http://www.ldonline.org/article/6254

Phonological Awareness: Instructional and Assessment Guidelines

By: David J. Chard and Shirley V. Dickson (1999)

No area of reading research has gained as much attention over the past two decades as phonological awareness. Perhaps the most exciting finding
emanating from research on phonological awareness is that critical levels of phonological awareness can be developed through carefully planned
instruction, and this development has a significant influence on children’s reading and spelling achievement (Ball & Blachman, 1991; Bradley & Bryant,
1985; Byrne & Fielding-Barnsley, 1989, 1991; O’Connor, Jenkins, Leicester, & Slocum, 1993).

http://www.reading.org/resources/issues/positions_phonemic.html

The position statement of the International Reading Association.

Research has shown that a child’s awareness of the sounds of spoken words is a strong predictor of his or her later success in learning to read. Teachers
of young children can encourage play with spoken language as part of a broader literacy program. Nursery rhymes, riddles, songs, poems, and
read-aloud books that manipulate sounds are all effective vehicles.

http://www.readingrockets.org/articles/408

By: Marilyn J. Adams, Barbara Foorman, Ingvar Lundberg, and Terri Beeler
(1998)

Research shows that the very notion that spoken language is made up of sequences of little sounds does not come naturally or easily to human
beings. The small units of speech that correspond to letters of an alphabetic writing system are called phonemes. Thus, the awareness that
language is composed of these small sounds is termed phonemic awareness.

http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/phoemic.p.k12.4.html

Author: Roger Sensenbaugh

Kidsource Online has a wonderful selection of information regarding research and practice on phonological and phonemic awareness and learning to read. Educators are always looking for valid and reliable predictors of educational achievement. One reason why educators are so interested in phonemic awareness is that research indicates that it is the best predictor of the ease of early reading acquisition (Stanovich, 1993-94), better even than IQ, vocabulary, and listening comprehension.

http://www.sedl.org/reading/framework/glossary.html

Glossary of Reading Terms
Cognitive Foundations of Learning to Read: A Framework

The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) publishes an on-line resource for teachers--a glossary of terms!  The study of reading is a
science with roots in many domains; linguists study reading, psychologists study reading, educators study reading, even computer scientists are
studying reading. The process of reading has been dissected and examined from a variety of perspectives, and experts in the field have had to adopt
and modify terminology or generate new terminology to describe what their examinations have revealed.

http://www.sedl.org/pubs/catalog/items/read97.html

Reading First Awards Database

Authors: U. S. Department of Education, Lacy Wood (editor), Brian Litke (programmer), Shirley Beckwith (editor)

Reading First is an ambitious national initiative to help every young child in every state become a successful reader. This effort is based on high
expectations for what can and should happen for all students: that instructional decisions will be guided by the best available research.

http://www.reading.org/resources/issues/positions_evidence_based.html

What Is Evidence-Based Reading Instruction?

The International Reading Association’s Position Paper.

To be described as “evidence based,” an instructional program or collection of practices should have been tested and shown to have a record of success. That is, reliable, trustworthy, and valid evidence indicates that when that program or set of practices is used, children can be expected to make
adequate gains in reading achievement. “Research-based instruction” is sometimes used to convey the same meaning.

Read this statement to understand what “evidence-based” means and does not mean.

http://www.nifl.gov/cgi-bin/pfr/search.cgi

National Institute of Literacy:  Explore the evidence-based research on reading instruction using this database

This national website gives the reader a way to search by author or study any published material related to evidence-based reading instruction.

http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/units/fluency.htm

This website designed by Busy Teachers Cafe, is a treasure trove of information about the aspects of fluency (accuracy, rate, and prosody), a
discussion of when, how and where to teach fluency, and links for more information and sites for material.  This link is for teachers!

By Maryanne Wolf

http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4468

Fluency is one of those seemingly simple concepts that rewards you well for digging deeper. At the basic level, reading fluency refers to the ability to
read text accurately, quickly, and with good expression so that time can be allocated to understanding what is read (Meyer & Felton, 1999). There has
been a flurry of attention to reading fluency in the last few years because of a growing realization of its importance in reading comprehension.
Simultaneously, many researchers and teachers have become increasingly aware of the number of children who have problems in fluency and comprehension, some of whom have adequate but slow decoding skills.