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04/13/2021. Research Study
Catch Up® 1 Numeracy is a one to one intervention for learners who are struggling with numeracy. It consists of two 15-minute sessions per week, delivered by teaching assistants (TAs). The approach is based on research indicating that numeracy is not a single skill, but a composite of several component skills that are relatively discrete. The intervention breaks numeracy down into ten elements, including counting verbally, counting objects, word problems and estimation. Pupils are assessed on each component and instruction is targeted on those areas requiring development. In this evaluation, the intervention was run for 30 weeks and delivered to Year 2-6 pupils who were struggling with numeracy, as identified by TAs. The Catch Up Numeracy intervention was compared to a ‘business as usual’ control group and a ‘time equivalent’ intervention group, who received the same amount of one to one teaching by TAs, but did not use Catch Up Numeracy. Those TAs delivering Catch Up Numeracy were supplied with detailed session plans and received three half-day training sessions, led by Catch Up and Dr Ann Dowker of the University of Oxford. The project ran from September 2012 to July 2013.
04/13/2021. Research Study
We report a randomised controlled trial evaluation of an intensive one-to-one numeracy programme – Numbers Count – which formed part of the previous government's numeracy policy intervention – Every Child Counts. We rigorously designed and conducted the trial to CONSORT guidelines. We used a pragmatic waiting list design to evaluate the intervention in real life settings in diverse geographical areas across England, to increase the ecological validity of the results. Children were randomly allocated within schools to either the intervention (Numbers Count in addition to normal classroom practice) or the control group (normal classroom practice alone). The primary outcome assessment was the Progress in Maths (PIM) 6 test from GL Assessment. Independent administration ensured that outcome ascertainment was undertaken blind to group allocation. The secondary outcome measure was the Sandwell test, which was not undertaken and marked blind to group allocation. At post-test the effect size (standardised mean difference between intervention and control group) on the PIM6 was d = 0.33 95% confidence intervals [0.12, 0.53], indicating strong evidence of a difference between the two groups. The effect size for the secondary outcome (Sandwell test) was d = 1.11 95% CI [0.91, 1.31]. Our results demonstrate a statistically significant effect of Numbers Count on our primary, independently marked, mathematics test. Like many trials, our study had both strengths and limitations. We feel, however, due to our a priori decision to report these in an explicit manner, as advocated by the CONSORT guidelines, that we could maximise rigour (e.g., by using blinded independent testing) and report potential problems (e.g., attrition rates). We have demonstrated that it is feasible to conduct an educational trial using the rigorous methodological techniques required by the CONSORT statement.
04/13/2021. Research Study
Maths Counts aims to raise the attainment of children who struggle with basic mathematics at Key Stage 2. The intervention was developed by The Mead Community Primary School drawing on the principles of the Numbers Count programme developed by Every Child Counts at Edge Hill University. Maths Counts lessons last 30 minutes and take place at least three times a week for a minimum of ten weeks. Schools have access to an online tool that stores information about pupils’ progress, supports the planning of lesson objectives, and suggests activities and resources for each lesson. The first ten minutes of Maths Counts lessons focus on recall and reinforcement of prior learning, and the following 20 minutes introduce new knowledge and skills. The online tool suggests activities and resources to use, such as throwing and catching a soft football in order to count in sequenced steps or using coins to develop an understanding of money. In this project, schools selected pupils in Years 3 to 6 to participate in the intervention, prioritising pupils at risk of not achieving nationally expected levels, younger pupils, and pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium. The intervention was delivered on a one-to-one basis by teaching assistants. Schools were able to approach the timetabling of the intervention flexibly, so some lessons were scheduled during maths lessons while some took place elsewhere in the school day. Teaching assistants were supported by their schools’ maths leads (the school’s maths co-ordinator or specialist teacher). Support for delivery of the intervention was provided by the Mead Academy Trust project team. Before the intervention started, the project team provided two days of training for both maths leads and teaching assistants. The maths leads then delivered four further training sessions throughout the intervention to the teaching assistants in their school. After an initial development phase where the project team developed a website and the online tool, Maths Counts was evaluated by Durham University using a randomised controlled trial involving 291 pupils across 35 schools. Each school identified eight eligible pupils, four of whom were randomised to receive the intervention while the other four formed the ‘business as usual’ comparison group. The trial tested the impact of Maths Counts on maths attainment measured using the General Maths component of the CEM InCAS assessment. The implementation and process evaluation consisted of observations and interviews. School recruitment began in early 2016 and the project ended when pupils were tested in April 2017.
