How we write and check the reading guides

Sources

Every numerical claim carries the year, the grade, the assessment, the comparison group and the source. We cite primary documents first: the statute, the state department’s own materials, the NAEP Data Service, the study itself. Where a figure reaches us only through a secondary report, the guide says so. News coverage, advocacy pieces and vendor materials are used for context and are labelled as what they are.

Disputes

Where researchers disagree, the guide gives both sides with their numbers and names, and says what we make of it. A page that omits the strongest objection to its own story is marketing, and we would rather be corrected than quoted.

Review status

Each guide states whether a qualified outside reviewer has checked it. Until one has, the page says “Expert review outstanding”. We do not invent reviewers and we do not pay for endorsements.

Updates

Guides carry a published date and an updated date. Figures tied to the Nation’s Report Card are refreshed within seven days of each NAEP release; the next results, for the 2026 assessment, are scheduled for early 2027. Material changes are noted in the guide’s sources section.

Independence

Sonoverse makes decodable books, phonics lessons and reading checks for children aged five to seven. The guides mention our tools where they are the practical next step, in one sentence, as tools, and never claim that any state or study used them. The evidence sections contain no product links. Nothing on these pages is sponsored.

Corrections

If a figure, a quotation or a citation is wrong, write to hello@sonoverse.app with the page and the source. We correct the page, update its date and note the correction in the sources section.

AI assistance

Research assistants built on large language models help us gather and cross-check sources. Every claim in a published guide has been checked against the source document by the team before publication, and the responsibility for what the page says is ours.