Word Study: An Assessment-Based Approach to Phonics, Spelling, and Vocabulary Instruction is an excellent resource for programs and courses in elementary literacy education. It teaches spelling as word study, the approach that underscores the rudiments of phonics in analyzing the structure of words. It is intended for the instruction of teacher candidates, as well as those educators who are already in the classroom. The text communicates the skills for recognizing the spelling errors that students make and for comprehending the factors that cause these mistakes.

The opening chapters emphasize the importance of the communicative arts of literacy and how necessary it is for teachers to be cognizant of their students' histories in the areas of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. This awareness allows for a better understanding by teachers as to their students' abilities when beginning word study instruction. The remaining chapters are divided into four modules: the elements of phonics; the stages of spelling development; the assessment of students' orthographic knowledge; and the grouping of students for instruction.
Suzanne DaVanon holds an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston, both a M.Ed. in administrative education and an elementary education certification from Houston Baptist University, and a B.S.E. in secondary English and speech from the University of Texas at El Paso. She is a clinical associate professor at the University of Houston, where she teaches courses in literature for children and adolescents, as well as elementary reading and phonics instruction. Dr. DaVanon has published professionally in the Inland: A Journal for Teachers of English Language Arts, the New Jersey English Journal, and The California Reader.