Review Protocols
This review focuses on interventions or practices designed to help children in kindergarten through third grade learn to develop skills that are considered foundational to developing solid reading abilities. The following research question guides this review: “Which instructional practices improve beginning readers’ foundational reading skills?” Specific recommendations in the guide will center on questions like:
- Should phonemic awareness always be introduced in the context of letters?
- How can teachers boost students’ oral language skills so as to improve their reading for understanding?
- What words and strategies should I include in teaching vocabulary?
- Does explicit, systematic phonics instruction mean skills are to be taught in isolation?
- Can foundational reading skills be taught embedded in meaningful context?
- What kind of text supports the teaching of beginning reading skills?
The guide will account for the teaching of foundational reading skills at different elementary grade levels by describing how to adapt practices for students in different grades and by focusing some recommendations on the teaching of foundational reading skills at specific grade levels.
Table of Contents
- Purpose Statement
- Procedures for Conducting the Literature Search
- Eligibility Criteria
- Evidence Standards
Protocol Details
- Version: 3.0
- Released: July 2016
What is a Protocol?
Starting in January 2021, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) uses the Study Review Protocol in combination with the Procedures and Standards Handbook to guide reviews of all studies. In particular, the Study Review Protocol provides additional information on eligible outcome domains for all topic areas reviewed by the WWC and provides examples of outcome measures that fall within each domain.
When conducting systematic reviews, the WWC uses the Study Review Protocol to review studies and an accompanying topic area synthesis protocol to define the parameters of the systematic review. The synthesis protocol provides criteria for the literature search; guidance on how to identify and prioritize relevant studies for review and inclusion in evidence synthesis products; and guidance on intervention, sample, and outcome eligibility criteria for the synthesis.
Prior to 2021, studies were typically reviewed using a topic-specific synthesis protocol and the corresponding version of the Procedures and Standards Handbook. In addition to defining the parameters for the review, these protocols described any topic-specific applications of the design standards, such as how to establish baseline equivalence between samples when required.