The MULTILIT Reading Tutor Program (Revised) is the product of a continuing program of research and development by a specialist team of academic researchers and special educators into more effective ways of teaching low-progress students who are experiencing difficulties in learning literacy skills. This research initiative into ‘Making Up Lost Time In Literacy’ (or MULTILIT) is led by Professor Kevin Wheldall, Director of Macquarie University Special Education Centre, Sydney and Director of the MULTILIT Research Unit.

The MULTILIT Reading Tutor Program (Revised) caters for students who have not acquired the basic skills needed to become functional readers. The program is designed to be used with individual students, on a one-to-one basis, by mainstream teachers, support teachers, parents, volunteer tutors, speech pathologists, educational psychologists and private tutors.

Children who have failed to learn to read in the first few years of schooling need intensive, systematic reading instruction if they are not to fall further behind, or even become complete non-readers.

Research shows that the most effective programs of reading instruction for low-progress readers involve intensive, systematic and explicit instruction in three main areas:

1. ‘phonics’ (or word attack skills);
2. sight words recognition; and
3. supported book reading.

Teachers, tutors and parents opting for remedial programs that incorporate these three elements are far more likely to be satisfied with the progress their students (or children) will make.

The MULTILIT Reading Tutor Program (Revised) incorporates all three of these key features:

1. MULTILIT Word Attack Skills
2. MULTILIT Sight Words
3. MULTILIT Reinforced Reading

The Revised Edition of the MULTILIT Reading Tutor Program constitutes a thoroughly updated version that incorporates several changes to the original (1998) version based on our research (and that of others) and experience with the program since it was first published. It reflects a contemporary approach to best practice literacy instruction as identified by international reading scientists and as reflected by the reports of the US National Reading Panel (2000), the (Australian) National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy (2005), and the (UK) Rose Report (2006).