The Writing Road to Reading:

From Theory to Practice

Mary E. North

Peoria Unified SchoolDistrict

Peoria, Arizona

Orton-based programs include essential elements that insure success for teach-
ing language to regular and special education children. This paper traces the
theoretical foundations of The Writing Road to Reading by Romalda B.
Spalding (1990) from the beginning concepts taught Mrs. Spalding by
Dr. Samuel T. Orton through its validation in current cognitive science and
learning theory. Pilot project locations and success statistics with regular and
special education children in Arizona, Louisiana, Maine, and Texas are pre-
sented. It explains how direct, multisensory instruction in seven processes nec-
essary for skilled reading and principles of skill learning and instruction are
incorporated in the Spalding Method.

Introduction

Thomas Jefferson (1816) said, "If a nation expects to be ignorant

and free . . . . it expects w h a t never was a n d never will be." After more
than 30 national reports on education reform, approximately 27 million
adults are still illiterate a n d the n u m b e r is growing by two million each

The author is grateful to Dr. SylviaFarnham-Diggory,professor and Director of

the Reading Center, University of Delaware, who analyzed the theoretical foundation
for The Writing Road to Reading from a cognitive psychologist'spoint of view.
Annals of Dyslexia,Vol.42, 1992.
Copyright ©1992by The Orton DyslexiaSociety
ISSN 0736-9387

110
WRITING ROAD TO READING 111

year. These reports do not even address the suffering experienced by

the children and adults who are not learning to write and read.
By 1989, the situation was so severe the United States Senate unan-
imously passed the National Literacy Act. A critical feature of this leg-
islation is a little-discussed amendment introduced by Senator William
Armstrong (1990 p. 738) that would "provide the opportunity for
teachers to receive information and training in such tried and proven
methods as Orton-Gillingham, Spalding, Carden, and many other
programs where intensive phonics is used." As early as 1985, Becoming
a Nation of Readers: The Report of the Commission on Reading noted, "The
issue is no longer, as it was several decades ago, whether children
should be taught phonics. The issues now are specific ones of just how
it should be done" (Anderson et al. 1985 p. vi). Dr. Anderson, Commis-
sion Chairman, stated, "America can become 'a nation of readers' if
existing knowledge about how children learn to read is simply put into
practice. It's not that we don't know what to do--it's that in too many
cases we're not making it happen."
The Orton Dyslexia Society has long recognized the need for phon-
ics instruction. My objectives complement the ODS findings and are
fourfold: 1) to describe the origin of an Orton-based, multisensory total
language arts program, The Writing Road to Reading; 2) to share results
of pilot projects in the Peoria Unified School District (Arizona) and
elsewhere; 3) to present an overview of the essential components; and
4) to integrate a discussion of some of the theoretical foundations of the
Spalding method with a discussion of its principal components.

The Orton Legacy

Even though Romalda Spalding had taught in three fine private

schools, earned a master's degree from Columbia Universit3~ and at-
tended a summer course at Harvard, she continued to search for help
in teaching students who found it difficult to learn our language. Her
search ended in New York City in 1938. A kindergarten student at the
school where she was teaching was referred to the distinguished neu-
rologist, Dr. Samuel T. Orton. The principal and superintendent
agreed that Mrs. Spalding, although her teaching assignment was
sixth grade, should tutor the boy under the supervision of Dr. Orton.
He immediately gave Mrs. Spalding a list of 70 phonograms--single
letters and combinations of two, three, and four letters that represent
45 common English sounds. She explains, "For the first time I learned
that our written vocabulary represents the sounds we say in words"
(Spalding 1987, p. 2). He gave her this direction, "When a problem is
presented, divide it into its component parts, build them sequentially,
112 CASE STUDIES, PROGRAMS, AND SPECULATfON$

