Verbalizing (Bell, 1986). These materials provided
our students with the intensive practice they needed
to master word recognition skills. Teachers used informal
and formal assessments to tailor the instruction
to their students’ needs. Although teachers had
personal favorites, the school did not promote one
program above another. It recognized that the phonemic
awareness and phonics instruction needed to
be systematic and assessment needed to drive the instruction.
The programs do not differ significantly in
their effectiveness (National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development [NICHD], 2000).