04/13/2021. Research Study
In this synthesis, we reviewed 65 studies involving elementary students (i.e., grades 1–5) identified with mathematics difficulty (MD) in which authors implemented a mathematics intervention. Of these studies, we identified 33 group designs, 9 quasi-experimental designs, and 23 single-case designs. We aimed to synthesize performance differences between students with MD with and without reading difficulty (RD). We identified three categories of students for analysis: Students with MD+RD, MD-alone, or MD-nonspecified (i.e., no reading information provided). Overall, 80% of studies included students with MD-nonspecified, and the interventions for these students demonstrated strong effects. For the limited number of studies with students with MD+RD or MD-alone, intervention effects were strong for students with MD+RD and variable for students with MD-alone. In the three studies directly comparing the performance of students with MD+RD versus MD-alone, we noted differential patterns of performance. To tailor interventions to student need, more research must be conducted to understand whether students with MD with variable reading profiles respond differentially to mathematics intervention.
04/13/2021. Research Study
The Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), a district serving over 80,000 students, faces a significant challenge to teach its students how to read and write. According to the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination (WKCE) only 15% of MPS students were proficient in reading (2011) compared to 35% statewide. The results of the WKCE are consistent with results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the ACT, which show that MPS students struggle with literacy throughout their education; only 15% of 4th grade MPS students are proficient in reading (NAEP, 2011) and 14% of MPS 11th graders scored at least 21 on the ACT Reading Test, the benchmark identified for college readiness (special analysis). The results of the NAEP further shows that there are significant achievement gaps for minority and low-income students; 39% of 4th grade white MPS students are proficient in reading, compared to 7% of black and 15% of Hispanic students and 7% of 4th grade low-income (free/reduced lunch participants) MPS students are proficient in reading, compared to 48% of non-low-income students. These statistics demonstrate that the need for increased literacy opportunities in the Milwaukee area is urgent, and that this need is even more pronounced for low-income and minority students. SPARK was created in 2005 by Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee (BGCGM) to address this need. In 2010, SPARK received a Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) grant award to further develop the program and expand it to seven additional low-income and minority Milwaukee elementary schools.
04/13/2021. Research Study
This article describes a two-year study addressing the effectiveness of a highly structured, systematic tutoring intervention implemented by minimally trained college students with two cohorts of at-risk first-grade readers. Participants were 61 first-grade children in Cohort 1 and 76 first-grade children in Cohort 2. Tutors participated in three one-hour training sessions and received occasional on-site assistance. Individual tutoring sessions were scheduled for three to four times each week for one school year, with each cohort receiving approximately 10-14 hours of instruction across 44 sessions. The curriculum included a game to teach phonemic awareness and letter-sound correspondence, structured word-study activities, reading of leveled books, and simple comprehension strategies. Significant differences were found on measures of phonemic awareness and nonsense word reading for both cohorts. For Cohort 1, but not Cohort 2, significant differences were also detected for real-word identification. Our results support using tutors to provide additional assistance and instruction in early reading, even when tutors are not professionally trained teachers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
04/13/2021. Research Study
This paper is based on a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluation of a reading programme delivered by older adult volunteers for at-risk early readers. Wizards of Words (WoW) was targeted at socially disadvantaged children in first and second grade experiencing delays in reading but who were not eligible for formal literacy supports. The programme was effective for phonemic awareness, word recognition, phonic knowledge and children's self-beliefs, but was not effective for reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling or reading accuracy. The programme was most effective for those children starting with ‘below average’ reading levels and for boys. Programme intensity, school attendance and the child's experience of the programme all predicted response to intervention. Gains in phonemic awareness and phonic knowledge may be explained by the priority given in volunteer training and in programme delivery to the phonics component, and gains in word recognition may be explained by its close association with phonemic awareness and phonic knowledge, as hypothesized by the Simple View of Reading. The findings show that a reading programme delivered by older adult volunteers can have a significant impact on reading skills and self-beliefs of at-risk readers who are not eligible for other formal literacy supports.
