Current Efficacy Research for the Seeing Stars® Program
Seeing Stars is a comprehensive program that teaches phoneme-grapheme correspondence based on the alphabetic structure of the English language. The theoretical basis for this program is grounded on the tenets of Dual Coding Theory (DCT), addressing the dual role of sound and symbol imagery. DCT serves as the best evidence-based theory in cognitive science to teach decoding and encoding. The Seeing Stars® program explicitly and systematically teaches phoneme-grapheme correspondence to develop orthographic mapping as applied to word attack, word recognition (decoding), spelling (encoding), and fluency. Uniquely, the program develops both phonological and orthographic processing (symbolic imagery for both sounds and letters). The program is not a sight word approach; rather, it stimulates the multi-sensory cognitive processes of linking phonemes to sight word recognition and fluency. Students move through a series of steps from single consonants/vowels to multisyllable and contextual reading to develop competency in reading and spelling.
By integrating phonological processing, orthographic processing, and contextual reading fluency, the program helps students move beyond analytical decoding to global reading, which then leads to comprehension. Instruction is explicit, systematic, and cumulative, and it includes sample lessons through the scope and sequence for teachers to follow while differentiating instruction. The instructional pedagogy employs a Socratic questioning discipline to develop student independence in the learning process. The sensory cognitive instructional methodology can be integrated and applied to any curriculum, multisensory developmental phonics program, or language arts program.
Materials include a teacher’s manual, instructional kit, and workbooks, all available through Gander Publishing. Optional professional development, including introductory workshops and follow-up coaching, is provided exclusively by Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes.
