Stages and Standards in Literacy: Teaching Developmentally in the Age of Accountability

Abstract

This article describes a model of literacy development, as reflected in students’ spelling. The model, based on research that has identified five stages of word knowledge, explains the development of this knowledge in readers and writers, and provides a framework for elementary-grade instruction that is intended to: 1) address grade-level expectations established by the English/Language Arts standards of the Common Core State Standards, and 2) describe a developmentally appropriate approach to instruction. The model also informs the assessment of word or orthographic knowledge in order to gain insight into the range of developmental levels in a classroom, and to guide instruction in whole-class and small-group contexts. Examples focus on a third-grade classroom in which the range of developmental levels includes beginning, transitional, and intermediate readers and writers, and suggest the implications of developmentally grounded instruction for supporting students’ growth toward achieving grade-specific Common Core State Standards in reading and language arts.