Program
Education K-12 M.A.
Number of Pages
82
Year Approved
2025
First Advisor
Lisa Silmser
Second Reader
Nathan Elliott
Abstract
This literature review explores what current research shows about how young children learn to read and what kinds of instruction best support students in kindergarten through second grade. The studies make it clear that early readers benefit from structured, explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, and letter–sound relationships. Researchers such as Ehri and the National Reading Panel demonstrate that helping children connect the sounds they hear to the print they see is essential for building strong decoding and word recognition skills. Several intervention studies highlight how small-group instruction, intentional modeling, and consistent routines can significantly help struggling learners. The review also looks at decodable texts and finds that they are most effective when they are meaningful, engaging, and aligned with the phonics patterns children are learning. Supplemental programs like UFLI and TRI offer examples of how structured practice and responsive teaching lead to meaningful growth in early literacy. Overall, the research supports the idea that young readers thrive when systematic phonics instruction is combined with rich language experiences and opportunities to make sense of texts.
Degree Name
Education K-12 M.A.
Document Type
Masterʼs thesis
Recommended Citation
Dorn, M. G. (2025). How Effective Structured Linguistic Phonics Instruction in K-2 Classrooms Support Early Literacy Development [Masterʼs thesis, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/1226
Terms of Use and License Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.