and talk about each part" (p. 11). This guided her every step. At Or-
ton's invitation, she attended a course he gave to the pediatricians from
Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons and a Salmon Memo-
rial Lecture at the New York Academy of Medicine. She learned that
the method of teaching determines which pathways develop in the
brain. Historically, every phonetic language develops from speech, to
letters which represent speech sounds, and then to words and sen-
tences. With a good phonic system, the student says the sound he
hears, writes the letter or letters which represent it, and sees these let-
ters as he reads the sounds. Soon Mrs. Spalding applied this knowl-
edge to older students. She began to realize that the techniques that
worked so well with the child having the most difficulty also prevented
problems from developing in other children in her classes.
In June, 1941, Mrs. Spalding's formal work with Dr. Orton ended
when World War II called her husband first to Boston and then to
Hawaii, where she continued her work. Following duty with the Navy
and some years as a successful architect, Mr. Spalding retired to help
her write a book, commenting, "We cannot hope to continue having a
democratic republic if we do not teach more of our youth to speak,
write, and read better" (1987, p. 24). But Mrs. Spalding credits Dr. Or-
ton for making it possible:

Without Dr. Orton's pioneering, many more people would have

doors closed to them because no one had taught them to speak
precisely, write legibly and correctly, and read with accuracy and
understanding (1987, p. 21).

The Writing Road to Reading was first published in 1957 as a method

for classroom teaching of speech, writing, and reading designed to
prevent, or overcome, children's language problems.

The Peoria Pilot Programs

Peoria Unified School District is a suburb on the west side of Phoe-

nix, Arizona. In 1975, I was assigned to teach reading to seventh-grade
students who scored more than two years below grade level on a stan-
dardized achievement test. My teacher-training courses, like those of
Mrs. Spalding, had not equipped me for that task. Learning about the
Spalding Method from a friend, I bought the manual and phonogram
cards. I proceeded to learn four phonograms each evening and to teach
them the next day. By the end of the first year, my students' gain scores
matched national gain scores cited for federally-funded remedial read-
ing programs. After I studied with Mrs. Spalding, my students began
WRITING ROAD TO READING 113

volunteering to read in science and social studies where previously

they had refused. For the next eight years, students made average
gains of over two years, some making gains of three and four years.
During these years, many other teachers began voluntarily using the
Spalding method with achievement test results similar to those cited in
Aukerman's book, Approaches to Beginning Reading (1984). Aukerman
records that 78 classes out of 80 tested above normal grade-level expec-
tancy. Many class averages significantly exceeded their normal ex-
pected performance.
In 1980, the Peoria District's standardized achievement test scores
were at or below national averages. The new assistant superintendent,
Norman Wilson, was assigned the task of improving test scores. After
learning that many teachers were using the Spalding method, he
formed an informal consortium with five other districts to promote the
training of Spalding teacher trainers. The consortium scheduled Mrs.
Spalding's onsite observations and conferences of twelve teachers from
the six districts. At the end of the 1984-85 training year, Wilson re-
ported that classroom averages for these teachers ranged from the 80th
to the 98th percentile rank, regardless of the economic status of the
pupils. He asked Mrs. Spalding to form an educational foundation to
certify qualified Spalding teacher instructors. He further requested
that I develop a pilot study to compare the effectiveness of the Spald-
ing method with the district program. Kindergarten through third-
grade classes were matched in five schools: one high, two middle, and
two low socioeconomic (Chapter 1) schools. Mrs. Spalding trained the
20 pilot teachers. By the end of the 1985-86 pilot year, Peoria Spalding
class averages also ranged from the upper 80th to the high 90th percen-
tile rank. The Governing Board adopted Spalding for kindergarten
through third-grade in 1986. A decline in learning disability resource
room populations was noticed as classroom instruction incorporated
this multisensory method for learning language.
The pilot project was extended into grades 1-8 as a spelling pro-
gram. Matched-classes compared Spalding with a commercial spelling
program. Spelling scores, measured on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in
April of the 1987-88 pilot year, demonstrated that Spalding-trained
students had a five percentile rank advantage over non-Spalding
trained students. The Governing Board adopted Spalding for spelling
in grades four through eight in 1988. Peoria also uses the program in its
four high schools with students who test below the 25th percentile in
reading comprehension. During the 1990-91 school year, the Spalding-
trained students at Peoria High School, a Chapter 1 school, demon-
strated a normal curve equivalent average gain of +9.3 on the stan-
dardized Test of Academic Proficiency and a 23.6 mastery percentage
average gain on the district criterion-referenced test. In 1990, first-
114 CASE STUDIES, PROGRAMS, AND SPECULATIONS

