Research supports explicit instruction in morphology—the study of how meaningful word parts work together—as an important part of literacy instruction. Morphological knowledge can support students’ decoding, spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension.
When students learn to recognize the structure and meaning within words, they gain another way to make sense of unfamiliar language rather than relying on memorization or sound alone.
What this means in practice:
Different by Design integrates morphology with explicit instruction in decoding and spelling, helping students connect how a word is built, what it means, how it is spelled, and how it is pronounced.
Research informing this work includes Carlisle, Bowers, Kirby, Deacon, Goodwin, and others.
Orthographic Mapping & Fluency Development
Reading becomes more fluent when the brain can store and retrieve familiar word patterns automatically. This process, often called orthographic mapping, develops through repeated, meaningful connections between sounds, spelling patterns, and word meaning.
Fluency is not simply about reading faster. It grows when students have enough supported practice to recognize words more automatically, read with meaningful phrasing, and devote less mental effort to decoding.
What this means in practice:
Different by Design prioritizes accuracy, automaticity, and meaningful repetition over speed pressure. The goal is to help reading become more efficient so students have more cognitive space available for comprehension.
Research informing this work includes Ehri, Wagner, Torgesen, and others.
Cognitive Processing & Load Management
Neuropsychological evaluations often reveal uneven learning profiles. A student may have strong reasoning, language, or problem-solving abilities while working memory, processing speed, attention, or retrieval are much more effortful.
When instruction places heavy demands on these more vulnerable areas, capable students can struggle even when they understand the material. More practice or greater effort does not necessarily solve the problem if the way information is presented continues to overload the same systems.
What this means in practice:
Different by Design looks at both what a student is being asked to learn and how much mental effort the method requires. Instruction can then be structured to reduce unnecessary cognitive load while preserving challenge, explicit teaching, and high expectations.
This work is informed by research in cognitive load, working memory, executive functioning, and cognitive neuroscience.
Cognitive Specialization & Strength-Based Design
Emerging research suggests that dyslexia and related learning differences may involve meaningful variations in how people process information, not simply areas of weakness.
Some students with dyslexia show relative strengths in areas such as pattern recognition, spatial reasoning, systems thinking, and big-picture integration. These strengths are not universal, but when they are present, they can be important parts of the learning profile.
What this means in practice:
Different by Design looks for both areas of challenge and areas of strength. Instruction can then be designed to support weaker systems while also giving students meaningful ways to use the ways of thinking that come more naturally to them.
This perspective is informed by research on cognitive variability, strength-based learning, and complementary cognition.
Neuropsychological evaluations can provide powerful insight into how a child learns. But insight alone does not change outcomes.
Outcomes change when understanding is translated into design.
Different by Design bridges that gap—bringing together research, assessment data, and real-world educational experience to create practical recommendations for students, families, and educators.
The goal is not research for research’s sake.
It is research put into practice.