04/13/2021. Research Study
The Reading Rescue tutoring intervention model was investigated with 64 low-socioeconomic status, language-minority first graders with reading difficulties. School staff provided tutoring in phonological awareness, systematic phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension. Tutored students made significantly greater gains reading words and comprehending text than controls, who received a small-group intervention (d = 0.70) or neither intervention (d = 0.74). The majority of tutored students reached average reading levels whereas the majority of controls did not. Paraprofessionals tutored students as effectively as reading specialists except in skills benefiting nonword decoding. Paraprofessionals required more sessions to achieve equivalent gains. Contrary to conventional wisdom, results suggest that students make greater gains when they read text at an independent level than at an instructional level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
04/13/2021. Research Study
A randomized field trial involving 883 students at 23 schools in three urban cities assessed the effectiveness of Experience Corps® (EC), a program that places older adult volunteers in elementary schools to tutor students who are poor readers. Students were assessed at the beginning and end of the academic year with standardized reading measures. Program effects were analyzed using Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) to adjust for clustering effects. Findings demonstrated that EC students made statistically greater gains over the academic year on passage comprehension and grade-specific reading skills. The gains were stronger for students who received at least 35 tutoring sessions. These findings indicate that older community volunteers can be effectively deployed to improve reading achievement in low income, ethnic minority children who are at risk of reading failure.
04/13/2021. Research Study
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of code-oriented supplemental instruction for kindergarten students at risk for reading difficulties. Paraeducators were trained to provide 18 weeks of explicit instruction in phonemic skills and the alphabetic code. Students identified by their teachers meeting study eligibility criteria were randomly assigned to 2 groups: individual supplemental instruction and control. Students were pretested in December, midtested, and posttested in May-June of kindergarten. At posttest, treatment students significantly outperformed controls on measures of reading accuracy, reading efficiency, oral reading fluency, and developmental spelling. Treatment students had significantly higher linear growth rates in phonemic awareness and alphabetic knowledge during the kindergarten treatment. At a 1-year follow-up, significant group differences remained in reading accuracy and efficiency. Ethical challenges of longitudinal intervention research are discussed. Findings have policy implications for making supplemental instruction in critical early reading skills available.
04/13/2021. Research Study
This study reports on an evaluation of the Reading Partners program, which uses community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring to struggling readers in underresourced elementary schools. Established in 1999 in East Menlo Park, California, Reading Partners’ mission is to help children become lifelong readers by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction with measurable results. At each school, Reading Partners transforms a dedicated space into a “reading center,” places a full-time team member on site to manage day-to-day operations, and recruits a corps of 40 to 100 community volunteers to work one-on-one with students in pull-out sessions during the school day or after school in kindergarten through grade 5. (This evaluation included only students in grades 2 through 5.)
In March 2011, Reading Partners received a three-year True North Fund investment of up to $3.5 million in grants from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and the Social Innovation Fund, matched by $3.5 million from True North Fund co-investors, to further expand its early-intervention literacy program to elementary schools throughout the country and evaluate its effectiveness. This report is the second publication from that evaluation. A policy brief released by MDRC in June 2014 reported the initial findings from the evaluation, which was conducted during the 2012-2013 school year in 19 schools in three states, with more than 1,100 students randomly assigned to the study’s program and control groups.