graders in Peoria District's seventeen elementary schools (including

four schools with low socioeconomic populations) had an average per-
centile rank reading score of 67 (national average of 49) and average
language score of 85 (national average 53) on the Iowa Test of Basic
Skills. Second-graders averaged 67 percentile rank in reading (national
average 46) and 86 in language (national average 52). Test scores from
Peoria and other Arizona schools using the method have been cited in
the National Advisory Council on Educational Research and Improve-
ment publication, Private SectorAlternatives for Preventing Reading Failure
(Groff 1987).

Other Pilot Programs

Other states are also piloting Spalding. During the 1987-1988 school
year, 34 learning disabilities (LD) teachers in 17 schools in the E1 Paso
Independent School District implemented the Spalding Method of
teaching reading. Four hundred sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders
and 37 students in grades 1-5 participated in their Learning Disability
Resource Program. Students' reading comprehension was pre- and
posttested using the Brigance Diagnostic ComprehensiveInventory of Basic
Skills. The 437 students showed a mean growth of 1.4 years. The Wil-
coxon Matched Pair Sign Test showed a statistically significant differ-
ence between pre- and posttest scores at the .0001 level for each grade
level and the group as a whole. The program was expanded to 50 LD
teachers in 30 schools in the 1989-1990 school year and expanded again
to 85 LD teachers in the 1990-1991 school year. Three elementary
schools in Maine completed a one-year pilot program. The Louisiana
Board for Elementary and Secondary Schools approved a $200,000
Spalding pilot program to combat their high illiteracy and drop-out
rates. Sixteen teacher-training courses were held in the summer of
1990, two in each of Louisiana's eight Congressional Districts. The pro-
gram was approved for a second-year pilot in 1991-1992.

Essential Components

There are five essential components of this method: philosophy,

phonics, writing, comprehension of words and passages, and literary
appreciation.

Philosophy
The philosophy is embodied throughout the manual. Mrs. Spald-
ing believes that formal education of children should be centered on
WRITING ROAD TO READING 115

developing the ability to reason, to think for oneself, and on inculcat-

ing the desire to learn. Requiring students to think and to prove every
point gives pleasure to students of every age. Developing in students
the abilit~ along with the desire, to read well-written books that ex-
pand their horizons and knowledge of life is one, if not the major, goal
of language teaching. This philosophy should permeate the thinking of
Spalding teachers as they make every effort to treat all students as if
their IQs were at least 150.

Phonics Instruction
Phonics instruction, taught in spelling, has two parts: First, stu-
dents learn the first 54 phonograms. As soon as these are learned, they
are quickly combined into words and written (from dictation) in a spell-
ing/vocabulary notebook. Each day they practice the previously intro-
duced phonograms, in isolation, and by reading from their spelling
notebook. They continue to learn the rest of the phonograms. Mrs.
Spalding calls the construction of the notebook the "heart" of her
method because it teaches students how the language works.

Writing
The method is called The Writing Road to Reading. As students learn
by writing to put sounds together to produce meaningful words, they
learn to read. As soon as students have enough words, they write
meaningful sentences, then paragraphs and interesting stories. Their
minds are free to be creative because spelling and handwriting are
mastered in the spelling period.

Comprehension Instruction
The McCall-Harby Test Lessons in Primary Reading are used to teach
comprehension strategies and fluency in kindergarten and the begin-
ning of first grade. The McCall-Crabbs Standard Test Lessons in Reading
(Books A-E) are used in grades 2-6.

