title: WestJet

text: The same year, WestJet commissioned the construction of a new six-story head office building, next to their existing hangar facility at the Calgary International Airport. The building was constructed following the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, featuring a rainwater retention system and geothermal heating. The first employees moved in during the first quarter of 2009, and the building officially opened the following May. The WestJet Campus building was certified as LEED Gold standard in October 2011.


title: WestJet

text: In May 2008, WestJet launched daily non-stop service to Quebec City. The next month, WestJet commenced seasonal service between Calgary and New York City via Newark Liberty International Airport. In May 2009, the airline launched new seasonal service to the cities of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and Sydney, Nova Scotia; service to Yellowknife was later extended through the winter of 2009–10.


title: WestJet

text: During the 2000s (decade), WestJet made significant gains in domestic market share against Air Canada. In 2000 it held only 7% to Air Canada's 77%, though by the end of 2009 WestJet had risen to 38%, against Air Canada's 55%.


title: WestJet

text: In late April 2009, WestJet temporarily suspended service to several of its destinations in Mexico due to the outbreak of influenza A (H1N1) in the country. The suspension of service to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta lasted from early May until mid-June, with seasonal service to Cancún being restored the following fall.


title: WestJet

text: In July 2009, WestJet announced 11 new international destinations for its winter schedule. These included expanded service to the United States, to Atlantic City, New Jersey, Lihue (Kauai), Hawaii and Miami, Florida. New Caribbean destinations included Providenciales, in the Turks and Caicos Islands; St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles; Freeport, Bahamas; as well as the cities of Varadero, Holguín and Cayo Coco in Cuba. Ixtapa and Cozumel were also added to the list of destinations served in Mexico.


title: WestJet

text: In November 2009, WestJet announced service to the British island territory of Bermuda, which commenced in May 2010. WestJet also resumed seasonal service to Windsor, Ontario that same month.


title: WestJet

text: In March 2010, Sean Durfy resigned from his position as WestJet's CEO, citing personal reasons. He was replaced by Gregg Saretsky, a former executive at Canadian Airlines and Alaska Airlines and previously Vice-President of WestJet Vacations and Executive Vice-President of Operations.


title: WestJet

text: In July 2010 WestJet announced service to Santa Clara, Cuba, New Orleans and Grand Cayman bringing the total number of destinations to 71. Service to New Orleans lasted only one season and did not return the next year.


title: WestJet

text: In late 2010 WestJet announced it was wet-leasing a Boeing 757 aircraft to expand service between Calgary to Honolulu and Maui and Edmonton to Maui, on a seasonal basis.


title: WestJet

text: Also that year, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), an independent administrative tribunal of the Government of Canada that regulates airlines, found WestJet's baggage policies to be unreasonable and/or contrary to the requirements of the "Canada Transportation Act" and/or the "Air Transport Regulations" on several different occasions.


title: WestJet

text: On January 26, 2011, after Air Canada terminated California service, WestJet announced plans to enter service to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California ,from Vancouver and Calgary starting May of that year.


title: WestJet

text: In November 2011 WestJet won an auction for time slots at New York's LaGuardia Airport ushering in a return to service to New York. Details of WestJet's scheduled service to LaGuardia were officially announced in January 2012. From 2012 to 2014, WestJet further expanded into the United States by adding Chicago via O'Hare International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Myrtle Beach International Airport, and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.


title: WestJet

text: On November 15, 2013, WestJet announced their first destination in Europe. Seasonal service from St. John's, Newfoundland to Dublin, Ireland, would operate from June to October 2014.


title: WestJet

text: In January 2014, WestJet chartered an Atlas Air Boeing 747-400 to transport stranded passengers and luggage during the 2013 Central and Eastern Canada ice storm. The charter flew from Lester B. Pearson International Airport to Calgary International Airport.


title: WestJet

text: On July 7, 2014, WestJet announced that it was in the "advanced stages of sourcing" four wide-body aircraft that would begin flying by the fall of 2015. These would initially serve on the seasonal Alberta-Hawaii routes when WestJet's service agreement with Thomas Cook Airlines—who currently fly these routes on behalf of WestJet—expires in the spring of 2015. WestJet would take delivery of four Boeing 767-300ERs in summer 2015. WestJet took delivery of the first of these aircraft on August 27, 2015.


title: WestJet

text: On June 16, 2015, WestJet announced the launch service to London's Gatwick Airport which began on May 6, 2016. It is the carrier's third transatlantic destination after Dublin and Glasgow. The majority of flights to London uses the wide-body Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. On September 15, 2015, WestJet flights to London direct from Edmonton, St. John's, Vancouver, Winnipeg (seasonal) Calgary and Toronto (year-round) went on sale to the public. During winter months, WestJet continues to serve the seasonal Edmonton - Maui, Calgary - Honolulu, and Calgary - Maui flights with the 767-300ER aircraft.


title: WestJet

text: In April 2017, WestJet announced plans to launch an ultra-low-cost carrier in late 2017. The new airline would operate using Boeing 737-800 aircraft, and compete with new entrants to the market, such as Flair Airlines. The launch of the new airline, named Swoop, was delayed until June 2018.


title: WestJet

text: While announcing an expansion of the senior leadership team on January 11, 2018, Gregg Saretsky reconfirmed the airline's strategic goal to become a global, full-service carrier.


title: WestJet

text: On March 8, 2018, the CEO of WestJet, Gregg Saretsky retired. He was replaced by company vice-president, Ed Sims.


title: WestJet

text: On May 8, 2018, WestJet announced that it would be adding the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to its fleet. The first aircraft was delivered to the airline in January 2019.


title: WestJet

text: On May 10, 2018, WestJet's unionized pilots voted 91 percent in favour of strike action. The key issue in negotiations is outsourcing work to operate the new Swoop carriers. On May 25, 2018, WestJet and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) agreed to a settlement process through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.


title: WestJet

text: On May 14, 2018, WestJet announced new Premium Economy seats to replace the "Plus" seats, its current premium economy offering. The new seats features a wider 2-2 configuration on the Boeing 737 aircraft. Entry into service on the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft was planned for fall 2018, and the rest of the Boeing 737s would follow in 2019. However, entry into service has been delayed until winter 2018.


title: WestJet

text: On May 31, 2018, WestJet operated its first flight to mainland Europe with the inaugural flight from Halifax Stanfield International Airport to Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport.


title: WestJet

text: The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced its application to the Canadian Government for certification of WestJet's approximately 3,200 flight attendants on July 9, 2018. On July 31, 2018, the Government of Canada via the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) issued an interim order certifying CUPE as the accredited union for WestJet mainline flight attendants.


title: WestJet

text: On October 12, 2018, WestJet announced its new branding, along with details on the arrival on the Boeing 787-9. WestJet changed its slogan from "Owners Care" to "Love where you're going", announced a new logo (however, such logo was seen in May with the announcement of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner along with its livery), announced the Boeing 787 routes and launch dates, and an overall new brand image. Boeing 787 flights were announced to commence on April 28, 2019, with service from Calgary International Airport to London Gatwick Airport, with service to Paris and Dublin following.


title: WestJet

text: On May 13, 2019, WestJet announced it had reached an agreement to be purchased by Onex Corporation for $5 billion Canadian dollars. At the time, it had 13 Boeing 737 Max jets in suspended operation, with another 57 of the type ordered from the manufacturer. The purchase price of WestJet was slashed heavily due to the grounding of the MAX aircraft.


title: WestJet

text: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic response required by world governments including Canada, WestJet faced an unprecedented decline in demand for flights along with the rest of the aviation industry. In addition, there were numerous cases of COVID-19 reported on board WestJet flights. On March 17, 2020, WestJet shut down all international flights, and on March 24 WestJet laid off 6,900 employees, about half of all staff. However, on April 9 WestJet rehired 6,400 employees temporarily due to the federal wage subsidy program. On April 17, 2020, WestJet announced it was laying off 1,700 pilots. On April 22, 2020, WestJet laid off 3,000 more employees. On June 24, 2020, WestJet laid off a further 3,300 employees as part of a restructuring plan, leaving only 4,500 employees still on payroll at the company. WestJet employed over 14,000 people prior to the start of the pandemic. On February 6, 2021, WestJet laid off 250 more staff, citing recent travel restrictions.


title: WestJet

text: On September 29, 2022, WestJet announced it had placed an order for an additional 42 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft to strengthen its presence in Western Canada. On October 6, 2022, WestJet's CEO, Alexis von Hoensbroech, and Alberta Premier, Jason Kenney, announced a major partnership between the Government of Alberta and the WestJet Group. Calgary International Airport will become WestJet's sole global hub and the company will designate the airport as its "only connecting hub in its network." Additionally, WestJet will base its entire Boeing 787 fleet in Calgary, opening up the potential for new routes to Europe and Asia. WestJet will also base over 100 aircraft in Calgary and double its capacity at the airport before the end of the decade. On December 5, 2022, WestJet announced its first destination in Asia, with service from Calgary International Airport to Narita International Airport beginning with three times weekly service on April 30, 2023. WestJet also announced new routes from Calgary to Barcelona–El Prat Airport and Edinburgh Airport, both being served three times a week beginning in May 2023, as well as frequency increases on existing European routes as a part of their plan to increase capacity in Calgary by more than 25% in 2023.


title: WestJet

text: WestJet is operated by WestJet Airlines Ltd., a private company, incorporated and domiciled in Canada, which since December 2019 has been owned by Toronto-based private equity firm Onex Corporation.