04/13/2021. Research Study
The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects on reading achievement of a low-cost, widely implemented volunteer reading program that has been expanding rapidly throughout the state of Oregon. Eighty-four beginning first grade students at risk of reading difficulties were randomly assigned to experimental and comparison groups. Adult volunteers tutored students in the experimental group in 30-minute sessions two times per week in first and second grade. At the end of grades 1 and 2, students were administered a number of standardized reading measures, including measures of individual word reading, reading comprehension, word comprehension, and reading fluency. Analyses revealed that students in the experimental group made greater growth on a word identification measure than students in the comparison condition; they also made more growth than a group of average-achieving students who were from the same classrooms at the students in the experimental and comparison groups. Students in the experimental group also scored higher than students in the comparison condition on measures of reading fluency and word comprehension at the end of second grade. Differences were not statistically significant on passage comprehension. Findings are discussed in the context of the reading achievement effects that other adult volunteer reading programs have attained. We suggest that in establishing adult volunteer reading programs it is important to consider how to balance the intensity of training reading volunteers to achieve measurable impact on reading achievement with real world realities of the volunteer tutoring experience and goals for the extensiveness of implementation. /// [Spanish] El propósito del presente estudio fue evaluar los efectos de un programa de tutorías, de bajo costo y muy difundido que se ha expandido rápidamente en el estado de Oregon, sobre los progresos en lectura. Ochenta y cuatro estudiantes de primer grado considerados en riesgo de fracaso en lectura fueron asignados al azar a grupos experimental y de control. Los voluntarios adultos realizaron tutorías con los estudiantes del grupo experimental en sesiones de 30 minutos, dos veces por semana en primero y segundo grado. Al final de primero y segundo grado se administró a los estudiantes un conjunto de medidas estandarizadas de lectura, que incluían lectura de palabras individuales, comprensión lectora, comprensión de palabras y fluidez en lectura. Los análisis revelaron que los estudiantes del grupo experimental progresaron más que los estudiantes del grupo de control en una medida de identificación de palabras; asimismo progresaron más que un grupo de estudiantes promedio provenientes de las mismas aulas que los estudiantes de los grupos experimental y de control. Los estudiantes del grupo experimental también se desempeñaron mejor que los del grupo de control en medidas de fluidez en lectura y comprensión de palabras al final del segundo grado. En comprensión de textos las diferencias no fueron estadísticamente significativas. Los hallazgos se discuten en el contexto de los efectos en el progreso en lectura obtenidos por otros programas de tutores voluntarios adultos. Sugerimos que al establecer programas de tutorías con voluntarios adultos es importante considerar la forma de equilibrar la intensidad del entrenamiento de los voluntarios para obtener un impacto mensurable en el progreso en lectura con la realidad concreta de la experiencia de las tutorías voluntarias y objetivos para hacer extensiva la implementación. /// [German] Der Sinn der laufenden Studie bestand in der Bewertung der Auswirkungen auf die Leseleistungsverbesserungen aufgrund eines kostensparenden, von freiwilligen Helfern weitläufig angewandten Leseprogrammes, das in schneller Folge überall im US-Staat Oregon verbreitet wurde. Vierundachtzig Schüleranfänger der ersten Klasse mit Risiken von Leseschwierigkeiten wurden wahllos den Experimentier- und Vergleichsgruppen zugeteilt. Erwachsene als freiwillige Helfer gaben den Schülern in der Experimentiergruppe jeweils für 30 Minuten zweimal die Woche Nachhilfeunterricht in den ersten und zweiten Klassen. Am Ende der 1. und 2. Klasse wurde den Schülern eine Anzahl standardisierter Lesebewertungsmaßnahmen auferlegt, einschließlich der Bemessung individueller Lesefertigkeiten von Worten, dem Leseverständnis, dem Wortverständnis, und der flüssigen Lesebeherrschung. Analysen ergaben, daß Schüler in der Experimentiergruppe größere Fortschritte bei der Bemessung der Worterkennung machten als Schüler unter Vergleichskonditionen; auch machten sie mehr Fortschritte als eine Gruppe von Durchschnittsschülern, die aus dem gleichen Klassenraum kamen wie Schüler in den Experimentier- und Vergleichsgruppen. Die Schüler der Experimentiergruppe erzielten auch höhere Noten als Schüler unter den Vergleichsbedingungen bei der Bemessung der Leseflüssigkeit und dem Wortverständnis am Ende der zweiten Klasse. Im Verständnis von Passagen bzw. Absätzen waren solche Differenzen statistisch nicht signifikant. Die Ergebnisse werden im Zusammenhang von Leseleistungseffekten diskutiert, die andere freiwillige Erwachsenenhelfer mit ihren Leseprogrammen erzielt haben. Wir schlagen vor, daß bei der Schaffung von freiwilligen Lesenachhilfeprogrammen durch Erwachsene es wichtig ist zu berücksichtigen, wie die Intensität der Leseschulung freiwilliger