Literacy Appreciation
Caldecott and Newbery award-winning books and other chil-
dren's books of high literary quality are used to teach a love of reading
from the beginning.

The Theoretical Foundation

Now consider how The Writing Road to Reading incorporates impor-

tant principles of learning and instruction into each component of the
program.
116 CAsE STUDIES, PROGRAMS, AND SPECULATIONS

Results over the last 30 years document that this Orton-based

method works. Farnham-Diggory (1987)analyzed the Spalding Method,
using current theories of reading and prindples of language develop-
ment, skill learning, and instruction.
Farnham-Diggory (1987) explained that current models of the
complex reading process identify seven mental processes which work
together interactively and in parallel to produce skilled reading: fea-
ture and letter recognition; spatial placement; orthographic; lexical;
syntactic; and semantic. An immediate question comes to mind: Do
disabled readers use these same or different processes? Research in the
last decade has found that dyslexics have great difficulty with decod-
ing, vocabulary development, and grammatical and syntactic differ-
ences among words and sentences (Bruck 1988; Gough and Tunmer
1986; Vellutino 1987); both dyslexics and normal readers rely on sound-
spelling correspondences (Bruck 1988). Disabled readers have diffi-
culty reproducing the sound of a word to assist in remembering the
word and in breaking words into component sounds (Bruck 1988;
Liberman and Shankweiler 1979).
Stanovich (1986) suggests that the disability initially involves only
a phonological processing difficult36 but by the end of first grade chil-
dren who cannot sound out words are not learning new vocabulary or
content knowledge either. They experience a "Matthew effect," that is,
the good readers get better and the poor readers get poorer. Recent
research supports the theory that "language deficits lie at the core of
most cases of developmental dyslexia" (Catts 1989, p. 50). Thus, dis-
abled, as well as normal readers, rely on these processes (Treiman and
Hirsh-Pasek 1985). However, the disabled reader needs more time,
structure, and more direct multisensory instruction to use them
effectively.

Seven Principal Processes of Skilled Reading

I will describe each of the seven mental processes and explain how
The Writing Road to Reading provides direct, systematic, multisensory
instruction in each process. The instructional time spent on each pro-
cess varies with the nature and level of disability.

Feature Recognition Process

We now know there are parts of the brain which are specialized for
distinguishing vertical lines, diagonal lines, horizontal lines, and
curves. When one looks at print, those parts of the brain are activated
even though one may not be conscious of them. Spalding students are
WRITING ROAD TO READING 117

taught first the hand movement involved in making a circle beginning

at two on the dock, followed by formation of a small set of features: a
circle, short, tall, horizontal, and diagonal lines.

Letter Recosnition Process

Research shows that readers also automatically group features into
patterns which enable them to recognize letters as wholes. Normally,
this is a prereading skill. Preschoolers can distinguish between scrib-
bling and real writing. Research with college students demonstrates
that good readers can obtain meaning from distorted print, as in a bad
photo cop}~ but poor readers cannot. This suggests that skilled adult
readers have the connection between feature and letter recognition so
firmly implanted they can identify letters with some features missing,
but that disabled readers cannot.
Spalding students are taught that all manuscript letters are made
with reference to the clock face, or parts of it, and straight lines. First,
they learn the letters that begin at two on the clock (a, c, d, f, g, o, s, q).
Next, they learn the letters that begin with a line, e.g., b is a tall letter
combined with part of a circle. Such specific, direct instruction assists
in implanting in the brain the feature(s) which forms each letter. Dur-
ing the teaching of letter formation, Mrs. Spalding has all students sit
facing the board because they need to see the teacher model correct
letter formation. She emphasizes that once a motor pattern is set, con-
scious attention must be directed to change the habit.
Chapter 3 in The Writing Road to Reading explains handwriting:
how to sit, how to hold a pencil, how each letter is formed (first in
manuscript writing, which is similar to the print in a book, and later in
connected writing). All directions are given so they are explicit for the
left-handed and the right-handed child. Spalding points out that the
awkward way many people hold a pencil and the excessive energy
used in writing can easily be prevented if, at the beginning, good
habits are established. Spalding emphasizes the importance of hand-
writing in helping students see letters correctly from the beginning
and the need for precise directions for students having difficulty.

