The timing of this research inYear 3 classrooms was in the
first year of the implementation of the revised Northern
Ireland curriculum and all Year 3 classes had a statutory
duty to implement the new curriculum. Therefore, all children
were experiencing the same core curriculum and Lexia
fitted in well with this policy. The results of this study
provide evidence of the clear benefits that Lexia can offer in
the delivery of an individualised, structured and systematic
phonics intervention. It is essential in all evaluative research
that results are scrutinised not only at the level of the group
but also at an individual level so that consideration of possible
reasons for outcomes may be considered. Had this
research study merely looked at the statistical significance
of one group’s performance over the other then valuable
information would have been lost. It is important that educators have as much information as possible so that they can
identify how they can best use the resources available to
them. Lexia is a powerful resource in the teacher’s armoury
providing a hand-tailored approach to phonics. This individualised
approach and the detailed assessment data that
can be gleaned from it would be difficult to generate in a
‘one size fits all’ whole-class intervention.
This research would be strengthened by a follow-up study
to establish whether the gains made were sustained.