Spelling Instruction and Achievement in Six Classrooms

Abstract

In this year-long study, we examined spelling instruction and achievement in 6 elementary classrooms. In each classroom we analyzed the spelling textbook curriculum, observed and recorded the teacher's instruction, and kept careful, ongoing records of student achievement. Results showed that (a) the spelling books provided carefully selected lists of grade-appropriate words but did not consistently emphasize research-based strategies for learning the words (e. g., self-corrected pretest and a study method), (b) the teachers' instruction followed closely the suggested activities in the spelling books, and (c) the students varied greatly in their mastery of the grade-level spelling patterns (at year's end, two-thirds of the students could spell 86% of a curriculum-based list correctly, but the lowest third of students could spell only 46% correctly). This study, although limited in scale, provides baseline information on how traditional spelling textbooks influence teacher instruction and student achievement.