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Bridging the Gap in Brazilian Literacy: Kalulu Phonics Provides Gains in 1st Grade Reading.

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Title: Bridging the Gap in Brazilian Literacy: Kalulu Phonics Provides Gains in 1st Grade Reading.
Authors: Olalla, Camilo Ernesto Subenko1 (AUTHOR) camiloolalla@gmail.com, Sato, Cristiane Maria1 (AUTHOR), Lisboa, Juan Carlos Valle2 (AUTHOR), Macedo, Elizeu Coutinho3 (AUTHOR), Carthery‐Goulart, Maria Teresa1,4,5 (AUTHOR), Dehaene, Stanislas6,7 (AUTHOR), Lukasova, Katerina1,5 (AUTHOR), Watkins, Cassandra Potier6,7 (AUTHOR)
Source: Reading Research Quarterly (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). Oct-Dec2025, Vol. 60 Issue 4, p1-16. 16p.
Subject Terms: *Phonics, *Literacy education, *Emergent literacy, *Reading standards, *Elementary education, *Educational intervention
Geographic Terms: Brazil
Abstract: A significant portion of Brazilian students fail to meet basic reading standards. The 2017 National Common Curricular Base (NCCB) marked a pivotal effort by the government to prioritize recognizing phonics in early reading instruction. However, the NCCB lacked clear directives for implementation, resulting in limited adoption in classrooms where teachers were accustomed to constructivist approaches to literacy. To address this shortcoming, we adapted the open‐source Kalulu phonics method to Brazilian Portuguese and tested its effectiveness as a supplementary learning workstation during classroom reading instruction. The Kalulu method is available at kalulu.excellolab.org. 184 Brazilian children (97 girls) from 1st year participated, aged 6 to 8 years (M = 6.59, SD = 0.50). Five schools were assigned randomly to the Kalulu intervention group or a "business‐as‐usual" control group, and evaluated two times in 2022. Kalulu group showed significant progress, reading an average of 4.9 more words per minute compared to control classes. Improvements were also observed in phoneme verbal fluency and a memory task. Given the strong scientific support for phonics and our encouraging results, we urge Brazil's educational leaders, teachers, and parents to advocate for increased phonics instruction as part of early literacy methods. Explicit phonics instruction, like the Kalulu method, could provide essential help for overcoming the country's ongoing literacy challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Reading Research Quarterly (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Bridging the Gap in Brazilian Literacy: Kalulu Phonics Provides Gains in 1st Grade Reading.
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  Data: A significant portion of Brazilian students fail to meet basic reading standards. The 2017 National Common Curricular Base (NCCB) marked a pivotal effort by the government to prioritize recognizing phonics in early reading instruction. However, the NCCB lacked clear directives for implementation, resulting in limited adoption in classrooms where teachers were accustomed to constructivist approaches to literacy. To address this shortcoming, we adapted the open‐source Kalulu phonics method to Brazilian Portuguese and tested its effectiveness as a supplementary learning workstation during classroom reading instruction. The Kalulu method is available at kalulu.excellolab.org. 184 Brazilian children (97 girls) from 1st year participated, aged 6 to 8 years (M = 6.59, SD = 0.50). Five schools were assigned randomly to the Kalulu intervention group or a "business‐as‐usual" control group, and evaluated two times in 2022. Kalulu group showed significant progress, reading an average of 4.9 more words per minute compared to control classes. Improvements were also observed in phoneme verbal fluency and a memory task. Given the strong scientific support for phonics and our encouraging results, we urge Brazil's educational leaders, teachers, and parents to advocate for increased phonics instruction as part of early literacy methods. Explicit phonics instruction, like the Kalulu method, could provide essential help for overcoming the country's ongoing literacy challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Reading Research Quarterly (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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              Text: Oct-Dec2025
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