title: WestJet

text: On May 13, 2019, Westjet had announced that it had accepted an offer from Onex Corporation to purchase the company, a $5-billion deal that would require shareholder approval (in July) and regulatory approval. The offer was for $31 a share, substantially higher than the closing price of approximately $18 at the close of trading on the previous business day. Completion of the acquisition was announced on December 11, 2019, after the regulator had determined that WestJet will continue to meet Canadian ownership and control requirements if Onex amends its bylaws to ensure any matters voted on by the board of directors are done with a majority of Canadian directors present.


title: WestJet

text: Westjet's shares were withdrawn from the market, having previously been publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol WJA.


title: WestJet

text: WestJet Encore is WestJet's affiliated regional airline, which commenced operations on June 24, 2013, with a fleet of Bombardier Q400 twin-turboprop aircraft. WestJet Encore was granted its separate Air Operator Certificate from Transport Canada, on June 12, 2013. It was set up to serve smaller communities in Canada.


title: WestJet

text: WestJet Link is a subsidiary of WestJet launched in June 2018. Operated by Pacific Coastal Airlines, WestJet Link service from the parent airline's hubs at Calgary and Vancouver to smaller communities, using Saab 340B aircraft which are smaller than the Q400 aircraft operated by Encore.


title: WestJet

text: Swoop is an ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) owned by WestJet that commenced operations on June 20, 2018. Swoop currently operates a fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft.


title: WestJet

text: WestJet and WestJet Encore currently fly to 108 destinations in 25 countries throughout North and Central America, the Caribbean and Europe including 36 cities in Canada and 23 in the United States. WestJet's largest hubs in terms of daily departures are Toronto Pearson International Airport, the airline's main connection point in Eastern Canada and Calgary International Airport, the airline's main connection point in Western Canada.


title: WestJet

text: WestJet provides the most Canadian flights to Las Vegas and Orlando, offering non-stop routes (some of them seasonal) from nine Canadian cities to Las Vegas and eleven to Orlando. Since 2008, WestJet is the largest international carrier, by volume of passengers, flying into Las Vegas. WestJet also serves 20 destinations in the Caribbean and seven in Mexico, some on a seasonal basis.


title: WestJet

text: In July 2015, WestJet announced flights to London Gatwick Airport operated by Boeing 767 aircraft, which had not previously been part of the airline's fleet, starting spring 2016.


title: WestJet

text: In January 2018, WestJet announced its first flight to mainland Europe. WestJet started flying between Halifax and Paris in May 2018. The airline in this route is being operated with its new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.


title: WestJet

text: In October 2018, new international destinations and routes were announced. Starting in 2019, WestJet began direct flights from Calgary to Dublin and Paris. WestJet is using its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to fly these new routes. In addition, the current Calgary to London Gatwick Airport route, which was formerly served by WestJet's Boeing 767 aircraft, has been replaced by new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. At the end of October, WestJet also announced two new destinations. It began flights between Calgary and Atlanta, WestJet's expected joint-venture carrier Delta Air Lines largest hub, in March 2019. WestJet is the only carrier operating a direct route between Calgary and Atlanta. The airline also announced flights between Toronto and Barcelona, its second destination in mainland Europe which began in May 2019. In June 2021, WestJet announced the opening of a new route from Calgary to Amsterdam.


title: WestJet

text: In 1999, WestJet was in talks regarding a possible 'feeder' arrangement for Air Canada's network. These talks were apparently discontinued when Air Canada went forward with acquisition of Canadian Airlines the following year.


title: WestJet

text: In 2005, WestJet began a limited interline agreement with Taiwan-based China Airlines, in part to test the company's capability to partner with other carriers.


title: WestJet

text: In 2006, WestJet announced it has been in talks with 70 airlines around the world interested in an interline or codeshare agreement. In August 2006, in a "Globe and Mail" interview, then-WestJet CEO Sean Durfy stated that WestJet was in talks with Oneworld. Durfy said that, if a deal with Oneworld were reached, it would allow WestJet to maintain its scheduling flexibility; Durfy was later quoted in 2007 saying that a deal for WestJet to join the Oneworld alliance was unlikely. Despite this, WestJet did formalize a deal with Oneworld in November 2008, to partner on sales of travel to corporate and business travelers.


title: WestJet

text: In July 2008, WestJet announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding to build a distribution and codeshare agreement with U.S.-based Southwest Airlines. However, in April 2010 WestJet announced that the airline partnership with Southwest Airlines was terminated and in October 2010, WestJet partnered with American Airlines instead and later added Delta Air Lines. In light of a possible joint venture between WestJet and Delta, American and WestJet ceased their codeshare agreement on July 31, 2018.


title: WestJet

text: In 2017, WestJet, easyJet and Norwegian Air Shuttle teamed up to provide direct connections at London Gatwick Airport. The scheme, dubbed by easyJet as "Worldwide by easyJet" allows passengers to connect from easyJet flights to American and Canadian destinations with WestJet and Norwegian.


title: WestJet

text: On December 6, 2017, WestJet and Delta Air Lines signed a preliminary memorandum of understanding to extend their current codeshare agreement into a joint venture, pending regulatory and board approval.


title: WestJet

text: On July 19, 2018, WestJet and Delta Air Lines signed a definitive ten-year agreement into a joint venture between the two airlines. This joint venture would have served more than 95% of the Canada-U.S. demand. The airlines' current frequent flier programs would also be updated to be more closely aligned, and the airlines will be co-located at key hub airports. However, in November 2020, Delta Air Lines and WestJet agreed to scrap their plans for a joint venture, as the demands of the United States Department of Transportation were seen "unreasonable and unacceptable" by both airlines. Delta and WestJet have, however, agreed to reciprocal elite member benefits for their respective frequent flyer programs.


title: WestJet

text: The mainline fleet currently consists exclusively of Boeing aircraft, while wholly owned subsidiary Encore flies Bombardier Q400s. 20 units were originally ordered with options for up to 25 more. The first two units were delivered in mid-June 2013. Scheduled passenger service on these aircraft began on June 24, 2013. The first Boeing 737-700 delivery took place in 2001, and the first deliveries of Boeing 737-600 and Boeing 737-800 aircraft began in 2005, with the final 737-600 aircraft delivered in September 2006.


title: WestJet

text: Boeing confirmed on August 2, 2007 that WestJet had placed an order for 23 Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft. The order was primarily for Boeing 737-700 but with conversion rights to Boeing 737-800s.


title: WestJet

text: In the winter season, WestJet has temporarily wet leased some Boeing 757-200s to expand service between Alberta and Hawaii. From February through April 2011, a single aircraft was leased for this purpose; in the winter of 2011–12, a single aircraft was again leased. For the winter seasons from 2012 to 2015, this was expanded to two aircraft. In April 2013, it was announced that WestJet would sell ten of its oldest 737-700s and purchase ten 737-800s to modernize and increase capacity of its fleet.


title: WestJet

text: In May 2014, CEO Gregg Saretsky announced that WestJet was considering acquiring wide-body aircraft to operate long-haul international routes. By July of the same year, Saretsky confirmed that wide-body service would begin in 2015. In late June 2014, WestJet announced that the wide-body aircraft were to be second-hand Boeing 767-300ERs sourced from Qantas. The four Boeing 767s were an average of 25 years old, which meant that they needed frequent repairs and downtime for sourcing parts. This resulted in a poor on-time performance of 38 percent in 2016, costing the airline approximately $5 million in the second quarter of 2016. In 2017, Westjet reduced the number of flights from Winnipeg and Edmonton to reduce utilization of the planes for the summer 2017, to cope with any unforeseen delays or cancellations.


title: WestJet

text: In late December 2016, 77% of WestJet pilots approved a new deal that will increase pay for pilots flying wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 767, Boeing 787 and Airbus A330. In a statement, the airline said that it was seeking more large aircraft with the intention of adding new destinations. Saretsky also stated that he hoped for wide-body growth to be responsible, but quick. As of May 2, 2017, WestJet announced the purchase of up to 20 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft; 10 were firm orders with deliveries from 2019 through 2021, and 10 were options for delivery between 2020 and 2024.


title: WestJet

text: In early 2005, it was announced that the Boeing 737-200 fleet would be retired and replaced by newer, more fuel-efficient 737 Next Generation series aircraft. On July 12, 2005, WestJet announced that it had completed the sale of its remaining Boeing 737-200 to Miami-based Apollo Aviation Group.


title: WestJet

text: On January 9, 2006, the last Boeing 737-200 was flown during a fly-by ceremony at the WestJet hangar in Calgary, piloted by WestJet founder Don Bell and was a charter flight from Las Vegas to Calgary.


title: WestJet

text: In 2003 and 2004, WestJet donated two of its 737-200s to post-secondary schools in western Canada, one to the British Columbia Institute of Technology and a second to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology's Art Smith Aero Centre.


title: WestJet

text: In July 2020, WestJet retired their fleet of 4 Boeing 767-300ERs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2021, it was announced that the four 767-300 aircraft from WestJet were to be among a total of 11 to be purchased by Amazon and converted to freight use.


title: WestJet

text: WestJet's aircraft are painted white except for the lettering on the fuselage, wings and vertical stabilizer, except for special examples as noted below.