Spatial Placement Process

Readers learn to recognize where particular letters are likely to be
located. The part of the mind that handles spatial placement is different
from the part that handles letter recognition.
As Spalding students learn the two-, three-, and four-letter com-
binations, they recognize which letters most frequently occur in special
places. For example, ay and oy most frequently occur at the end of a
word, but ai and oi do not. Additionally, the direction to put the space
118 CASS STUDIES, PROGRAMS, AND SPECULATIONS

of one round letter between each word provides a visual picture of the
unity of single words, a concept "that some beginning readers do not
understand" (Adams 1990, p. 62).

Orthosraphic Process
The orthographic process allows readers to know that individual
letters and letter combinations represent certain speech sounds. For
example, the letter b goes with the sound "b" as in "rib." The alpha-
betic principle is efficient because it enables the reader to construct an
infinite number of words from a small set of symbols.
In the Spalding method, phonograms are introduced using the
four sensory channels to the brain. For example, the teacher shows the
printed phonogram d and says the sound it represents "d." The teacher
explains that in saying "d," the tongue tips up to the ridge behind the
upper teeth and with the rest of the mouth forms a circle. This ki-
nesthetic feel keeps children from writing the line first. Later, after all
the letters that begin at two on the clock have been introduced, the
teacher shows the printed phonogram b and explains that b is a tall let-
ter with a short part. It begins with a line. To say "b," you make a line
with your lips. The tongue lies in the bottom of the mouth. Learning
these facts about the formation of the letters d and b helps prevent re-
versals. Mrs. Spalding emphasizes that the success of her method is in
large part due to the kinesthetic tie between the voice and the hand
muscles in saying and writing in sequence with hearing and seeing the
phonograms.
Note that phonograms are introduced first in isolation. Students
are directly taught the letter/sound relationships, and then the sequen-
tial putting sounds together to make meaningful words. For phono-
gram learning, as for any rote learning, short practices distributed fre-
quently over time is better than extended practice at one time.

Lexical Process
Babies begin creating a word bank, or dictionar~ in another part of
the brain as soon as meaning is attached to a group of sounds (e.g.,
mama). A skilled reader knows the meaning of many words and word-
like units, such as prefixes. When the reader sees a set of familiar let-
ters, his lexical process matches it as a whole pattern (if it is not too
long) to a memory representation of its meaning. If it is too long, this
process will break it down into manageable parts like syllables, or pre-
fix, base word, and suffix.
Spalding emphasizes the importance of vocabulary development.
She says, "A good vocabulary is necessary for accurate thinking. A
good written vocabulary is essential to logical, sequential reasoning"
(1990, p. 257). Students learn the meaning of the most-frequently-used
WRITING ROAD TO READING 119

words as they write these words (from dictation) in a spelling/vocabu-

lary notebook and use them in writing original sentences. The process
begins as soon as 54 phonograms are introduced. The Extended Ayres
list included in The Writing Road to Reading consists of the 1,000 most-
frequently-used words identified by Ayres from almost four hundred
thousand words found in newspapers, letters, and literature.

