Robert Savage (he / him)

I am a school-based psychologist and classroom teacher by training, and from these applied experiences maintain an interest in making schools effective learning places for all children. I am interested in policy questions such as how we can make schools more inclusive and classroom teaching and parenting maximally effective for children, and the design of good evidence-based programs in achieving this aim.

I am particularly interested in preventing early reading and spelling problems, often using technology. I have published over 25 reading intervention studies on 4 continents (North America, the United Kingdom Hong Kong and Australia). These sorts of studies are hard to do well, but are crucial and thus take up most of my professional research time these days. This work involves helping teachers understand and use phonics morphology and strategies to read, and how to use such approaches to support typical and struggling children. Our work also involves thinking about the complex spelling system of English French and most recently, other spelling systems including Chinese, and all the capacities needed to master them, the role of real books and other resources, and of effective professional development and system support.

• M.S Professional Educational Psychology, University of London, Educational Psychology (1999)
• Ph.D, University of London, Psychology (1998)
• M.Sc, Cambridge University, Developmental Psychology (1994)
• B.A (Hons), Oxford University, Psychology (1989)

• President of Society for the Scientiific Study of Reading; I am a school-based psychologist and classroom teacher by training, and from these applied experiences maintain an interest in making schools effective learning places for all children. I am interested in policy questions such as how we can make schools more inclusive and classroom teaching and parenting maximally effective for children, and the design of good evidence-based programs in achieving this aim. I am particularly interested in preventing early reading and spelling problems, often using technology. I have published over 25 reading intervention studies on 4 continents (North America, the United Kingdom Hong Kong and Australia). These sorts of studies are hard to do well, but are crucial and thus take up most of my professional research time these days. This work involves helping teachers understand and use phonics morphology and strategies to read, and how to use such approaches to support typical and struggling children. Our work also involves thinking about the complex spelling system of English French and most recently, other spelling systems including Chinese, and all the capacities needed to master them, the role of real books and other resources, and of effective professional development and system support.; 2015-09-13;

• Arciuli, J., Bailey, B., Murphy, A., Savage, R. S., & Parrila, R. (2026). An effectiveness trial of ABRACADABRA literacy instruction for children with autism during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, Early Online: 1–14. doi: 10.1080/17549507.2025.2555990 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/17549507.2025.2555990?needAccess=true
• Basma, B., Savage, R. S., Bertone, A., & Luk, G. (2026). The behavioral and neurophysiological effects of set-for-variability reading intervention for children with sustained word reading difficulties. Dyslexia, 32, (1), e70025. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.70025
• Erbeli, F., Rice, M., Xu, Y., & Savage, R. S. (2026). Time to redefine effect size thresholds for phonemic awareness research? Early Education and Development, 37, 3, 604-621. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2025.2581998
• Georgiou, G., Peyton A., Antoniuk, A., Beach, P., Fraser A., Kirby, J. R., Klein, P., Li, G., Metsala, J., Mousavi, A., Nickel, J., Savage, R., & Joshi, R. M. (2026). Pre-service teachers’ knowledge of language and literacy concepts: The skeleton in Canada’s closet? Annals of Dyslexia, 76, 50–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-025-00351-0
• Yeung, S., Qiao, S., Law, T., Sheung, T., & Savage, R. S. (2026). Examining the effectiveness of targeted morphological instruction on reading outcomes: A randomized controlled trial involving Chinese EFL learners. Reading and Writing, 39, 69-89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-025-10629-9

• Turning the aspiration of universal literacy into a reality in Canadian schools; Foundation and Research Organization; Max Bell Foundation of Canada; Continuing; (12/13/2023-09/01/2027)