title: WestJet

text: The tail is divided roughly into slanted thirds, coloured (from front to back) navy blue, white and teal. This pattern is used on the outside of the blended winglets at the end of the wings while, on the inside, the winglets are painted white with "WestJet.com" in dark blue lettering.


title: WestJet

text: In February 2010 WestJet introduced a special livery on one Boeing 737-800 aircraft promoting its customer-service promise, or "Care-antee", in both English and French. This aircraft also featured a new tail design. In 2013, the Care-antee aircraft underwent a second livery change in partnership with Disney, featuring Mickey Mouse from the movie "Fantasia" and adopting the name "Magic Plane". A second Disney aircraft was completed in 2015, named ""Frozen" Plane", with characters Elsa and Anna on the vertical stabilizer and a similar theme in the cabin.


title: WestJet

text: In May 2018, WestJet unveiled a new livery, the first significant change since the inception of the company. It includes a new font for the word "WestJet"; written across the middle of the aircraft fuselage is "The Spirit of Canada" on the port side and "L'esprit du Canada" on the starboard side. An updated, stylized maple leaf on the aircraft tail is also included.


title: WestJet

text: On January 17, 2019, WestJet's first Dreamliner was delivered with the name 'Clive Beddoe', a tribute to one of its founder and former chairman of the board of directors. The aircraft is painted in its new livery.


title: WestJet

text: WestJet's 737 aircraft feature WestJet Connect, an in-flight entertainment system where passengers use their own mobile devices and laptops. The service includes free access to hundreds of TV shows and movies, paid access to the internet, and access to USB and 110 V power at every seat.


title: WestJet

text: WestJet's 787 aircraft features WestJet Connect and large touchscreen seatback monitors at every seat. The monitors include access to hundreds of TV shows and movies, music, magazines, and games like Angry Birds World Tour, and many more. Complimentary headphones are also included at every seat, with business and premium class offering noise-cancelling headphones and economy with standard earbuds. USB and 120V power are also included at every seat.


title: WestJet

text: On flights less than four hours, WestJet offers complimentary beverages and snacks. Alcoholic beverages are available for purchase.


title: WestJet

text: On flights four hours and more, WestJet offers complimentary beverages and snacks, and a buy-on-board meal service in economy on all aircraft. In premium and business class, a complimentary meal and alcoholic beverages are included. When flying to Europe, a complimentary meal, as well as alcoholic beverages are included in all classes.


title: WestJet

text: Business Class is offered only on Boeing 787 and offers private pods, with direct aisle access. The seats feature electronic flat beds in a 1-2-1 configuration. Complimentary on demand dining, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are included. On international flights, an amenity kit is provided. WestJet's business class is the only airline in Canada with fully extendable privacy screens.


title: WestJet

text: On WestJet's 787, Premium Class is in a separate, dedicated cabin. Larger seats with greater recline are offered in a 2-3-2 configuration. Complimentary hot meals, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are included. A self-serve social area is also available. On international flights, an amenity kit is provided.


title: WestJet

text: On WestJet's 737, Premium Class is separated from economy with sky dividers and curtain. Larger seats with greater recline are offered in a 2-2 configuration. Complimentary plated hot meals, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are included.


title: WestJet

text: On WestJet's 787, economy seats have a pitch of 31" and are offered in a 3-3-3 configuration. Complimentary hot meals, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are included when flying internationally.


title: WestJet

text: On WestJet's 737s, economy seats have a pitch of 31"–34" and are offered in a 3-3 configuration. Complimentary non-alcoholic beverages and snacks are included.


title: WestJet

text: WestJet opened its flagship business lounge, Elevation Lounge, in 2020, at Calgary International Airport. Westjet has plans for future Elevation lounges at its other main hubs YVR Vancouver International Airport and YYZ Toronto Pearson International Airport. Westjet also has agreements with third-party service providers to provide pay-per-use access for customers, and free access to Gold and Platinum members. These agreements include lounges in the following airports:


title: Velocity

text: Velocity is the directional speed of an object in motion as an indication of its rate of change in position as observed from a particular frame of reference and as measured by a particular standard of time (e.g. northbound). Velocity is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of bodies.


title: Velocity

text: Velocity is a physical vector quantity; both magnitude and direction are needed to define it. The scalar absolute value (magnitude) of velocity is called , being a coherent derived unit whose quantity is measured in the SI (metric system) as metres per second (m/s or m⋅s). For example, "5 metres per second" is a scalar, whereas "5 metres per second east" is a vector. If there is a change in speed, direction or both, then the object is said to be undergoing an "acceleration".


title: Velocity

text: To have a "constant velocity", an object must have a constant speed in a constant direction. Constant direction constrains the object to motion in a straight path thus, a constant velocity means motion in a straight line at a constant speed.


title: Velocity

text: For example, a car moving at a constant 20 kilometres per hour in a circular path has a constant speed, but does not have a constant velocity because its direction changes. Hence, the car is considered to be undergoing an acceleration.


title: Velocity

text: Velocity is defined as the rate of change of position with respect to time, which may also be referred to as the "instantaneous velocity" to emphasize the distinction from the average velocity. In some applications the average velocity of an object might be needed, that is to say, the constant velocity that would provide the same resultant displacement as a variable velocity in the same time interval, , over some time period . Average velocity can be calculated as:


title: Velocity

text: The average velocity is always less than or equal to the average speed of an object. This can be seen by realizing that while distance is always strictly increasing, displacement can increase or decrease in magnitude as well as change direction.


title: Velocity

text: In terms of a displacement-time ("x" vs. "t") graph, the instantaneous velocity (or, simply, velocity) can be thought of as the slope of the tangent line to the curve at any point, and the average velocity as the slope of the secant line between two points with "t" coordinates equal to the boundaries of the time period for the average velocity.


title: Velocity

text: The average velocity is the same as the velocity averaged over time – that is to say, its time-weighted average, which may be calculated as the time integral of the velocity:


title: Velocity

text: If we consider as velocity and as the displacement (change in position) vector, then we can express the (instantaneous) velocity of a particle or object, at any particular time , as the derivative of the position with respect to time:


title: Velocity

text: From this derivative equation, in the one-dimensional case it can be seen that the area under a velocity vs. time ( vs. graph) is the displacement, . In calculus terms, the integral of the velocity function is the displacement function . In the figure, this corresponds to the yellow area under the curve labeled ( being an alternative notation for displacement).


title: Velocity

text: Since the derivative of the position with respect to time gives the change in position (in metres) divided by the change in time (in seconds), velocity is measured in metres per second (m/s). Although the concept of an instantaneous velocity might at first seem counter-intuitive, it may be thought of as the velocity that the object would continue to travel at if it stopped accelerating at that moment.


title: Velocity

text: Although velocity is defined as the rate of change of position, it is often common to start with an expression for an object's acceleration. As seen by the three green tangent lines in the figure, an object's instantaneous acceleration at a point in time is the slope of the line tangent to the curve of a graph at that point. In other words, acceleration is defined as the derivative of velocity with respect to time:


title: Velocity

text: From there, we can obtain an expression for velocity as the area under an acceleration vs. time graph. As above, this is done using the concept of the integral:


title: Velocity

text: In the special case of constant acceleration, velocity can be studied using the suvat equations. By considering a as being equal to some arbitrary constant vector, it is trivial to show that


title: Velocity

text: with as the velocity at time and as the velocity at time . By combining this equation with the suvat equation , it is possible to relate the displacement and the average velocity by


title: Velocity

text: It is also possible to derive an expression for the velocity independent of time, known as the Torricelli equation, as follows:


title: Velocity

text: The above equations are valid for both Newtonian mechanics and special relativity. Where Newtonian mechanics and special relativity differ is in how different observers would describe the same situation. In particular, in Newtonian mechanics, all observers agree on the value of t and the transformation rules for position create a situation in which all non-accelerating observers would describe the acceleration of an object with the same values. Neither is true for special relativity. In other words, only relative velocity can be calculated.


title: Velocity

text: ignoring special relativity, where "E" is the kinetic energy and "m" is the mass. Kinetic energy is a scalar quantity as it depends on the square of the velocity, however a related quantity, momentum, is a vector and defined by


title: Velocity

text: Escape velocity is the minimum speed a ballistic object needs to escape from a massive body such as Earth. It represents the kinetic energy that, when added to the object's gravitational potential energy (which is always negative), is equal to zero. The general formula for the escape velocity of an object at a distance "r" from the center of a planet with mass "M" is


title: Velocity

text: where "G" is the gravitational constant and "g" is the gravitational acceleration. The escape velocity from Earth's surface is about 11 200 m/s, and is irrespective of the direction of the object. This makes "escape velocity" somewhat of a misnomer, as the more correct term would be "escape speed": any object attaining a velocity of that magnitude, irrespective of atmosphere, will leave the vicinity of the base body as long as it doesn't intersect with something in its path.


title: Velocity

text: Relative velocity is a measurement of velocity between two objects as determined in a single coordinate system. Relative velocity is fundamental in both classical and modern physics, since many systems in physics deal with the relative motion of two or more particles. In Newtonian mechanics, the relative velocity is independent of the chosen inertial reference frame. This is not the case anymore with special relativity in which velocities depend on the choice of reference frame.


title: Velocity

text: If an object A is moving with velocity vector v and an object B with velocity vector w, then the velocity of object A "relative to" object B is defined as the difference of the two velocity vectors:


title: Velocity

text: Similarly, the relative velocity of object B moving with velocity w, relative to object A moving with velocity v is:


title: Velocity

text: Usually, the inertial frame chosen is that in which the latter of the two mentioned objects is in rest.