Syntactic Process
The brain also provides for handling syntax. All students must ap-
ply the rule structure of the language, e.g., rules for spelling, syllable
division, pronunciation, and changing grammatical constructions.
As Spalding students write the Extended Ayres List in their spell-
ing/vocabulary notebooks, they learn the rule structure in an authentic
wa)~ as needed in real life. In Chapter V, Spalding explains how the
rules and phonograms actually work. She credits Orton with making
the teaching of spelling almost as scientific as teaching arithmetic. His
direction to divide every problem into its component parts enabled her
to develop a logical marking system to help students connect at once
the written symbols to their spoken sounds. Farnham-Diggory (1990)
notes that Spalding's most remarkable contribution is the invention of a
marking system that enables children to connect spelling rules to read-
ing. The system has these simple conventions: 1) two or more letters
representing a single sound (for example, sh) are underlined; 2) when a
phonogram has more than one sound, and is not taking its first (most
frequent) sound, a little number is written above it, indicating the
number of the sound it takes; 3) given a silent e, for which there can be
five possible reasons, a subscript indexing the rule in question is at-
tached to the letter; and 4) double lines are used to mark uncommon
sounds or silent letters.
Spelling dictation is a multisensory procedure. The teacher says
the word in normal speech and gives a short meaningful sentence (if
needed). The teacher models the sounds and syllables with fingers
and arms to provide a visual picture as each sound is said in the word.
Each child hears himself say each sound softly while he uses his mind
in saying it and in directing his hand to write it. He sees what he has
written as he then reads it back to the teacher. The teacher asks how
the word is marked to indicate what was said, and what rules were ob-
served. As the words are dictated and analyzed according to the
sounds and their corresponding phonograms, they are written by the
teacher on the chalkboard. Each student checks to see that he has
made no error. The numbering and underlining is always done from
the beginning of the word when needed. In the beginning, students
give oral sentences for each new word. After first-graders have written
the first 86 most-frequently-used words, they begin to write original
120 CASE STUDIES, PROGRAMS, AND SPECULATIONS

sentences. The teacher explains that a declarative sentence begins with

a capital letter and ends with a period to show the end of a complete
thought. Some children write sentences on the chalk board which are
edited each day so improvement can constantly be made. The others
write on lined (¥8 inch) paper the size of their notebook sheets. From
the edited sentences on the board, they may be able to improve their
own sentences before reading them aloud.
All children in a given class learn together in whole group instruc-
tion. However, at the beginning of the year, some students may need to
write tomorrow's spelling lesson today on separate sheets of paper. To-
morrow they write in their notebooks with the whole class. These stu-
dents will soon have learned to learn, and no longer need extra teach-
ing. One of the teacher's most important functions is to teach students
how to learn. Those with severe problems need continued extra help
from teachers and parents.

Semantic Process
Just as there is a dictionary of word meanings in the library in the
brain, so there are provisions for handling passage meaning. For ex-
ample, children quickly learn that fairy tales begin "Once upon a
time . . . . "Readers of mystery stories have a whole set of predictions
about who is guilty. Students who have few story models in their
minds cannot benefit by comparing forms of literature.
Spalding believes that the purpose of the reading lesson is to find
out what the author is telling us, not to teach phonics, and that only
books of literary value should be used. She lists books for elementary
class reading in the appendix of her book. When 149 words are in their
notebooks, children begin to read aloud from easy books. Farnham-
Diggory (1987) points out that the amazing part is that children are
never really "taught" to read--they just begin. Then they learn phras-
ing, to read the words together which fit together to convey meaning
(Spalding 1990).
Important comprehension strategies are taught using the 1965 edi-
tion of the The McCaU-HarbyTestLessons in PrimaryReadingand the 1961
editions of a series of five books, McCall-CrabbsStandard Test Lessons in
Reading. At first, lessons are read aloud (sometimes in unison). Ap-
proximately half of the 78 McCall-Crabbs lessons are used to teach stu-
dents how to comprehend the author's main idea, to distinguish be-
tween relevant details and additional information, and so forth. When
students are ready, the lessons are read silently and timed to practice
automatic use of these comprehension strategies to read and answer
the questions.
Farnham-Diggory (1987) also notes that it is important to realize
that all seven mental processes just described are functioning interac-
WRITING ROAD TO READING 121

tively and in parallel even though you are not conscious of all of them.
Reading is an extremely complex skill, and like all complex skills, e.g.,
playing the piano or basketball, it requires the coordination of a great
many subskills. She condudes her explanation of the seven processes.

