE (2023). “Validation of systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) teaching programs: supporting documentation”. UK DFE website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phonics-teaching-materials-core-criteria-and-self-assessment/validation-of-systematic-synthetic-phonics-programs-supporting-documentation.
DFES (2007), “Letters and Sounds: Principles and practice of high quality phonics”. DFES website: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7aa7b6e5274a34770e630c/Letters_and_Sounds_-_DFES-00281-2007.pdf
Duff, F. J, Mengoni, S. E., Bailey, A. M. and Snowling, M. J. (2015). “Validity and sensitivity of the phonics screening check: implications for practice”. Journal of Research in Reading, 38(2), 109-123.
Farmer, M. E., and Klein, R. M. (1995). “The evidence for a temporal processing deficit linked to dyslexia: A review”. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, vol 2, 460–493.
Feister, L. (2010). “Early warning! Why reading by the end of third grade matters”. Baltimore, MD: Annie E. Casey Foundation website: https://www.aecf.org/resources/early-warning-why-reading-by-the-end-of-third-grade-matters.
FFT Education Datalab (2023). “Year 1 Phonics Attainment 2023”. FFT Dducation Datalab website: https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2023/07/year-1-phonics-attainment-2023/.
Foster, MA; Lambert, R; Abbott-Shim, M; McCarty, F; Franze (2005). “A model of home learning environment and social risk factors in relation to children’s emergent literacy and social outcomes”. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, vol 20, 13-36
Georgiou, G., Protopapas, A., Papadopoulos, T. C., Skaloumbakas, C., and Parrila, R. (2010). “Auditory temporal processing and dyslexia in an orthographically consistent language”. Cortex, vol 46, 1330–1344.
Gibson, L. Y., Hogben, J. H., and Fletcher, J. (2006). “Visual and auditory processing and component reading skills in developmental dyslexia”. Cognitive Neuropsychology, vol 23, 621–642.
Goldstone, R.L. (1998). “Perceptual Learning”. Annual Review of Psychology, vol 49, 585-612
Goodman, K.S. (1967). “Reading: A psycholinguistic guessing game”. Literacy Research and Instruction, 6, 126-135.
Goswami, U. (2011). “A temporal sampling framework for developmental dyslexia”. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol 15, 3–10.
Hatzidaki, A., Gianneli, M., Petrakis, E., Makaronas, N., and Aslanides, I. M. (2010). “Reading and visual processing in Greek dyslexic children: An eye-movement study”. Dyslexia, vol 17, 85–104.
Hartas, D. (2011). “Families’ social backgrounds matter: socio-economic factors, home learning and young children’s language, literacy and social outcomes”. British Educational Research Journal, vol 37, 893-914
Hollin, C. R. and Howells, K. (1987). “Lay explanations of delinquency: Global or offence-specific?”. British Journal of Social Psychology, vol 26, 203–210.
Hood, M., and Conlon, E. (2004). “Visual and auditory temporal processing and early reading development”. Dyslexia, vol 10, 234–252.
Hooi Yin Loo, J., Bamiou, D-E. and Rosen, S (2013). “The impacts of language background and language-related disorders in auditory processing assessment”. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, Vol 56, 1-12
Kronbichler, M., Hutzler, F., and Wimmer, H. (2002). “Dyslexia: Verbal impairments in the absence of magnocellular impairments. NeuroReport, vol 13, 617–620.
Marks, D. F. (2007). “Literacy not intelligence moderates the relationships between economic development, income inequality and health”. British Journal of Health Psychology, Vol 12, 179-184.
Marshall, C. M., Snowling, M. J., and Bailey, P. J. (2001). “Rapid auditory processing and phonological ability in normal readers and readers with dyslexia”. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing, vol 44, 925–940.
