General Pedagogy
An extensive analysis of state standards throughout the country helped create the list of essential skills for each grade level as well as each reading strand. Further direction comes from the National Institute for Literacy. The Institute funded Armbruster, Lehr, and Osborn's piece, Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, which provides detailed definitions and guidance for instruction for each strand.
A sampling of the sources used for additional guidance includes Bringing Words to Life: Building a Robust Vocabulary by Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown, and Linda Kucan; Classroom Strategies That Work by Robert Marzano; Mosaic of Thought by E. O. Keene and S. Zimmerman; Phonics They Use by Patricia Cunningham; Word Matters by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell; and Words Their Way by D. Bear, M. Invernizzi, S. Templeton, and F. Johnston.
Although the volume of reading research is overwhelming, the SuccessMaker Reading course is guided by agreements and conclusions supported by well-respected names in the field.