title: Velocity

text: In polar coordinates, a two-dimensional velocity is described by a radial velocity, defined as the component of velocity away from or toward the origin (also known as "velocity made good"), and an angular velocity, which is the rate of rotation about the origin (with positive quantities representing counter-clockwise rotation and negative quantities representing clockwise rotation, in a right-handed coordinate system).


title: Velocity

text: The radial and angular velocities can be derived from the Cartesian velocity and displacement vectors by decomposing the velocity vector into radial and transverse components. The transverse velocity is the component of velocity along a circle centered at the origin.


title: Velocity

text: The "magnitude of the radial velocity" is the dot product of the velocity vector and the unit vector in the direction of the displacement.


title: Velocity

text: The "magnitude of the transverse velocity" is that of the cross product of the unit vector in the direction of the displacement and the velocity vector. It is also the product of the angular speed formula_27 and the magnitude of the displacement.


title: Velocity

text: Angular momentum in scalar form is the mass times the distance to the origin times the transverse velocity, or equivalently, the mass times the distance squared times the angular speed. The sign convention for angular momentum is the same as that for angular velocity.


title: Velocity

text: If forces are in the radial direction only with an inverse square dependence, as in the case of a gravitational orbit, angular momentum is constant, and transverse speed is inversely proportional to the distance, angular speed is inversely proportional to the distance squared, and the rate at which area is swept out is constant. These relations are known as Kepler's laws of planetary motion.


The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) was initiated as an ionospheric research program jointly funded by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It was designed and built by BAE Advanced Technologies. Its original purpose was to analyze the ionosphere and investigate the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology for radio communications and surveillance. Since 2015 it has been operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.


title: High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program

text: The most prominent instrument at HAARP is the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI), a high-power radio frequency transmitter facility operating in the high frequency (HF) band. The IRI is used to temporarily excite a limited area of the ionosphere. Other instruments, such as a VHF and a UHF radar, a fluxgate magnetometer, a digisonde (an ionospheric sounding device), and an induction magnetometer, are used to study the physical processes that occur in the excited region.


text: Work on the HAARP facility began in 1993. The current working IRI was completed in 2007; its prime contractor was BAE Systems Advanced Technologies. As of 2008, HAARP had incurred around $250 million in tax-funded construction and operating costs. In May 2014, it was announced that the HAARP program would be permanently shut down later in the year. After discussions between the parties, ownership of the facility and its equipment was transferred to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in August 2015.


text: HAARP is a target of conspiracy theorists, who claim that it is capable of "weaponizing" weather. Commentators and scientists say that advocates of this theory are uninformed, as claims made fall well outside the abilities of the facility, if not the scope of natural science.


text: The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program began in 1990. Ted Stevens, Republican U.S. senator from Alaska, helped win approval for the facility, and construction began in 1993.


text: In early May 2013, HAARP was temporarily shut down, awaiting a change between contractors to operate the facility. In July 2013, HAARP program manager James Keeney said, "Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is expected on site as a client to finish up some research in fall 2013 and winter 2014." The temporary shutdown was described as being due to "a contractor regime change." Ahtna, Incorporated, the Alaska Native corporation serving the region of Alaska where the HAARP site is located, was reportedly in talks to take over the facility administration contract from Marsh Creek, LLC.


text: In May 2014, the Air Force announced that the HAARP program would be shut down later in 2014. While experiments ended in the summer of 2014, the complete shutdown and dismantling of the facility was postponed until at least May 2015. In mid-August 2015 control of the facility and its equipment was turned over to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, which is making the facilities available for researchers on a pay-per-use basis.


text: The HAARP project directs a 3.6 MW signal, in the 2.8–10 MHz region of the HF band, into the ionosphere. The signal may be pulsed or continuous. Effects of the transmission and any recovery period can be examined using associated instrumentation, including VHF and UHF radars, HF receivers, and optical cameras. According to the HAARP team, this will advance the study of basic natural processes that occur in the ionosphere under the natural but much stronger influence of solar interaction. HAARP also enables studies of how the natural ionosphere affects radio signals.


text: The insights gleaned at HAARP will enable scientists to develop methods to mitigate these effects to improve the reliability or performance of communication and navigation systems which would have a wide range of both civilian and military uses, such as an increased accuracy of GPS navigation and advances in underwater and underground research and applications. This may lead, among other things, to improved methods for submarine communication or an ability to remotely sense and map the mineral content of the terrestrial subsurface, and perhaps underground complexes, of regions or countries. The current facility lacks range to be used in regions like the oil-rich Middle East, according to one of the researchers involved, but the technology could be put on a mobile platform.


text: The project was originally funded by the Office of Naval Research and jointly managed by the ONR and Air Force Research Laboratory, with principal involvement of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Many other US universities and educational institutions were involved in the development of the project and its instruments, namely the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Stanford University, Penn State University (ARL), Boston College, UCLA, Clemson University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, College Park, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MIT, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Virginia Tech and the University of Tulsa. The project's specifications were developed by the universities, who continued to play a major role in the design of future research efforts.


text: According to HAARP's original management, the project strove for openness, and all activities were logged and publicly available, a practice which continues under the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Scientists without security clearances, even foreign nationals, were routinely allowed on site, which also continues today. HAARP hosts an open house annually, during which time any civilian can tour the entire facility. In addition, scientific results obtained using HAARP are routinely published in major research journals (such as "Geophysical Research Letters" and "Journal of Geophysical Research"), written both by university scientists (American and foreign) and by U.S. Department of Defense research lab scientists.


text: HAARP's main goal is basic science research in the uppermost portion of the atmosphere, termed the ionosphere. Essentially a transition between the atmosphere and the magnetosphere, the ionosphere is where the atmosphere is thin enough that the sun's X-rays and UV rays can reach it, but thick enough that there are enough molecules present to absorb those rays. Consequently, the ionosphere consists of a rapid increase in density of free electrons, beginning at 70 km, reaching a peak at ~300 km, and then falling off again as the atmosphere disappears entirely by ~1,000 km. Various aspects of HAARP can study all of the main layers of the ionosphere.


text: The profile of the ionosphere is highly variable, changing constantly on timescales of minutes, hours, days, seasons, and years. This profile becomes even more complex near Earth's magnetic poles, where the nearly vertical alignment and intensity of earth's magnetic field can cause physical effects like the aurora.


text: The ionosphere is traditionally very difficult to measure. Balloons cannot reach it because the air is too thin, but satellites cannot orbit there because the air is too thick. Hence, most experiments on the ionosphere give only small pieces of information. HAARP approaches the study of the ionosphere by following in the footsteps of an ionospheric heater called EISCAT near Tromsø, Norway. There, scientists pioneered exploration of the ionosphere by perturbing it with radio waves in the 2–10 MHz range, and studying how the ionosphere reacts. HAARP performs the same functions but with more power and a more flexible and agile HF beam.


text: Research conducted at the HAARP facility has allowed the US military to perfect communications with its fleet of submarines by sending radio signals over long distances.


text: The main instrument at HAARP is the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI). This is a high-power, high-frequency phased array radio transmitter with a set of 180 antennas, disposed in an array of 12×15 units that occupy a rectangle of about . The IRI is used to temporarily energize a small portion of the ionosphere. The study of these disturbed volumes yields important information for understanding natural ionospheric processes.


text: During active ionospheric research, the signal generated by the transmitter system is delivered to the antenna array and transmitted in an upward direction. At an altitude between (depending on operating frequency), the signal is partially absorbed in a small volume several tens of kilometers in diameter and a few meters thick over the IRI. The intensity of the HF signal in the ionosphere is less than 3 µW/cm, tens of thousands of times less than the Sun's natural electromagnetic radiation reaching the earth and hundreds of times less than even the normal random variations in intensity of the Sun's natural ultraviolet (UV) energy which creates the ionosphere. The small effects that are produced, however, can be observed with the sensitive scientific instruments installed at the HAARP facility, and these observations can provide information about the dynamics of plasmas and insight into the processes of solar-terrestrial interactions.


text: Each antenna element consists of a crossed dipole that can be polarized for linear, ordinary mode (O-mode), or extraordinary mode (X-mode) transmission and reception.


text: Each part of the two section crossed dipoles is individually fed from a specially designed, custom-built transmitter that operates at very low distortion levels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of the IRI is limited by more than a factor of 10 at its lower operating frequencies. Much of this is due to higher antenna losses and a less efficient antenna pattern.


text: The IRI can transmit between 2.7 and 10 MHz, a frequency range that lies above the AM radio broadcast band and well below Citizens' Band frequency allocations. However, HAARP is licensed to transmit only in certain segments of this frequency range. When the IRI is transmitting, the bandwidth of the transmitted signal is 100 kHz or less. The IRI can transmit in continuous waves (CW) or in pulses as short as 10 microseconds (µs). CW transmission is generally used for ionospheric modification, while transmission in short pulses frequently repeated is used as a radar system. Researchers can run experiments that use both modes of transmission, first modifying the ionosphere for a predetermined amount of time, then measuring the decay of modification effects with pulsed transmissions.


text: There are other geophysical instruments for research located at the HAARP facility. Some of them are:


text: The facility is powered by a set of five 2500 kilowatt generators being driven by EMD 20-645-E4 diesel locomotive engines.


