SRI Education, Reading Reimagined Release New Study Finding Structured Linguistic Phonics Instruction Improves Reading Outcomes for Students in Grades 4-8

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- SRI Education, a national education research and technical assistance institute, with Reading Reimagined, a literacy-focused R&D program, today released Unlocking the Code: The Impacts of a Structured Linguistic Phonics Program in Grades 4–8. This new study is one of the first rigorous tests of a rules-free, concept-based approach to teaching phonics by examining the impact of Sounds-Write's structured linguistic phonics program in upper elementary and middle school classrooms.

This report is the final research release from Reading Reimagined, which engaged SRI to undertake this unprecedented study. The Reading Reimagined program is the culmination of a five-year R&D effort to investigate why reading proficiency stalls in upper grades. This initiative is part of AERDF (Advanced Education Research and Development Fund), a national nonprofit that takes on the most pressing challenges in teaching and learning to deliver research-backed, scalable solutions in education. 

Most phonics research and policy attention has focused on K–3. This study asked whether a structured linguistic phonics (SLP) program can move the needle on word- and sentence-level reading outcomes for students in grades 4–8. According to literacy expert Tim Shanahan, the benefits of phonics instruction have rarely been studied past second grade.

In addition to breaking ground with a rigorous study of phonics instruction for upper elementary and middle school, SRI's study examined a well-established pedagogy that has long been underused in mainstream education and departs from the traditional print-to-speech phonics methods that are virtually universal in U.S. classrooms. In place of traditional phonics rules and their many exceptions, SLP is a speech-to-print approach centered on explicit conceptual knowledge about English orthography that taps statistical learning and allows students to build a flexible "mental map" of English's sound-spelling code. This mental map reduces the cognitive load imposed by juggling the many rules and exceptions that are a feature of traditional phonics instruction. Often referred to in literacy research as "set for variability," this conceptual understanding is a crucial skill that older students need in order to successfully decode increasingly complex, multisyllabic text. SRI's study compared the outcomes of students taught by teachers who were trained to use the UK-based Sounds-Write program to the outcomes of peers whose teachers used their usual literacy instructional resources and methods.

"For too long, we've assumed that phonics instruction is something that students age out of by third grade," said Rebecca Kockler, Executive Director of AERDF's Reading Reimagined Program. "This study shows that many older readers still benefit from explicit phonics instruction that emphasizes flexibility, and that structured linguistic phonics is an effective and efficient way to help students fully master decoding in English so that they can focus on comprehension of increasingly complex texts." 

SRI Education's two-year study included two U.S. school districts with nine schools, 30 teachers, and a racially and linguistically diverse sample of over 400 students.

 Key findings from the report include:

• Significant gains in word reading and reading efficiency. Compared to their peers, students who received SLP instruction scored higher on measures of word reading and sentence reading efficiency—a statistically significant outcome that places SLP among the stronger-performing literacy interventions studied at this grade level.
• Consistent impact across student subgroups. The program's results held steady across student groups, including English learners and students with IEPs, suggesting that gains were not limited to already advantaged students.
• Strong teacher buy-in. 69% of participating teachers rated SLP as more or much more effective than comparable phonics curricula, and 63% said they would likely continue using it the following year.

"In the popular imagination, English is a confusing language requiring arduous work to achieve decoding mastery", noted Dan Reynolds, lead author of the study and a Senior Education Researcher at SRI. "Our results show that SLP's instructional design, grounded in cognitive science, can capitalize on students' ability to notice patterns and, in turn, become more efficient readers."

As Reading Reimagined concludes its research cycle, SRI Education and AERDF are sharing this report to help districts, policymakers, and researchers apply these findings and build on them. The full report, including detailed findings, methodology, and implementation guidance, is available here.

SRI Education is a nonprofit research institute helping federal and state agencies, school districts, major foundations, nonprofit organizations, and international and commercial clients tackle some of the most complex issues in education to help students succeed. SRI's mission is to reduce barriers and optimize outcomes for all children, youth, and families by conducting high-quality research, supporting use of data and evidence, helping to strengthen state and local systems, and developing tools that improve teaching and accelerate and deepen learning.

Advanced Education Research & Development Fund (AERDF, sounds like air-diff) is a national nonprofit that harnesses the power of education research and development (R&D) to unlock scientific discoveries and deliver research-backed inventions to address the most pressing challenges in teaching and learning. AERDF's R&D programs (multi-year initiatives) – EF+Math, Assessment for Good, Reading Reimagined, and AugmentED – produce scientific knowledge, technical advancements, and scalable, classroom-ready prototypes that are evidence-based, demonstrate impact, and catalyze transformative improvements across our nation. AERDF's AdvancED Fellowship accelerates visionary leaders and their ideas with a unique experience to dare to dream about how to advance the state of the art in education. Learn more at https://aerdf.org.

Sounds-Write is a United Kingdom-based speech-to-print phonics program dedicated to ensuring every child achieves literacy. Grounded in an inclusive, multi-sensory approach to learning, Sounds-Write provides schools with a complete ecosystem for teaching reading, and spelling—including high-quality training for all staff, a library of resources, and student tracking tools.

SOURCE Advanced Education Research & Development Fund