Helfer ausgewogen gestaltet wird, um einen meßbaren Einfluß auf die Leseleistung unter wirklichkeitsnahen Bedingungen an Erfahrungen und Zielen von freiwilligen Helfern zur weitgehendsten Verbreitung zu erreichen. /// [French] Cette étude avait pour but d'évaluer les effets sur la réussite en lecture d'un programme de lecture de bénévoles peu coûteux et très répandu qui s'est répandu rapidement dans l'État de l'Orégon. On a réparti au hasard dans des groupes expérimental et contrôle 84 enfants commençant leur première année qui présentaient un risque de difficultés en lecture. Dans le groupe expérimental, des bénévoles ont été tuteurs des élèves pendant des sessions de 30 minutes, deux fois par semaine en première et deuxième année. À la fin de la première et de la deuxième année, on a administré aux élèves plusieurs tests standardisés, comportant des mesures de lecture de mots isolés, de compréhension de lecture, de compréhension de mots, et de lecture courante. Les analyses ont montré que les élèves du groupe expérimental ont mieux réussi que ceux du groupe témoin dans l'identification de mots; ils ont aussi mieux réussi que le groupe témoin en lecture courante et compréhension de mots en fin de seconde année. Les différences en compréhension d'un passage n'ont pas été significatives. On discute ces résultats dans le contexte des effets sur la réussite en lecture qu'atteignent les autres programmes de volontariat des adultes. On suggère que que pour mettre sur pied des programmes de lecture de bénévoles il est important de trouver l'équilibre entre l'intensité de la formation des bénévoles permettant d'avoir un impact mesurable sur la réussite en lecture et les réalités dans le monde réel de l'expérience des tuteurs bénévoles ainsi que les objectifs d'extension de l'implantation.
04/13/2021. Research Study
This study tested the efficacy of supplemental phonics instruction for 84 low-skilled language minority (LM) kindergarteners and 64 non-LM kindergarteners at 10 urban public schools. Paraeducators were trained to provide the 18-week (January–May) intervention. Students performing in the bottom half of their classroom language group (LM and non-LM) were randomly assigned either to individual supplemental instruction (treatment) or to classroom instruction only (control). Irrespective of their language status, treatment students (n = 67) significantly outperformed controls (n = 81) at posttest in alphabetics, word reading, spelling, passage reading fluency, and comprehension (average treatment d = 0.83); nevertheless, LM students tended to have lower posttest performance than non-LM students (average LM d = −0.30) and were significantly less responsive to treatment on word reading. When we examined the contribution of classroom phonics time to student outcomes, we found that the treatment effect on spelling was greater for students in lower phonics classrooms, whereas the treatment effect on comprehension was greater for those in higher phonics classrooms. Finally, when we examined LM students alone, we found that pretest English receptive vocabulary positively predicted most posttests and interacted with treatment only on phonological awareness. In general, pretest vocabulary did not moderate kindergarten LM treatment response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
04/13/2021. Research Study
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a classroom-teacher-delivered reading intervention for struggling readers called the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), designed particularly for kindergarten and first-grade teachers and their struggling students in rural, low-wealth communities. The TRI was delivered via an innovative Web-conferencing system using laptop computers and webcam technology. Seven schools from the southwestern United States were randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions in a cluster randomized design. All children in the study (n = 364) were administered a battery of standardized reading skill tests in the fall and spring of the school year. Intent-to-treat analyses were conducted to estimate mixed models of children’s 1-year growth in Word Attack, Letter/Word Identification, Passage Comprehension, and Spelling of Sounds. Results showed that struggling readers from experimental schools outperformed those from control schools on all spring reading outcomes, controlling for fall scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
04/13/2021. Research Study
This study evaluated whether the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), a classroom teacher professional development program delivered through webcam technology literacy coaching, could provide rural classroom teachers with the instructional skills to help struggling readers progress rapidly in early reading. Fifteen rural schools were randomly assigned to the experimental or control condition. Five struggling readers and 5 non-struggling readers were randomly selected from eligible children in each classroom. There were 75 classrooms and 631 children in the study. Teachers in experimental schools used the TRI in one-on-one sessions with 1 struggling reader in the regular classroom for 15 min a day until that struggler made rapid reading progress. Teachers then moved on to another struggling reader until all 5 struggling readers in the class received the TRI during the year. Biweekly webcam coaching sessions between the coach and teacher allowed the coach to see and hear the teacher as she instructed a struggling reader in a TRI session, and the teacher and child could see and hear the coach. In this way the classroom teacher was able to receive real-time feedback from the coach. Three-level hierarchical linear models suggested that struggling readers in the intervention schools significantly outperformed the struggling readers in the control schools, with effect sizes from .36 to .63 on 4 individualized achievement tests. Results suggested that struggling readers were gaining at the same rate as the non-struggling readers, but they were not catching up with their non-struggling peers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)