text: The project site () is north of Gakona, Alaska just west of Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park. An environmental impact statement led to permission for an array of up to 180 antennas to be erected. HAARP was constructed at the previous site of an over-the-horizon radar (OTH) installation. A large structure, built to house the OTH now houses the HAARP control room, kitchen and offices. Several other small structures house various instruments.


text: In the United States, there have been two related ionospheric heating facilities: the HIPAS, near Fairbanks, Alaska, which was dismantled in 2009, and one at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which collapsed in 2020. The European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) operates an ionospheric heating facility capable of transmitting over 1 GW effective radiated power (ERP), near Tromsø, Norway. The Sura Ionospheric Heating Facility, in Vasilsursk, Russia, near Nizhniy Novgorod, is capable of transmitting 190 MW ERP.


text: HAARP is the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. Various individuals have speculated about hidden motivations and capabilities of the project. For example, Rosalie Bertell warned in 1996 about the deployment of HAARP as a military weapon. Michel Chossudovsky stated in a book published by the Committee on Monetary and Economic Reform that "recent scientific evidence suggests that HAARP is fully operational and has the capability of triggering floods, hurricanes, droughts and earthquakes." Over time, HAARP has been blamed for generating such catastrophes, as well as thunderstorms, in Iran, Pakistan, Haiti, Turkey, Greece and the Philippines, and even major power outages, the downing of TWA Flight 800, Gulf War syndrome, and chronic fatigue syndrome.


text: Two Georgia men arrested on drug charges in November 2016 were reportedly plotting domestic terrorism based on conspiracy theories about HAARP. The Coffee County Sheriff's Office said the men possessed a "massive arsenal" that included AR-15 rifles, Glock handguns, a Remington rifle and thousands of rounds of ammunition. According to police, the men wanted to destroy HAARP because they believed the facility manipulates the weather, controls minds and even traps the souls of people. Police say the men confessed that "God told them to go and blow this machine up that kept souls, so souls could be released."


text: Stanford University professor Umran Inan told "Popular Science" that weather-control conspiracy theories were "completely uninformed," explaining that "there's absolutely nothing we can do to disturb the Earth's [weather] systems. Even though the power HAARP radiates is very large, it's minuscule compared with the power of a lightning flash—and there are 50 to 100 lightning flashes every second. HAARP's intensity is very small." Computer scientist David Naiditch characterizes HAARP as "a magnet for conspiracy theorists," saying that HAARP attracts their attention because, "its purpose seems deeply mysterious to the scientifically uninformed." Journalist Sharon Weinberger called HAARP "the Moby Dick of conspiracy theories," and said the popularity of conspiracy theories often overshadows the benefits HAARP may provide to the scientific community. Austin Baird writing in the "Alaska Dispatch" said, "What makes HAARP susceptible to conspiracy criticism is simple. The facility doesn't open its doors in the same way as other federally funded research facilities around the country, and it doesn't go to great efforts to explain the importance of its research to the public." In 2016, in response to these claims, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, which manages the facility, announced that HAARP will host an annual open house in August, allowing visitors to tour the complex.


title: Reading

text: Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.


title: Reading

text: For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling), alphabetics, phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and motivation.


title: Reading

text: Other types of reading and writing, such as pictograms (e.g., a hazard symbol and an emoji), are not based on speech-based writing systems. The common link is the interpretation of symbols to extract the meaning from the visual notations or tactile signals (as in the case of Braille).


title: Reading

text: Reading is typically an individual activity, done silently, although on occasion a person reads out loud for other listeners; or reads aloud for one's own use, for better comprehension. Before the reintroduction of separated text (spaces between words) in the late Middle Ages, the ability to read silently was considered rather remarkable.


title: Reading

text: Major predictors of an individual's ability to read both alphabetic and non-alphabetic scripts are oral language skills, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming and verbal IQ.


title: Reading

text: As a leisure activity, children and adults read because it is pleasant and interesting. In the US, about half of all adults read one or more books for pleasure each year. About 5% read more than 50 books per year. Americans read more if they: have more education, read fluently and easily, are female, live in cities, and have higher socioeconomic status. Children become better readers when they know more about the world in general, and when they perceive reading as fun rather than another chore to be performed.


title: Reading

text: Reading is an essential part of literacy, yet from a historical perspective literacy is about having the ability to both read and write.


title: Reading

text: And, since the 1990s some organizations have defined literacy in a wide variety of ways that may go beyond the traditional ability to read and write. The following are some examples:


title: Reading

text: In the academic field, some view literacy in a more philosophical manner and propose the concept of "multiliteracies". For example, they say, "this huge shift from traditional print-based literacy to 21st century multiliteracies reflects the impact of communication technologies and multimedia on the evolving nature of texts, as well as the skills and dispositions associated with the consumption, production, evaluation, and distribution of those texts (Borsheim, Meritt, & Reed, 2008, p. 87)". According to cognitive neuroscientist Mark Seidenberg these "multiple literacies" have allowed educators to change the topic from reading and writing to "Literacy". He goes on to say that some educators, when faced with criticisms of how reading is taught, "didn't alter their practices, they changed the subject".


title: Reading

text: Also, some organizations might include numeracy skills and technology skills separately but alongside of literacy skills.


title: Reading

text: In addition, since the 1940s the term literacy is often used to mean having knowledge or skill in a particular field (e.g., computer literacy, ecological literacy, health literacy, media literacy, quantitative literacy (numeracy) and visual literacy).


title: Reading

text: In order to understand a text, it is usually necessary to understand the spoken language associated with that text. In this way, writing systems are distinguished from many other symbolic communication systems. Once established, writing systems on the whole change more slowly than their spoken counterparts, and often preserve features and expressions which are no longer current in the spoken language. The great benefit of writing systems is their ability to maintain a persistent record of information expressed in a language, which can be retrieved independently of the initial act of formulation.


title: Reading

text: Reading for pleasure has been linked to increased cognitive progress in vocabulary and mathematics during adolescence.


title: Reading

text: Research suggests that reading can improve stress management, memory, focus, writing skills, and imagination.


title: Reading

text: Research suggests that reading books and writing are among the brain-stimulating activities that can slow down cognitive decline in seniors.


title: Reading

text: Reading has been the subject of considerable research and reporting for decades. Many organizations measure and report on for children and adults (e.g., NAEP, PIRLS, PISA PIAAC, and EQAO).


title: Reading

text: Researchers have concluded that 95% of students can be taught to read by the end of first grade, yet in many countries 20% or more do not meet that expectation.


title: Reading

text: According to the 2019 Nation's Report card, 34% of grade four students in the United States failed to perform at or above the "Basic reading level". There was a significant difference by race and ethnicity (e.g., black students at 52% and white students at 23%). After the impact of the covid-19 pandemic the average basic reading score dropped by 3% in 2022. See more about .


title: Reading

text: In Canada, the provinces of Ontario and Nova Scotia, respectively, reported that 26% and 30% of grade three students did not meet the provincial reading standards in 2019. In Ontario, 53% of Grade 3 students with special education needs (students who have an Individual Education Plan), were not meeting the provincial standard.


title: Reading

text: The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) publishes reading achievement for fourth graders in 50 countries. The five countries with the highest overall reading average are the Russian Federation, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Ireland and Finland. Some others are: England 10th, United States 15th, Australia 21st, Canada 23rd, and New Zealand 33rd.


title: Reading

text: The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures 15-year-old school pupils scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading.


title: Reading

text: The reading levels of adults, ages 16–65, in 39 countries are reported by the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Between 2011 and 2018, PIAAC reports the percentage of adults reading "at-or-below level one" (the lowest of five levels). Some examples are Japan 4.9%, Finland 10.6%, Netherlands 11.7%, Australia 12.6%, Sweden 13.3%, Canada 16.4%, England (UK) 16.4%, and the United States 16.9%.


title: Reading

text: According to the World Bank, 53% of all children in low-and-middle-income countries suffer from 'learning poverty'. In 2019, using data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, they published a report entitled "Ending Learning Poverty: What will it take?". Learning poverty is defined as being unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10.


title: Reading

text: Although they say that all foundational skills are important, include reading, numeracy, basic reasoning ability, socio-emotional skills, and others – they focus specifically on reading. Their reasoning is that reading proficiency is an easily understood metric of learning, reading is a student's gateway to learning in every other area, and reading proficiency can serve as a proxy for foundational learning in other subjects.


title: Reading

text: They suggest five pillars to reduce learning poverty: 1) learners are prepared and motivated to learn, 2) teachers at all levels are effective and valued, 3) classrooms are equipped for learning, 4) Schools are safe and inclusive spaces, and 5) education systems are well-managed.


title: Reading

text: Learning to read or reading skills acquisition is the acquisition and practice of the skills necessary to understand the meaning behind printed words. For a skilled reader, the act of reading feels simple, effortless, and automatic. However, the process of learning to read is complex and builds on cognitive, linguistic, and social skills developed from a very early age. As one of the four core language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), reading is vital to gaining a command of written language.


title: Reading

text: In the United States and elsewhere, it is widely believed that students who lack proficiency in reading by the end of grade three may face obstacles for the rest of their academic career. For example, it is estimated that they would not be able to read half of the material they will encounter in grade four.


title: Reading

text: In 2019, with respect to the reading skills of grade-four US public school students, only 45% of white students and 18% of black students performed at or above the "proficient level" of the . Also, in 2012, in the United Kingdom it has been reported that 15-year-old students are reading at the age of 12-year-old students.


