Biography

I am Dean of the Faculty of Education at York University. From 2017-2021 I was Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology and Human Development at University College London. Until 2017 I was William Dawson Scholar at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. I have published nearly 100 research articles in international peer reviewed journals exploring children’s early reading and spelling including over 30 reading intervention studies on 4 continents (North America, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Australia). I am particularly interested in preventing early reading and spelling problems, often using technology. I am a school-based psychologist and classroom teacher by training, and as such maintain an interest in making schools effective learning places for all children.

Faculty & School/Dept

• Faculty of Education -

Selected Publications

• McBreen, M., & Savage, R. S. (2021). The impact of motivational reading instruction on the reading achievement and motivation of elementary school students: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review.
• Georgiou, G., Savage, R., Dunn, K., Bowers, P., & Parrila, R. (2021). Examining the effects of Structured Word Inquiry on the reading and spelling skills of persistently poor grade 3 readers. Journal of Research in Reading (special issue on morphological development), 44, 131-153.
• Savage, R. S (2021). Teaching children to read words. In Snowling, M. J., Hulme, C., & Nation, K. (Eds.), The Science of Reading: A Handbook. (Second ed.).
• Wood, K., Wood, E., Gottardo, A., Archer, K., Robert Savage, R., & Piquette, N. (2021). Workshop training to facilitate parent-child instructional opportunities for reading and social development with kindergarten students. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 35, 438-457.
• Côté, M-F., Savage, R. S., & Petscher, Y. (2021). Cross-linguistic transfer of reading between English and French among Grade 1 students attending French Immersion programs. Scientific Studies of Reading, 25, 383-396.
• McBreen, M., & Savage, R. S. (2021). The impact of a cognitive and motivational reading intervention on the reading achievement and motivation for students at-risk for reading difficulties. Learning Disability Quarterly.
• Fletcher, J. M., Savage, R. S., & Vaughn, S. (2021). A commentary on Bowers (2020) and the role of phonics instruction in reading. Educational Psychology Review.
• Savage, R. S., Georgiou, G., Parrila, R., Maiorino, K., Dunn, K., & Burgos, G. (2020). The effects of teaching complex grapheme-phoneme correspondences: Evidence from a dual site cluster trial with at-risk grade 2 students. Scientific Studies of Reading, 24, 321-337.
• Savage, R. S. (2020). The Simple View of Reading: A scientific framework for effective teaching. The Reading League Journal, 1, 41-45.
• Yeung, S., & Savage, R.S. (2020). Teaching grapheme - phoneme correspondences using a Direct Mapping approach for at-risk second language learners: A randomized control trial. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 53, 131-144.
• Wright, J., Savage, R. S., (+36 others) (2019). Act early: A city co-laboratory approach to early promotion of health and well-being. Welcome Open Research, 4, 1-12.
• Savage, R. S., Georgiou, G., Parrila, R., Côté, M-F., Maiorino, K. & Dunn, K. (2019). Interventions to improve the literacy skills of children at-risk of dyslexia. In McCardle, P., & Compton, D. (Eds.), Dyslexia 101: Revisiting Etiology, Diagnosis, Treatment and Policy - The Extraordinary Brain Series. Baltimore, Maryland: Brookes
• Savage, R.S. (2019). Literacy, basic processes, and interventions for struggling readers Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. Oxford University Press
• Savage, R. S., & Pace, A. (2019). Similarities and dissimilarities in the teaching of English and French in dual language instructional settings. International Journal of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education, 23, 872-887.
• McNally, S., Valenzuela, J-R., Savage, R. S., Rolfe, H.M., Vousden, J., Wood, C., & Johnson, H (2019). ABRACADABRA, teaching assistants, computers and classroom management: Evidence from a Randomised Control Trial in England. Labour Economics, 58, 21-36.
• Savage, R. S., & Pace, A. (2019). Linguistic and reading comprehension in simultaneous dual language instruction: Evidence against unitary constructs. International Journal of Bilingualism, 23, 118-137.
• Savage, R. S., Georgiou, G., Parrila, R., Maiorino, K. M., Dunn, K., & Burgos, J. (2019). Promising new interventions for children who are at-risk of dyslexia. Dyslexia Review, 29, 8-11.
• Savage, R. S., & Côté, M-F. (2019). The teaching of reading and writing in second and multi-language contexts. In Spaull, N., and John P. Comings, J. P. (Eds.), Improving early literacy outcomes: Curriculum, teaching, and assessment (pp. 81-100). Leiden: Brill and UNESCO IBE
• Wood, E., Petkovski, M., De Pasquale, D., Gottardo, A., Evans, M. A., & Savage, R. S. (2018). Parent scaffolding of young children when engaged with mobile technology. In Tarasuik, J., Strouse, G., Kaufman, J. (Ed.), Touch screen tablets: Touching children's lives (pp. 262-271). Lausanne: Frontiers Media
• Basma, B., & Savage, R.S (2018). Teacher professional development and student literacy growth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 30, 457-481.