Martini, F. and Senechal, M. (2012). “Learning literacy skills at home: parent teaching, expectations and child interest”. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, Vol 44, 210-221
McLean, G. M. T., Stuart, G. W., Coltheart, V., and Castles, A. (2011). “Visual temporal processing in dyslexia and the magnocellular deficit theory: The need for speed?” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, vol 37, 1957–1975.
Messer, D. and Nash, G. (2017). “An evaluation of the effectiveness of a computer-assisted reading intervention”. Journal of Research in Reading, Vol 41(1), 140-158.
Miles, S. B., & Stipek, D. (2006). “Contemporaneous and longitudinal associations between social behavior and literacy achievement in a sample of low-income elementary school children”. Child Development, 77(1), 103–117.
Molfese, D. and Molfese, V. (2002). “Environmental and social influences on reading skills as indexed by brain and behavioral responses”. Annals of Dyslexia, vol 52, 121-137.
NAEP (2022). “NAEP Reading Assessment Highlights”, Nation’s Report Card website: https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/reading/2022/
OECD (2000). “Literacy in the Information Age: Literacy and education by age”. OECD Publications.
OECD (2023). “PISA Reading Performance”. OECD website: https://data.oecd.org/pisa/reading-performance-pisa.htm
Papadopoulos, T. C., Georgiou, G. K., and Kendeou, P. (2009). “Investigating the double-deficit hypothesis in Greek: Findings from a longitudinal study”. Journal of Learning Disabilities, vol 42, 528–547.
Patterson, M. B. (2018). “Incarcerated Adults with Low Skills: Findings from the 2014 PIAAC Prison Study”. PIAAC Gateway website: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51bb74b8e4b0139570ddf020/t/5babc9ea419202c3b360e221/1537985002744/2018_Patterson_Incarcerated+Adults+with+Low+Skills_Final.pdf.
Ramus, F. (2003). “Developmental dyslexia: Specific phonological deficit or general sensorimotor dysfunction?”. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, vol 13, 212–218.
Reed, M. A. (1989). “Speech perception and the discrimination of brief auditory cues in reading disabled children”. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, vol 48, 270–292.
Richardson, U., Thomson, J. M., Scott, S. K., and Goswami, U. (2004). “Auditory processing skills and phonological representation in dyslexic children”. Dyslexia, vol 10, 215–233.
Riksen-Walraven, J.M. (1978). “Effects of caregiver behaviour on habituation rate and self-efficacy in infants”. International Journal of Behavioral Development, Vol 1, 105-130.
Rose, J (2006), Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading, London, DFES-0201-2006, UK Government.
Petscher, Y., Cabell, S. Q., Catts, H. W., Compton, D. L., Foorman, B. R., Hart, S. A., Lonigan, C. J., Phillips, B. M., Schatschneider, C., Steacy, L. M., Terry, N. P., & Wagner, R. K. (2020). “How the science of reading informs 21st century education”. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S267-S282. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.352
Solity, J. E. (2020), “Instructional psychology and teaching reading: Ending the reading wars”. Educational and Developmental Psychologist, Vol 37(2), 123-132.
Solity, J. E. (2022), “Instructional Psychology and Teaching Reading: An analysis of the evidence underpinning government policy and practice”. Review of Education, Vol 10(1), https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3349.
SpLD-Dyslexia Trust (2013), Interventions for Literacy [online], http://www.interventionsforliteracy.org.uk/interventions/list-view/.
Stein, J. F., Talcott, J. B., and Walsh, V. (2000). “Controversy about the evidence for a visual magnocellular deficit in developmental dyslexics”. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol 4, 209–211.
Studdert-Kennedy, M. (2002), Deficits in phoneme awareness do not arise from failures in rapid auditory processing, Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol 15, 5–14.
Wegerif, R. and Mercer, N. (2010), Using computer-based text analysis to integrate qualitative and quantitative methods in research on collaborative learning, Language and Education, vol 11, 271-286.
Wolf, M., and Bowers, P. G. (1999), The double deficit hypothesis for the developmental dyslexias, Journal of Educational Psychology, vol 91, 415–438.