title: Reading

text: As a result, many governments put practices in place to ensure that students are reading at grade level by the end of grade three. An example of this is the Third Grade Reading Guarantee created by the State of Ohio in 2017. This is a program to identify students from kindergarten through grade three that are behind in reading, and provide support to make sure they are on track for reading success by the end of grade three. This is also known as remedial education. Another example is the policy in England whereby any pupil who is struggling to decode words properly by year three must "urgently" receive help through a "rigorous and systematic phonics programme".


title: Reading

text: In 2016, out of 50 countries, the United States achieved the 15th highest score in grade-four reading ability. The ten countries with the highest overall reading average are the Russian Federation, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Ireland, Finland, Poland, Northern Ireland, Norway, Chinese Taipei and England (UK). Some others are: Australia (21st), Canada (23rd), New Zealand (33rd), France (34th), Saudi Arabia (44th), and South Africa (50th).


title: Reading

text: Spoken language is the foundation of learning to read (long before children see any letters) and children's knowledge of the phonological structure of language is a good predictor of early reading ability. Spoken language is dominant for most of childhood, however, reading ultimately catches up and surpasses speech.


title: Reading

text: By their first birthday most children have learned all the sounds in their spoken language. However, it takes longer for them to learn the phonological form of words and to begin developing a spoken vocabulary.


title: Reading

text: Children acquire a spoken language in a few years. Five-to-six-year-old English learners have vocabularies of 2,500 to 5,000 words, and add 5,000 words per year for the first several years of schooling. This rapid learning rate cannot be accounted for by the instruction they receive. Instead, children learn that the meaning of a new word can be inferred because it occurs in the same context as familiar words (e.g., "lion" is often seen with "cowardly" and "king"). As British linguist John Rupert Firth says, "You shall know a word by the company it keeps".


title: Reading

text: The environment in which children live may also impact their ability to acquire reading skills. Children who are regularly exposed to chronic environmental noise pollution, such as highway traffic noise, have been known to show decreased ability to discriminate between phonemes (oral language sounds) as well as lower reading scores on standardized tests.


title: Reading

text: Children learn to speak naturally – by listening to other people speak. However, reading is not a natural process, and many children need to learn to read through a process that involves "systematic guidance and feedback".


title: Reading

text: So, "reading to children is not the same as teaching children to read". Nonetheless, reading to children is important because it socializes them to the activity of reading; it engages them; it expands their knowledge of spoken language; and it enriches their linguistic ability by hearing new and novel words and grammatical structures.


title: Reading

text: However, there is some evidence that "shared reading" with children does help to improve reading if the children's attention is directed to the words on the page as they are being read to.


title: Reading

text: The path to skilled reading involves learning the alphabetic principle, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.


title: Reading

text: British psychologist Uta Frith introduced a three stages model to acquire skilled reading. Stage one is the "logographic or pictorial stage" where students attempt to grasp words as objects, an artificial form of reading. Stage two is the "phonological stage" where students learn the relationship between the graphemes (letters) and the phonemes (sounds). Stage three is the "orthographic stage" where students read familiar words more quickly than unfamiliar words, and word length gradually ceases to play a role.


title: Reading

text: The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSS) in the United States has standards for foundational reading skills in kindergarten and grade one that include instruction in print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics, word recognition and fluency. However, some critics of CCSS say that "To achieve reading standards usually calls for long hours of drill and worksheets – and reduces other vital areas of learning such as math, science, social studies, art, music and creative play".


title: Reading

text: The PISA 2007 OECD data from 54 countries demonstrates "no association between school entry age ... and reading achievement at age 15". Also, a German study of 50 kindergartens compared children who, at age 5, had spent a year either "academically focused", or "play-arts focused" and found that in time the two groups became inseparable in reading skill. The authors conclude that the effects of early reading are like "watering a garden before a rainstorm; the earlier watering is rendered undetectable by the rainstorm, the watering wastes precious water, and the watering detracts the gardener from other important preparatory groundwork".


title: Reading

text: Some scholars favor a developmentally appropriate practice (DPA) in which formal instruction on reading begins when children are about six or seven years old. And to support that theory some point out that children in Finland start school at age seven (Finland ranked 5th in the 2016 PIRLS international grade four reading achievement.) In a discussion on academic kindergartens, professor of child development David Elkind has argued that, since "there is no solid research demonstrating that early academic training is superior to (or worse than) the more traditional, hands-on model of early education", educators should defer to developmental approaches that provide young children with ample time and opportunity to explore the natural world on their own terms. Elkind emphasized the principle that "early education must start with the child, not with the subject matter to be taught". In response, Grover J. Whitehurst, Director, Brown Center on Education Policy, (part of Brookings Institution) said David Elkind is relying too much on philosophies of education rather than science and research. He continues to say education practices are "doomed to cycles of fad and fancy" until they become more based on evidence-based practice.


title: Reading

text: On the subject of Finland's academic results, as some researchers point out, prior to starting school Finnish children must participate in one year of compulsory free pre-primary education and most are reading before they start school. And, with respect to "developmentally appropriate practice" (DPA), in 2019 the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Washington, DC, released a draft position paper on DPA saying "The notion that young children are not ready for academic subject matter is a misunderstanding of developmentally appropriate practice; particularly in grades 1 through 3, almost all subject matter can be taught in ways that are meaningful and engaging for each child". And, researchers at The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential say it is a myth that early readers are bored or become trouble makers in school.


title: Reading

text: Other researchers and educators favor limited amounts of literacy instruction at the age of four and five, in addition to non-academic, intellectually stimulating activities.


title: Reading

text: Reviews of the academic literature by the Education Endowment Foundation in the UK have found that starting literacy teaching in preschool has "been consistently found to have a positive effect on early learning outcomes" and that "beginning early years education at a younger age appears to have a high positive impact on learning outcomes". This supports current standard practice in the UK which includes developing children's phonemic awareness in preschool and teaching reading from age four.


title: Reading

text: A study in Chicago reports that an early education program for children from low-income families is estimated to generate $4 to $11 of economic benefits over a child's lifetime for every dollar spent initially on the program, according to a cost-benefit analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health. The program is staffed by certified teachers and offers "instruction in reading and math, small group activities and educational field trips for children ages 3 through 9".


title: Reading

text: There does not appear to be any definitive research about the "magic window" to begin reading instruction. However, there is also no definitive research to suggest that starting early causes any harm. Researcher Timothy Shanahan, suggests, "Start teaching reading from the time you have kids available to teach, and pay attention to how they respond to this instruction – both in terms of how well they are learning what you are teaching, and how happy and invested they seem to be. If you haven't started yet, don't feel guilty, just get going".


title: Reading

text: Some education researchers suggest the teaching of the various reading components by specific grade levels. The following is one example from Carol Tolman, Ed.D. and Louisa Moats, Ed.D. that corresponds in many respects with the United States Common Core State Standards Initiative:


title: Reading

text: According to some researchers, learners (children and adults) progress through several stages while first learning to read in English, and then refining their reading skills. One of the recognized experts in this area is Harvard professor Jeanne Sternlicht Chall. In 1983 she published a book entitled "Stages of Reading Development" that proposed six stages.


title: Reading

text: Subsequently, in 2008 Maryanne Wolf, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, published a book entitled "Proust and the Squid" in which she describes her view of the following five stages of reading development. It is normal that children will move through these stages at different rates; however, typical ages for children in the United States are shown below.


title: Reading

text: The emerging pre-reader stage, also known as reading readiness, usually lasts for the first five years of a child's life. Children typically speak their first few words before their first birthday. Educators and parents help learners to develop their skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing.


title: Reading

text: Reading to children helps them to develop their vocabulary, a love of reading, and phonemic awareness, i.e. the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) of oral language. Children will often "read" stories they have memorized. However, in the late 1990s United States' researchers found that the traditional way of reading to children made little difference in their later ability to read because children spend relatively little time actually looking at the text. Yet, in a shared reading program with four-year-old children, teachers found that directing children's attention to the letters and words (e.g. verbally or pointing to the words) made a significant difference in early reading, spelling and comprehension.


title: Reading

text: Novice readers continue to develop their phonemic awareness, and come to realise that the letters (graphemes) connect to the sounds (phonemes) of the language; known as decoding, phonics, and the alphabetic principle. They may also memorize the most common letter patterns and some of the high-frequency words that do not necessarily follow basic phonological rules (e.g. "have and who"). However, it is a mistake to assume a reader understands the meaning of a text merely because they can decode it. Vocabulary and oral language comprehension are also important parts of text comprehension as described in the Simple view of reading, Scarborough's reading rope, and The active view of reading model. Reading and speech are codependent: reading promotes vocabulary development and a richer vocabulary facilitates skilled reading.


title: Reading

text: The transition from the novice reader stage to the decoding stage is marked by a reduction of painful pronunciations and in its place the sounds of a smoother, more confident reader. In this phase the reader adds at least 3,000 words to what they can decode. For example, in the English language, readers now learn the variations of the vowel-based rimes (e.g. s"at", m"at", c"at") and vowel pairs (also digraph) (e.g. r"ai"n, pl"ay", b"oa"t)


title: Reading

text: As readers move forward, they learn the make up of morphemes (i.e. stems, roots, prefixes and suffixes). They learn the common morphemes such as "s" and "ed" and see them as "sight chunks". "The faster a child can see that "beheaded" is "be + head + ed"", the faster they will become a more fluent reader.