Selected Presentations

• Savage, R.S. (2021, June). Flexible Phonics: A new approach to supporting children’s reading. Presented at: International Literacy Centre Seminar. Institute of Education, University of London
• Savage, R.S. (2021, May). Teaching children to read: Phonology, morphology, and ‘mental flexibility’ as drivers of measurable change. Presented at: Psychology and Human Development Research Seminar Series. Institute of Education, University of London
• Savage, R.S. (2021, April). Intervening to support poor readers in year 3: The role of morphology instruction. Presented at: Reading Recovery National Conference, Institute of Education, University of London
• Savage, R.S. (2021, February). Teaching children to read: Phonology, morphology, and ‘mental flexibility’ as drivers of measurable change. Presented at: Child Development and Learning Seminar Series – Faculty of Education, Oxford University
• Savage, R.S. (2020, September). Understanding our spelling and reading system: Ways to help children who find this difficult. Presented at: Sutton Dyslexia Association
• Novel recent approaches to early reading intervention (2020, March). Savage, R.S.. Presented at: Helen Arkell Dyslexia Association
• Savage, R.S. (2019, October). Recent evidence on preventative early interventions and some reflections on effective later interventions. Presented at: Scottish Dyslexia Association Glasgow
• Savage, R.S. (2019, September). Optimizing the teaching of early reading: The role of phonology, letter-sounds, sight words, and strategies for learning. Presented at: 1st Annual JP Das Conference: From research to practice. University of Alberta / Edmonton Public School Board. Edmonton, Alberta
• Savage, R.S. (2019, June). New ways to support struggling readers: Evidence from recent interventions. Presented at: The Dyslexia Guild
• Savage, R.S. (2019, May). Ensuring Impact in Research: The case of reading intervention. E Tipu e Rea . Presented at: A Better Start conference. Auckland New Zealand
• Savage, R.S. (2019, April). Panel Event: How can we make UCL education more inclusive? . Presented at: University College London Institute of Education. Education Conference

Research Projects

Bridging the reading gap caused by Covid-19: A collaborative, evidence-based approach

Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for children and families over the life course

Morphological awareness and reading among Chinese ESL children: A randomised control trial

Contrasting the effects of two teacher-delivered reading interventions to grade 1 poor readers

Executive functioning in reading comprehension in Chinese with and without dialect

Literacy Instruction for Children with Autism

Scaling up Direct Mapping and Set-for-Variability interventions in England

Families and Schools in unison: Teaching all children to read

Responding to intervention: Schools where all children are taught to read

Similarities in Teaching English and French Second Language (STEF)

ABRACADABRA: Strengthening the link: A Study in the Development, Implementation and Effectiveness of a Web-based Literacy Resource

ABRACADABRA: A study in the development, implementation, and effectiveness of a web-based literacy resource

Children's use of analogies in reading and spelling acquisition

Awards

• Honorary Full Professor, The Education University Hong Kong - 2017-2022
• Alberta Teachers Association Educational Research Award, Alberta Teachers Association - 2019-2020
• William Dawson Scholar, McGill University - 2007-?
• Dr. Noni McDonald Award, Canadian Paediatrics Association - 2007
• Canadian Speech and Language Association Editors Award, Canadian Speech and Language Association - 2007
• Honorary Research Associate, University College, London - 2002
• Honorary Research Associate, Institute of Education, London - 2001

Service/Community Activities

• ABRACADABRA: The ABRACADABRA research project seeks to develop and disseminate a computer-based system for early preventative reading interventions that is and will continue to be disseminated without financial charge. I have been the main literacy-focussed academic developing and implementing this ambitious project from first principles, an enormous amount of work but also resulted in an enormous contribution to community literacy.
• Department for Education (England): Advisor to Department for Education (England). Teaching Profession Unit. Teacher Workforce Development Division. Review of the Evidence: The Early Career Framework. I provided expert guidance to the committee on content prior to submission to parliament.
• Science Advisory Panel to New Zealand Government: The National Science Challenge, A Better Start: E Tipu e Rea. Science Advisory Panel to New Zealand Government. University of Auckland, the University of Canterbury, the University of Otago and NZCER. The Challenge operates as a ‘virtual centre of excellence’. I am one of 8 international experts.
• The Society for the Scientific Study of Reading : As President (2020-2022, President elect in 2018) I serve on multiple committees of The Society for the Scientific Study of Reading including the Financial Advisory Committee and various ad hoc awards and management committees. I am organizing our major annual international conference for 500 in 2018 in Brighton UK (and a similar one in 2019 in Toronto Canada). I review symposia and talks for current conferences, contribute to all current decision making of the society, including my role as associate editor of the flagship journal Scientific Study of Reading.