Research-Based Reading Instruction

The PAF Reading Program holds ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) Tier 4 status by demonstrating rationale for the effectiveness of our interventions. WestEd continues data collection towards further ESSA tier certification.

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PAF Reading Program ESSA Tier 4 Brief FINAL 10.20_Page_5edit

In 2024, the PAF Reading Program was reviewed as part of The Reading League’s Curriculum Navigation Report.

The Reading League’s review of the PAF Reading Program reflects a thorough understanding of the program as a comprehensive beginning reading program (K-2) that integrates reading, spelling, and handwriting.

PAF “meets” and “mostly meets” all the criteria in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, handwriting, spelling, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. PAF “meets” and “mostly meets” most of the criteria in each section for Grades K-2. PAF “somewhat meets” a few criteria, mainly pertaining to writing. PAF lays the foundation for teaching expository writing. Capitalization, punctuation, different sentence types, and the use of conjunctions are explicitly taught and practiced in sentence activities related to the reading. Children are asked to write both original sentences and sentences that answer comprehension questions. However, PAF is not a writing program; schools that use PAF seamlessly supplement a writing program into their literacy block.

The PAF Reading Program is a component of The Windward Institute program for teacher certification accredited by The International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC).

Research Resources

The PAF Reading Program continues to prioritize best evidence and practices by incorporating the foundational and ongoing research on reading and literacy into our program, partnerships, and ongoing professional learning.

Who will benefit from PAF?

All beginning readers can benefit from PAF instruction, but for struggling readers, it is critical. Many children start school without an understanding that words can be broken down into sounds (phonemic awareness). Therefore, they cannot learn the first important concept in beginning reading, that each sound in English is represented by a letter or letters (the alphabetic principle). Consequently, decoding and word recognition skills develop slowly, if at all. Without strong word recognition, comprehension suffers. PAF teaches the alphabetic principle, higher-level word analysis skills, and comprehension strategies directly, with sufficient practice and reinforcement to ensure that all children learn to read.
In addition, since PAF teaches foundational skills and the structure of language, it is a highly effective reading program for English Learners.

“The foundation for learning to read is the same whether you’re learning to read in a language you are learning or one you already know. But they are not identical; language learners require additional supports.” – Claude Goldenberg

PAF’s step-by-step progression leads to an increased sense of mastery and self esteem. It results in minimum frustration and maximum success for teachers and students.

What are some of the research-based practices in PAF?

The PAF Reading Program incorporates all the instructional practices supported by the latest literacy and implementation research. Some of the research-based practices that form the foundation of PAF are:

Phonemic awareness is explicitly taught, modeled, and practiced under a teacher’s supervision in every lesson as children blend sounds (phonemes) to read word, phrase and sentence lists and segment words into sounds to spell dictated words and sentences.
Explicit phonics lessons in which children are taught to decode and blend sounds into words in order to develop their word recognition skills.
A sequence of concepts that progresses from the simplest unit of language (letters) to the most complex (text), with skills practiced and reinforced at each level until they are automatic.
The integration of reading, spelling, and handwriting, which helps develop the decoding and word recognition skills needed for comprehension.
Oral reading under the supervision of the teacher that allows children’s errors to be monitored and corrected to develop accurate reading. Only when children read accurately and automatically can they access the meaning of text.
Repeated readings that provide the practice needed to develop word recognition and fluency.
Decodable text that contains only the sounds and words that have been taught, and enables children to apply their word analysis skills in a meaningful context.
Modeling comprehension strategies, including visualizing, rereading, predicting, paraphrasing, and summarizing, taught under teacher direction.

Most importantly, all of these research-based practices are integrated in every PAF lesson.