References

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Institute for Educational Sciences, US Department of Education, nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/. Data tables from https://datacenter.aecf.org/#USA/

Whole language, Phonics, blended or balanced reading instruction (various references)
​www.readinghorizons.com/reading-strategies/teaching/phonics-instruction/reading-wars-phonics-vs-whole-language-reading-instruction

​www.ascd.org/publications/curriculum-update/fall1995/Whole-Language.aspx

​en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_language

​files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED545621.pdf

​www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/11/the-reading-wars/376990/

​www.nichd.nih.gov/research/supported/nrp

​www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/smallbook

​balancedreading.com

​www.parkerphonics.com/post/a-brief-history-of-reading-instruction

Evidence for studies based upon phonics
Most phonics programs claim success based primarily upon improved scores for phonics-related testing. There is no evidence that improvement on phonics tests translates to increased scores for reading fluency and comprehension. There is a broad assumption in the education community that increased phonics scores equals improved reading scores, which is not supported in any recognized studies.  

One of the best resources for information is the What Works Clearing House.
​ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/FWW/Results?filters=,Literacy

For most generally accepted phonics-based reading programs in use today, either there are no studies that show improved reading comprehension or if listed, they actually show there is no effect on early fluency and comprehension.

(9) Kennewick case study
Original information on the immersion, catch-up, concept came from the Kennewick School District in Washington State. A book was written on the study entitled "Annual Growth for all Students, Catch-up Growth for those who are behind", Fielding, Kerr, Rosier, 2007. Subsequently, we have worked with an elementary school in Colorado Springs called Soaring Eagles Elementary. They are a Title 1 school that has won many awards and has been recognized by the state of Colorado as a leading school. They have scored above state average consistently for over 10 years and they attribute their success to the immersion, or catch-up, model. 
​
Percentage of English words that can be sounded out with a true letter-to-sound correlation.
http://readingkingdom.com/files/Reading_Kingdom_Curriculum.pdf 
Please go to page 83 for a complete explanation and references.

Phonics rules
blog.allaboutlearningpress.com/when-two-vowels-go-walking/

Reading aloud and talking studies
www.wvearlychildhood.org/resources/C-13_Handout_1.pdf

Soaring Eagles immersion model
See Item (9)
​
Non-content words
We first learned of the importance of non-content or sight words from Dr. Marion Blank. https://www.drmarionblank.com/
https://www.readingkingdom.com/

Sequencing
https://www.drmarionblank.com/
https://www.readingkingdom.com/

fMRI scans showing differences between good and struggling readers
See the works of Jack M. Fletcher, Ph.D. from the Department of Psychology University of Houston and Stanislas Dehaene.

Dyslexia, hard to determine developmental vs. instructions issues
From an article written by Dr. Marion Blank, not published.
Given the confidence with which that diagnosis is used, it may come as a surprise to find that currently there is no clear, solid test for dyslexia. In 1994, a leading researcher Keith Stanovich in a paper titled “Does dyslexia exist?” argued that there were no persuasive grounds for attempting to distinguish “developmental dyslexia” from any of the other possible causes of reading failure, such as low general ability, lack of family support or poor teaching. Despite the many research studies that have followed, Stanovich’s doubts still hold. Writing in 2017 in the journal Language, Cognition and Neuroscience,  John Stein from Oxford University states that “all poor readers seem to have similar phonological problems” making it “difficult to distinguish developmental dyslexia from social causes of reading failure.”

Students who enter kindergarten already reading or on the cusp
www.nomanis.com.au/post/why-do-some-children-learn-to-read-without-explicit-teaching

Early exposure to reading and talking better prepare children to succeed in school.
See above.

Adverse Childhood Experiences
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4732356/

Cognitive skills model
Our work is based upon the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of Cognitive Abilities
​en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattell–Horn–Carroll_theory
​onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781118660584.ese0431​
​www.iapsych.com/chccogachmeta/CHCtheoryofcognitiveabilities.html

Early childhood development, first 2000 days
​buildthefoundation.org/initiative/first-2000-days/