title: Reading

text: In the beginning of this stage a child will often be devoting so much mental capacity to the process of decoding that they will have no understanding of the words being read. It is nevertheless an important stage, allowing the child to achieve their ultimate goal of becoming fluent and automatic.


title: Reading

text: It is in the decoding phase that the child will get to what the story is really about, and to learn to re-read a passage when necessary so as to truly understand it.


title: Reading

text: The goal of this stage is to "go below the surface of the text", and in the process the reader will build their knowledge of spelling substantially.


title: Reading

text: Teachers and parents may be tricked by fluent-sounding reading into thinking that a child understands everything that they are reading. As the content of what they are able to read becomes more demanding, good readers will develop knowledge of figurative language and irony which helps them to discover new meanings in the text.


title: Reading

text: Children improve their comprehension when they use a variety of tools such as connecting prior knowledge, predicting outcomes, drawing inferences, and monitoring gaps in their understanding. One of the most powerful moments is when fluent comprehending readers learn to enter into the lives of imagined heroes and heroines.


title: Reading

text: When teaching comprehension, the educational psychologist, G. Michael Pressley, says a strong case can be made for instruction in decoding, vocabulary, word knowledge, active comprehension strategies, and self-monitoring.


title: Reading

text: At the end of this stage, many processes are starting to become automatic, allowing the reader to focus on meaning. With the decoding process almost automatic by this point, the brain learns to integrate more metaphorical, inferential, analogical, background and experiential knowledge. This stage in learning to read will often last until early adulthood.


title: Reading

text: At the expert stage it will usually only take a reader one-half second to read almost any word. The degree to which expert reading will change over the course of an adult's life depends on what they read and how much they read.


title: Reading

text: There is no single definition of the science of reading (SOR). Foundational skills such as phonics, decoding, and phonemic awareness are considered to be important parts of the science of reading, but they are not the only ingredients. SOR includes any research and evidence about how humans learn to read, and how reading should be taught. This includes areas such as oral reading fluency, vocabulary, morphology, reading comprehension, text, spelling and pronunciation, thinking strategies, oral language proficiency, working memory training, and written language performance (e.g., cohesion, sentence combining/reducing).


title: Reading

text: In addition, some educators feel that SOR should include digital literacy; background knowledge; content-rich instruction; infrastructural pillars (curriculum, reimagined teacher preparation, and leadership); adaptive teaching (recognizing the student's individual, culture and linguistic strengths); bi-literacy development; equity, social justice and supporting underserved populations (e.g., students from low-income backgrounds).


title: Reading

text: Some researchers suggest there is a need for more studies on the relationship between theory and practice. They say "we know more about the science of reading than about the science of teaching based on the science of reading", and "there are many layers between basic science findings and teacher implementation that must be traversed".


title: Reading

text: In cognitive science there is likely no area that has been more successful than the study of reading. Yet, in many countries reading levels are considered low. In the United States, the 2019 "Nations Report Card" reported that 34% of grade-four public school students performed at or above the NAEP "proficient level" (solid academic performance) and 65% performed at or above the "basic level" (partial mastery of the proficient level skills). As reported in the PIRLS study, the United States ranked 15th out of 50 countries, for reading comprehension levels of fourth-graders. In addition, according to the 2011–2018 PIAAC study, out of 39 countries the United States ranked 19th for literacy levels of adults 16 to 65; and 16.9% of adults in the United States read at or below level one (out of five levels).


title: Reading

text: Many researchers are concerned that low reading levels are due to the manner in which reading is taught. They point to three areas: a) contemporary reading science has had very little impact on educational practice mainly because of a "two-cultures problem separating science and education", b) current teaching practices rest on outdated assumptions that make learning to read harder than it needs to be, and c) connecting evidence-based practice to educational practice would be beneficial but is extremely difficult to achieve because many teachers are not properly trained in the science of reading.


title: Reading

text: "The simple view of reading" is a scientific theory about reading comprehension. According to the theory, in order to comprehend what they are reading students need both "decoding skills" and "oral language (listening) comprehension ability". Neither is enough on their own. In other words, they need the ability to recognize and process (e.g., sound out) the text, and the ability to understand the language in which the text is written (i.e., vocabulary, grammar and background knowledge). Students are not reading if they can decode words but do not understand their meaning. Similarly, students are not reading if they cannot decode words that they would ordinarily recognize and understand if they heard them spoken out loud.


title: Reading

text: As shown in the graphic, the Simple View of Reading proposes four broad categories of developing readers: typical readers; poor readers (general reading disability); dyslexics; and hyperlexics.


title: Reading

text: Hollis Scarborough, the creator of the Reading Rope and senior scientist at Haskins Laboratories, is a leading researcher of early language development and its connection to later literacy.


title: Reading

text: Scarborough published the Reading Rope infographic in 2001 using strands of rope to illustrate the many ingredients that are involved in becoming a skilled reader. The upper strands represent "language-comprehension" and reinforce one another. The lower strands represent "word-recognition" and work together as the reader becomes accurate, fluent, and automatic through practice. The upper and lower strands all weave together to produce a skilled reader.


title: Reading

text: More recent research by Laurie E. Cutting and Hollis S. Scarborough has highlighted the importance of executive function processes (e.g. working memory, planning, organization, self-monitoring, and similar abilities) to reading comprehension. Easy texts do not require much executive functions, however more difficult text require more "focus on the ideas". Reading comprehension strategies, such as summarizing, may help.


title: Reading

text: The active view of reading (AVR) model (May 7, 2021), offers an alternative to the Simple view of reading (SVR), and a proposed update to Scarborough's reading rope (SRR). It reflects key insights from scientific research on reading that is not captured in the SVR and SRR. Although the AVR model has not been tested as a whole in research, "each element within the model has been tested in instructional research demonstrating positive, causal influences on reading comprehension".


title: Reading

text: The model lists contributors to reading (and potential causes of reading difficulty) – within, across, and beyond word recognition and language comprehension; including the elements of self-regulation. This feature of the model reflects the research documenting that not all profiles of reading difficulty are explained by low word recognition and/or low language comprehension. A second feature of the model is that it shows how word recognition and language comprehension overlap, and identifies processes that "bridge" these constructs.


title: Reading

text: The following chart shows the ingredients in the authors' infographic. In addition, the authors point out that reading is also impacted by text, task and sociocultural context.


title: Reading

text: Several researchers and neuroscientists have attempted to explain how the brain reads. They have written articles and books, and created websites and YouTube videos to help the average consumer.


title: Reading

text: Neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene says that a few simple truths should be accepted by all, namely: a) all children have similar brains, are well tuned to systematic grapheme-phoneme correspondences, "and have everything to gain from phonics – the only method that will give them the freedom to read any text", b) classroom size is largely irrelevant if the proper teaching methods are used, c) it is essential to have standardized screening tests for dyslexia, followed by appropriate specialized training, and d) while decoding is essential, vocabulary enrichment is equally important.


title: Reading

text: A study conducted at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in 2022 indicates that "greater left-brain asymmetry can predict both better and average performance on a foundational level of reading ability, depending on whether analysis is conducted over the whole brain or in specific regions". There have been correlations between specific brain regions in the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex during different reading activities.


title: Reading

text: Although it is not included in most meta-analytical studies, the sensorimotor cortex of the brain is the most active region of the brain during reading. This is often disregarded because it is associated solely with movement; however, a 2014 fMRI study involving adults and children participants, where bodily movement was restricted, demonstrated strong evidence revealing that this region may be correlated with automatic word processing and decoding. The results of this study found this portion of the brain to be highly active in persons who were learning/struggling to read (children, those diagnosed with dyslexia, and those new to the English language) and less active in fluent adult readers.


title: Reading

text: The occipital and parietal lobes, or more specifically fusiform gyrus, include the brain's visual word form area (VWFA). The VWFA is believed to be responsible for the brain's ability to read visually. This area of the brain tends to be activated when words are presented orthographically, as found in a study in 2002 where participants were presented with word and non-word stimuli. During presentation of word stimuli, this portion of the brain was extremely active; however, during presentation of stimuli that did not involve graphemes the brain was less active. Participants with dyslexia remained outliers, with this area of the brain being consistently under active in both scenarios.


title: Reading

text: The two major regions of the brain associated with phonological skills are the temporal-parietal region and the Perisylvian Region. In an fMRI study conducted in 2001, participants were presented with written words, verbal frequency words, and verbal pseudo-words. The dorsal (upper) portion of the temporal-parietal region was the most active during the pseudo-words and the ventral (lower) portion was more active during frequency words, with the exception of subjects diagnosed with dyslexia, who showed no impairment to their ventral region but under-activation in the dorsal portion.


title: Reading

text: The Perisylvian Region, which is the portion of the brain believed to connect Broca's and Wernicke's area, is another region that is highly active during phonological activities where participants are asked to verbalize known and unknown words. Damage to this portion of this brain directly affects a person's ability to speak cohesively and with sense; furthermore, this portion of the brain activity remains consistent for both dyslexic and non-dyslexic readers.


title: Reading

text: The inferior frontal region is a much more complex region of the brain, and its association with reading is not necessarily linear, for it is active in several reading related activities. Several studies have recorded it's activity in association with comprehension and processing skills, as well as spelling and working memory Although the exact role of this portion of the brain is still debatable, several studies indicate that this area of the brain tends to be more active in readers who have been diagnosed with dyslexia and less active when treatment is successfully undergone.


