Oxton House Publishers, LLC

Meet Dr. Phyllis E. Fischer

Phyllis E. Fischer, the developer of the Concept Phonics™ program and author/designer of many other Oxton House publications, grew up in and around Minnesota’s Twin Cities. With her grandmother, mother, and two aunts as teachers before her, Phyllis moved naturally into the field of education.  She began her professional career almost four decades ago, as a third grade teacher in Hopkins, Minnesota. Now she holds a B.S. in Education and an M.A. and
Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Minnesota and has taught at the university level for more than 30 years, in Connecticut, Australia, and Maine. She is currently a Professor of Learning Disabilities at the University of Maine at Farmington, where she has also supervised a clinic for children with learning disabilities.

Dr. Fischer also serves as a school consultant for students with special academic needs, is on the Board of the Farmington Children’s School and the Advisory Board of the Learning Disabilities Associa-tion of Maine, presents workshops on teaching reading and spelling, and maintains a small private practice to evaluate students for possible learning disabilities and to teach reading.

The inspiration for creating her many educational materials emerged from blending her teaching experience with her doctoral research.  In Phyllis Fischer’s own words:

The driving motivation behind the development of Concept Phonics™ was speed. Struggling readers need to become automatic decoders just as fast as possible. Combining the  psychology research on concept-training paradigms with reading research on teaching multiple vowel sounds and my Orton-Gillingham training led to the beginning of the Concept Phonics™ program. Working with children in clinics and in inner-city schools led to the emphasis on automaticity at every step of the teaching-learning process.

© 2006 Oxton House Publishers, LLC

Made by Serif

“Dr. Fischer is one of those unusual individuals in our field who has command of the scientific research literature in reading, language, and learning disabilities, and who knows intimately the rationale and processes for teaching any student to read.

She consulted with us for several years on the NICHD Early Interven-tions Project.  She was successful under adverse conditions in low-performing schools with challenging children and needy teachers. The teachers liked and welcomed her instruction, and many improved their practices as a result. I credit her with helping us to raise the achievement of the children to the national average and above.”

Louisa Moats, Ed.D., Director
NICHD Early Interventions Project

When Phyllis Fischer is not teaching, writing, or consulting, one might find her busy gardening, reading a good book, or knitting a sweater to keep warm during Maine’s long winter months.  She lives in Farmington with her husband
and two cats, Mischief and Ceili.
Mischief is the mascot on our
home page and catalog; he’s the
one “reading” the bird book!

Phyllis E. Fischer, Ph.D.