04/13/2021. Research Study
This study evaluated the efficacy of a preventative program delivered in kindergarten to children who were identified as being at risk for experiencing reading difficulties. It also examined the effects of two 1st-grade intervention programs delivered to children who demonstrated substantial difficulty with reading development at the beginning of 1st grade. The 1st-grade programs differed in the amount of emphasis placed on helping the children to develop phonological skills versus providing the children with the opportunity to read connected text with guidance. These kindergarten and 1st-grade intervention approaches were instituted in an effort to identify instructional approaches that would reduce the incidence of reading difficulties among at-risk children. Of particular interest was reduction in the incidence of treatment resisters--children who continue to experience serious reading difficulties despite being provided with early and intensive intervention services to alleviate their early difficulties. The results indicated that the kindergarten intervention program was effective in reducing the number of children who qualified as poor readers in 1st grade and in reducing the incidence of treatment resistance at the end of 1st grade regardless of the type of intervention provided in 1st grade. The data further suggested that the 1st-grade intervention approach that emphasized the development of phonological skills was more effective in reducing the incidence of treatment resistance than the program that emphasized engaging the children in reading connected text. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
04/13/2021. Research Study
Presents a longitudinal intervention study of 125 children experiencing difficulties in the early stages of learning to read. Seven-year-old poor readers were divided into 4 matched groups and assigned to 1 of 3 experimental teaching conditions: reading with phonology, reading alone, phonology alone, and a control group. Although the phonology alone group showed most improvement on phonological tasks, the reading with phonology group made most progress in reading. Results show that interventions to boost phonological skills need to be integrated with the teaching of reading if they are to be maximally effective in improving literacy skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
04/13/2021. Research Study
This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of Reading Recovery as compared to three other instructional models. Treatments included (a) a treatment modeled on Reading Recovery, (b) a one-on-one skills practice model, and (c)a group treatment taught by trained Reading Recovery teachers.
04/13/2021. Research Study
This study examined the effectiveness of Early Steps, a 1st-grade reading intervention program. Forty-three at-risk 1st graders, identified in September, received an average of 91 1-to-1 tutoring lessons during the school year. The work of the tutors was carefully guided by a trainer who made 9 site visits. At the end of the school year, the Early Steps group outperformed a comparison group on a variety of reading measures, including oral reading accuracy, comprehension, and pseudoword decoding. Moreover, Early Steps tutoring made the largest difference for those children who were most at risk (lowest in reading ability) in September. In discussing the intervention model, emphasis is given to its systematic word study component and to the critical role of the trainer of tutors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
04/13/2021. Research Study
CPRE released its evaluation of one of the most ambitious and well-documented expansions of a U.S. instructional curriculum. The rigorous independent evaluation of the Investing in Innovation (i3) scale-up of Reading Recovery, a literacy intervention for struggling first graders, was a collaboration between CPRE and the Center for Research on Education and Social Policy (CRESP) at the University of Delaware.
The CPRE/CRESP evaluation revealed that students who participated in Reading Recovery significantly outperformed students in the control group on measures of overall reading, reading comprehension, and decoding. These effects were similarly large for English language learners and students attending rural schools, which were the student subgroups of priority interest for the i3 scale-up grant program.
The study included an in-depth analysis of program implementation. Key findings focus on the contextual factors of the school and teachers that support the program’s success and the components of instructional strength in Reading Recovery.