Many of the arguments that have been going on about reading in-
struction have arisen from the misconception that only one sub-
routine was the entire reading process. Kenneth Goodman, Frank
Smith, and that group have argued that reading is primarily a se-
mantic process. The sight-word advocates have argued that read-
ing is primarily a lexical process. The phonics advocates have ar-
gued that reading is primarily an orthographic process. In fact, all
these subroutines are involved in reading, and it has never been
correct to claim that only one of them is paramount (pp. 4-5).

Principles of Skill Learning Incorporated in Spalding

In any type of skill acquisition, provisions must be made for three

types of mental activity: analysis of the task, practice, and attention
control. Farnham-Diggory (1987, p. 13) explains the effectiveness of
Spalding:

It became clear to me that Spalding's method fully incorporated

the three critical skill learning principles... There is extensive
training in analyzing print, in analyzing the nature of the sound
stream of the spoken language, and in analyzing the writing pro-
cess. There are enormous amounts of practice. Students cycle
back, over and over again, through materials they have learned
earlier. And attention management strategies are explicitly taught.
There are specific routines for directing your mind through spell-
ing and reading activities.

Principles of Instruction Incorporated in Spalding

Farnham-Diggory also compared Spalding instruction with seven

principles of effective instruction developed by Collins of the Center
for the Study of Reading at the University of Illinois. She explains why
the Spalding Method is such a powerful instructional model:

Instructionall~ a Spalding teacher has been trained to model her

own analytical processes; she is trained to coach rather than didac-
tically preach; and she is trained in techniques of scaffolding. The
122 C,~sE STUDIES, PROGRAMS, AND SPECULATIONS

whole curriculum is, in effect, a giant scaffold. It provides a sup-

porting structure for dealing with print. Articulation of principles
is consistently demanded of students. They must always explain
and justify their reasoning. Reflection is embodied in the marking
system--the simple but very effective system for annotating parts
of words that exemplify rules. This is the same type of abstracted
replay that you fred in all good skill training programs. Exploration
is assured through the program's emphasis on literature. Both
teacher and students plunge into new realms together, and many
is the time I've heard teachers express surprise and relief to dis-
cover that the principles they've been teaching really do come to
their rescue in literature that was never written with those princi-
ples in mind (1987, pp.13-14).

Summary
The historian-philosopher, Will Durant, pointed out that civiliza-
tion is not inherited. Its advance depends upon the ability of each gen-
eration to communicate fully and teach its children the great heritage
from the recorded wisdom of past ages. For that reason, Spalding be-
lieves that teaching language to children is the highest profession in
every age.
Peoria Unified School District adopted The Writing Road to Reading
because it improved students' reading and language achievement and
self esteem; because it is a literature-based program that instills in stu-
dents a love for reading and writing; because it integrates instruction in
handwriting, decoding, spelling, writing, and reading for efficient use
of teacher and student time; because it can be used successfully as a
classroom and a resource room program; and because it is cost effec-
tive, averaging about $2.25 per student. The Writing Road to Reading is
an Orton-based program that can help make America a nation of read-
ers instead of a nation at risk.

References
Adams, M. J. 1990. Beginning to Read: Thinking and learning about print. A Summary, pre-
pared by Stahl, S. A., Osborn, J., and Lehr, E Champaign, IL: Office of Public
Affairs/Office of Publications for the Center for the Study of Reading.
Armstrong, W. 1990. Congressional Record Proceedings and Debates of the lOlst Con-
gress, Second Session, 136, No. 8, p. 783.
Anderson, R. C., Hiebert, E. H., Scott, J. A., and Wilkinson, I. A. 1985. Becominga Nation
of ~aders: The Report of the Commission on Reading. (Contract No. 400-83-0057).
Washington, DC: National Institute of Education.
WRITING ROAD TO READING 123

Aukerman, R. C. 1984. Approaches to Beginning Reading. New York:John Wiley and Sons.
Bruck, M. 1988. The word recognition and spelling of dyslexic children. Reading Research
Quarterly 23:51-69.
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