Exploring the Concept of "Spelling Instructional Level" Through the Analysis of Error-Types

The present study explored the concept of spelling instructional level in the elementary grades. Spelling lists (1 at grade level, 1 below, and 1 above) were administered to 252 students in grades 2-5. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant positive correlation between the number of words a student could spell correctly on a given list and the quality or sophistication of his/her errors on the same list. Results supported this hypothesis. Correlations between spelling accuracy and quality of misspellings ranged from .55 to .79 across the grade levels. Better spellers, 60% + accuracy on a list, not only misspelled fewer words but also demonstrated good orthographic strategies on the words they did misspell (CABBEGE, MEASHURE, EXPRESION). Conversely, poor spellers, below 40% accuracy, misspelled more words and showed a dearth of orthographic or spelling-pattern knowledge in their errors (CABIG, MESHUR, ECSPRESHEN). The results were interpreted as lending support to the idea of an instructional level in spelling. That is, low-accuracy spellers (below 40% on a grade-level list) not only have more words to learn in a school year but also seem to be deficient in the very orthographic or rule-governed knowledge that underlies the ability to learn new spelling words. The idea of grouping students for instruction according to spelling ability level deserves further attention.