04/13/2021. Research Study
Despite data supporting the benefits of early reading interventions, there has been little evaluation of the long-term educational impact of these interventions, with most follow-up studies lasting less than two years (Suggate, 2010). This study evaluated reading outcomes more than a decade after the completion of an 8-month reading intervention using a randomized design with second and third graders selected on the basis of poor word-level skills (Blachman et al., 2004). Fifty-eight (84%) of the original 69 participants took part in the study. The treatment group demonstrated a moderate to small effect size advantage on reading and spelling measures over the comparison group. There were statistically significant differences with moderate effect sizes between treatment and comparison groups on standardized measures of word recognition (i.e., Woodcock Basic Skills Cluster, d = 0.53; Woodcock Word Identification, d = 0.62), the primary, but not exclusive, focus of the intervention. Statistical tests on other reading and spelling measures did not reach thresholds for statistical significance. Patterns in the data related to other educational outcomes, such as high school completion, favored the treatment participants, although differences were not significant.
04/13/2021. Research Study
This article discusses a study that experimentally evaluated the effects of supplemental instruction in reading for students in kindergarten through Grade 3. Using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacyeracy Skills (DIBELS) and a measure of oral reading fluency, 256 students in kindergarten through second grade (158 Hispanic, 98 non-Hispanic) were screened. Students were then randomly assigned to receive or not receive supplemental reading instruction focused on phonological awareness and decoding skills. Reading skill was assessed in the fall of the first year of participation and again in the spring of Years 1 and 2 (Times 2 and 3). Children who received the supplemental reading instruction performed significantly better on measures of word attack skills at Time 2 and on measures of word attack, word identification, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension at Time 3. There were no differences in the effectiveness of instruction as a function of Hispanic students' level of English proficiency or as a function of student gender or grade.
04/13/2021. Research Study
168 kindergarten children (aged 63–80 mo), who were screened during kindergarten by SEARCH as at risk for reading failure, were assigned to either a TEACH, a perceptual remediation approach, or a phonetic tutoring approach in 1st grade. 57 matched control Ss had no intervention. Ss were assessed at the end of 1st and 2nd grades with the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test, the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test, the Test of Written Spelling, and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. The only significant finding was higher word attack scores for Ss in the phonetic tutoring group. Marginally at-risk Ss in the phonetic group appeared to have profited most from one-to-one tutoring, demonstrating significantly higher performance on word attack, phonetic analysis, and the test of written spelling. There was significantly lower academic performance for the at-risk Ss compared to the control Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
04/13/2021. Research Study
Reading Recovery is an early intervention program for first grade designed to reduce reading failure. It is based on the assumption that intensive, high-quality help during the early years of schooling is the most productive investment of resources. Individually tailored intervention procedures are implemented for children identified by classroom teachers as achieving below-grade level. A longitudinal study was designed to assess the success of this program in the Detroit Public Schools (Michigan) over the 5 years from 1993-94 to 1997-98. A total of 135 students were studied, 75 in the experimental group participating in Reading Recovery and 60 in a comparison group who were approximately at the same reading achievement level at the start of the study. Data from the California Achievement Test, the Metropolitan Achievement Test, and the Michigan Education Assessment Program were used to measure student achievement. The Reading Recovery group showed improvement throughout the study--an improvement sustained over the 5 years. However, the Reading Recovery group consistently scored below the achievement levels of the comparison group. It is recommended that the program, if continued, be monitored closely for documentation of academic achievement and effectiveness. An appendix contains information about assessment tasks administered in Reading Recovery
04/13/2021. Research Study
This article addresses questions about instruction for children with severe reading disabilities in 2 ways. First, outcomes from 3 recent studies are examined within the context of a hierarchy of instructional goals derived from current theory about the processes involved in acquisition of reading skill. This analysis suggests that we still have much to learn about effective instruction for children with the most severe reading disabilities. The second part of the article reports preliminary results from a 2.5-yr prevention project in which 138 children received instruction by 3 different methods. The primary instructional contrast involved the intensity and degree of explicitness of instruction in phonological awareness and phonetic decoding strategies for word reading. Results showed a clear advantage in phonetic reading ability for 1 group of children at the end of the second grade. However, this group did not show corresponding advantages in word-reading vocabulary or reading comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
04/13/2021. Research Study
