Edwin Leigh

The new orthography was widely adopted in the United States, with most basal reading schemes publishing versions for use with phonetic teaching methods.

Education journals, governing bodies of public schools and teacher surveys reported that children learned to read 6–12 months faster with improved elocution, spelling and logical thinking in subjects like arithmetic.

As well as pedagogy, Leigh had an eclectic set of interests throughout his life and contributed to progress in fields such as theology, the philosophy of science, medicine and the abolition of slavery.

Although, at heart, it was a simple re-arrangement of the Constantin von Tischendorf Testament, Leigh's document allowed theologians to easily compare three of the great uncial codices and the authorised version of the bible.

[18] After graduating from Harvard in 1850, Leigh remained and took a position as an assistant to Professor Louis Agassiz, lecturing students in natural history (1850–1851).

[2] Between 1844 and 1846, Leigh spent two years employed as a teacher in Bristol, Rhode Island⠀in the gap between leaving the clergy and starting to study medicine.

[21] Leigh then spent the next two decades promoting Pronouncing Orthography, which achieved a fair degree of success as it spread across the United States and was adopted by all the major basal reading schemes of the time.

Articles in education journals, surveys of teachers and reports in the public school records all testified to its success in improving reading, elocution, spelling and logical thinking so children also became better at subjects like arithmetic.