title: Reading

text: In addition to regions on the cortex, which is considered gray matter on fMRI's, there are several white matter fasciculus that are also active during different reading activities. These three regions are what connects the three respected cortex regions as the brain reads, thus it is responsible for the brains cross-model integration involved in reading. Three connective fasciculus that are prominently active during reading are the following: the left arcuate faciculus, the left inferior longitudinal faciculus, and the superior longitudinal fasciculus. All three areas are found to be weaker in readers diagnosed with dyslexia.]


title: Reading

text: The cerebellum, which is not a part of the cerebral cortex, is also believed to play an important role in reading. When the cerebellum is impaired, victims struggle with many executive functioning and organizational skills both inside and outside of their reading ability. In a synthetic fMRI study, specific activities that displayed significant cerebellum involvement included automatization, word accuracy, and reading speed.


title: Reading

text: Reading is an intensive process in which the eye quickly moves to assimilate the text – seeing just accurately enough to interpret groups of symbols. It is necessary to understand visual perception and eye movement in reading to understand the reading process.


title: Reading

text: When reading, the eye moves continuously along a line of text, but makes short rapid movements (saccades) intermingled with short stops (fixations). There is considerable variability in fixations (the point at which a saccade jumps to) and saccades between readers, and even for the same person reading a single passage of text. When reading, the eye has a perceptual span of about 20 slots. In the best-case scenario and reading English, when the eye is fixated on a letter, four to five letters to the right and three to four letters to the left can be clearly identified. Beyond that, only the general shape of some letters can be identified.


title: Reading

text: Research published in 2019 concluded that the silent reading rate of adults in English for "non-fiction" is in the range of 175 to 300 words per minute (wpm); and for "fiction" the range is 200 to 320 words per minute.


title: Reading

text: In the early 1970s the dual-route hypothesis to reading aloud was proposed, according to which there are two separate mental mechanisms involved in reading aloud, with output from both contributing to the pronunciation of written words. One mechanism is the lexical route whereby skilled readers can recognize a word as part of their sight vocabulary. The other is the nonlexical or sublexical route, in which the reader "sounds out" (decodes) written words.


title: Reading

text: There is robust evidence that saying a word out loud makes it more memorable than simply reading it silently or hearing someone else say it. This memory benefit of "hearing oneself" is referred to as "the production effect". The results of studies imply that oral production is beneficial because it entails two distinctive components: speaking (a motor act) and hearing oneself (the self-referential auditory input).


title: Reading

text: Evidence-based reading instruction refers to practices having research evidence showing their success in improving reading achievement. It is related to evidence-based education.


title: Reading

text: A systematic review and meta‐analysis was conducted on the advantages of reading from paper vs. screens. It found no difference in reading times, however, reading from paper has a small advantage in reading performance and metacognition.


title: Reading

text: Apart from that, depending on the circumstances, some people prefer one medium over the other and each appears to have its own unique advantages.


title: Reading

text: Some teachers, even after obtaining a master's degree in education, think they lack the necessary knowledge and skills to teach all students how to read. A 2019 survey of K-2 and special education teachers found that only 11 percent said they felt "completely prepared" to teach early reading after finishing their preservice programs. And, a 2021 study found that most U.S. states do not measure teachers' knowledge of the 'science of reading'. In addition, according to one study, as few as 2% of school districts use reading programs that follow the science of reading. Mark Seidenberg, a neuroscientist, states that, with few exceptions, teachers are not taught to teach reading and "don't know what they don't know".


title: Reading

text: A survey in the United States reported that 70% of teachers believe in a balanced literacy approach to teaching reading – however balanced literacy "is not systematic, explicit instruction". Teacher, researcher and author, Louisa Moats, in a video about teachers and science of reading, says that sometime, when teachers talk about their "philosophy" of teaching reading, she responds by saying, "But your 'philosophy' doesn't work". She says this is evidenced by the fact that so many children are struggling with reading. On another occasion, when asked what is the most frequent question teachers ask her, she replied, "over and over" they ask "why didn't anyone teach me this before?".


title: Reading

text: In an Education Week Research Center survey of more than 530 professors of reading instruction, only 22 percent said their philosophy of teaching early reading centered on explicit, systematic phonics with comprehension as a separate focus.


title: Reading

text: As of July 28, 2022, after Mississippi became the only state to improve reading results between 2017-2019, 30 U.S. states have since passed laws or implemented new policies related to evidence-based reading instruction. These requirements relate to six areas: teacher preparation; teacher certification or license renewal; professional development or coaching; assessment; material; and instruction or intervention. However, the adoption of these new requirements are by no means uniform. For example, only five states have requirements in all six areas, and three have requirements in only one area. Also, only fourteen states have requirements related to teacher certification or license renewal, whereas 25 have requirements for professional development or coaching. Furthermore, eight states do not allow or require 3rd-grade retention for students who are behind in reading. Experts say it is uncertain whether these new initiatives will lead to real improvements in children's reading results because old practices prove hard to shake.


title: Reading

text: Arkansas required every elementary and special education teacher to be proficient in the scientific research on reading by 2021; causing Amy Murdoch, an associate professor and the director of the reading science program at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati to say "We still have a long way to go – but I do see some hope".


title: Reading

text: In 2021, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development of New Brunswick appears to be the first in Canada to revise its K-2 reading curriculum based on "research-based instructional practice". For example, it replaced the various cueing systems with "mastery in the consolidated alphabetic to skilled reader phase". Although one document on the site, dated 1998, contains references to such practices as using "cueing systems" which is at odds with the department's current shift to using evidence-based practices. The Minister of Education in Ontario, Canada followed by stating plans to revise the elementary language curriculum and the Grade 9 English course with "scientific, evidence-based approaches that emphasize direct, explicit and systematic instruction and removing references to unscientific discovery and inquiry-based learning, including the three-cueing system, by 2023."


title: Reading

text: Some non-profit organizations, such as the Center for Development and Learning (Louisiana) and the Reading League (New York State), offer training programs for teachers to learn about the science of reading. ResearchED, a U.K. based non-profit since 2013 has organized education conferences around the world featuring researchers and educators in order to promote collaboration between research-users and research-creators.


title: Reading

text: Timothy Shanahan acknowledges that comprehensive research does not always exist for specific aspects of reading instruction. However, "the lack of evidence doesn't mean something doesn't work, only that we don't know". He suggests that teachers make use of the research that is available in such places as "Journal of Educational Psychology", "Reading Research Quarterly", "Reading & Writing Quarterly", "Review of Educational Research", and "Scientific Studies of Reading". If a practice lacks supporting evidence, it can be used with the understanding that it is based upon a claim, not science.


title: Reading

text: Educators have debated for years about which method is best to teach reading for the English language. There are three main methods, phonics, whole language and balanced literacy. There are also a variety of other areas and practices such as phonemic awareness, fluency, reading comprehension, sight words and sight vocabulary, the three-cueing system (the searchlights model in England), guided reading, shared reading, and leveled reading. Each practice is employed in different manners depending on the country and the specific school division.


title: Reading

text: In 2001, some researchers reached two conclusions: 1) "mastering the alphabetic principle is essential" and 2) "instructional techniques (namely, phonics) that teach this principle directly are more effective than those that do not". However, while they make it clear they have some fundamental disagreements with some of the claims made by whole-language advocates, some principles of whole language have value such as the need to ensure that students are enthusiastic about books and eager to learn to read.


title: Reading

text: Phonics emphasizes the alphabetic principle – the idea that letters (graphemes) represent the sounds of speech (phonemes). It is taught in a variety of ways; some are systematic and others are unsystematic. Unsystematic phonics teaches phonics on a "when needed" basis and in no particular sequence. "Systematic" phonics uses a planned, sequential introduction of a set of phonic elements along with "explicit" teaching and practice of those elements. The National Reading Panel (NRP) concluded that systematic phonics instruction is more effective than unsystematic phonics or non-phonics instruction.


title: Reading

text: Phonics approaches include analogy phonics, analytic phonics, embedded phonics with mini-lessons, phonics through spelling, and synthetic phonics.


title: Reading

text: According to a 2018 review of research related to "English speaking poor readers", phonics training is effective for improving literacy-related skills, particularly the fluent reading of words and non-words, and the accurate reading of irregular words.


title: Reading

text: In addition, phonics produces higher achievement for all beginning readers, and the greatest improvement is experienced by students who are at risk of failing to learn to read. While some children are able to infer these rules on their own, some need explicit instruction on phonics rules. Some phonics instruction has marked benefits such as expansion of a student's vocabulary. Overall, children who are directly taught phonics are better at reading, spelling and comprehension.


title: Reading

text: A challenge in teaching phonics is that in some languages, such as English, complex letter-sound correspondences can cause confusion for beginning readers. For this reason, it is recommended that teachers of English-reading begin by introducing the "most frequent sounds" and the "common spellings", and save the less frequent sounds and complex spellings for later. (e.g. the sounds /s/ and /t/ before /v/ and /w/; and the spellings c"a"ke before "eigh"t and "c"at before du"ck").


title: Reading

text: Phonics is taught in many different ways and it is often taught together with some of the following: oral language skills, concepts about print, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, phonology, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, syllables, reading comprehension, spelling, word study, cooperative learning, multisensory learning, and guided reading. And, phonics is often featured in discussions about science of reading, and evidence-based practices.