Research examining effective reading interventions for students with reading difficulties in the upper elementary grades is limited relative to the information available for the early elementary grades. In the current study, we examined the effects of a multicomponent reading intervention for students with reading comprehension difficulties. We used a partially nested analysis with latent variables to adequately match the design of the study and provide the necessary precision of intervention effects. We examined the effects of the intervention on students’ latent word reading, latent vocabulary, and latent reading comprehension. In addition, we examined whether these effects differed for students of varying levels of reading or English language proficiency. Findings indicated the treatment significantly outperformed the comparison on reading comprehension (Effect Size = 0.38), but no overall group differences were noted on word reading or vocabulary. Students’ initial word reading scores moderated this effect. Reading comprehension effects were similar for English learner and non-English learner students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
04/13/2021. Research Study
Burst: Reading (Burst) represents a breakthrough in delivering highly differentiated reading instruction based on formative assessment data. Using cutting-edge mobile technology for assessment administration, students attending schools that implement Burst are first screened with a multi-battery assessment that a) provides cross-skill information about a student’s reading ability and b) identifies students who are below expectations for specific skills at appropriate grade levels. The assessment provides information about skills that contribute to the successful development of reading comprehension and includes all of the measures from Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacyeracy Skills (DIBELS: Next) that assess letter name knowledge, phonological awareness, decoding, fluency, and comprehension. The multi-battery assessment includes three additional measures: comprehension, vocabulary, and late decoding inventories. Burst is driven by sophisticated data-analysis algorithms to generate lesson plans and engaging instruction materials for small groups. Incorporating instructional prioritization rules based on grade and time of year, the algorithm prescribes 30 minutes of small-group instruction in up to two skills (Gersten, et al., 2008) to students identified as needing intervention. Teachers, coaches, specialists, and qualified volunteers deliver 10-day “Bursts” of instruction to small groups of students based on the formative assessment results for each student. Instruction is then tailored to the skills defined as the most critical based on students’ grade and time of year.
04/13/2021. Research Study
Considerable research evidence supports the provision of explicit instruction for students at risk for reading difficulties; however, one of the most widely implemented approaches to early reading instruction is Guided Reading (GR; Fountas & Pinnel, 1996), which deemphasizes explicit instruction and practice of reading skills in favor of extended time reading text. This study evaluated the two approaches in the context of supplemental intervention for at-risk readers at the end of Grade 1. Students (n = 218) were randomly assigned to receive GR intervention, explicit intervention (EX), or typical school instruction (TSI). Both intervention groups performed significantly better than TSI on untimed word identification. Significant effects favored EX over TSI on phonemic decoding and one measure of comprehension. Outcomes for the intervention groups did not differ significantly from each other; however, an analysis of the added value of providing each intervention relative to expected growth with typical instruction indicated that EX is more likely to substantially accelerate student progress in phonemic decoding, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension than GR. Implications for selection of Tier 2 interventions within a response-to-intervention format are discussed.
04/13/2021. Research Study
Reading problems are among the most prevalent concerns in schools; poor readers in elementary school who do not receive special assistance are particularly at risk for dismal academic careers. In a large-scale project, children with serious reading problems received targeted intervention to address critical early literacy skills. The assistance combined focused practice and frequent monitoring to provide instruction needed to improve reading skills. Participating students achieved significant gains in reading performance compared to a control group not receiving intervention. The outcomes of the study relate to continuing efforts to reduce the very large numbers of children failing to achieve early literacy skills in U.S. schools.
04/13/2021. Research Study
This study investigates the effects and feasibility of an intervention for first-grade students at risk for reading difficulties or disabilities (RD). The intervention was provided by general education classroom teachers and consisted of 15 min whole-class comprehension lessons (Tier 1) and 30 min Tier 2 intervention sessions in word reading, comprehension, and text reading. First-grade teachers (n = 21), with 4–5 students at risk for reading difficulties and potential reading disability were randomly assigned to treatment or typical practice comparison conditions. Significant group differences were detected on all measures of word reading, decoding, and fluency. Effect sizes were educationally important for all measures of word reading, decoding, and reading comprehension; however, effects on standardized measures were smaller than those in prior studies with similar students in which intervention was typically provided outside the regular classroom. An exploratory analysis indicated that students at different parts of the pretest and posttest distributions responded more and less positively to the intervention, providing insights that may help guide future revisions. The study provides preliminary evidence of the intervention's promise for positively impacting student outcomes.