
Elizabeth A SwansonUniversity of Texas at Austin | UT · Department of Special Education and The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk
Elizabeth A Swanson
Ph.D. in Special Education
About
69
Publications
82,790
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2,779
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Introduction
The focus of my study is on remediating reading difficulty in upper elementary, middle and high school classrooms. Currently, I am interested in: (a) collaboratively creating with teachers feasible interventions to infuse the content areas with literacy practices, and (b) testing content area literacy interventions for efficacy among struggling readers and students with disabilities who are included in content area classes.
Additional affiliations
Education
September 2004 - December 2008
September 2001 - May 2004
September 1993 - December 1997
Publications
Publications (69)
Many students in the upper elementary grades and beyond uniquely struggle with reading comprehension, necessitating explicit instruction and remediation in this area. This study used data-based decision-making (DBDM), a research-based systematic approach to student data collection and analysis, to intensify the evidence-based Strategies for Reading...
Vocabulary is a prominent contributor to reading comprehension. However, little is known about how students with disabilities with lower vocabulary performance respond to Tier 1 instruction, or how their vocabulary knowledge relates to their content acquisition. To examine the differential impact of Tier 1 instruction for middle school students wit...
This study addressed the effects of Strategies for Teaching Reading, Information, and Vocabulary Effectively (STRIVE), a distributed professional development (PD) model designed to help teachers implement reading comprehension and vocabulary practices in fourth grade social studies classes. Schools (n = 81 schools, n = 235 teachers, n = 4,757 stude...
This study examined how self-beliefs, particularly reading mindset and self-efficacy, interact together to predict reading-specific achievement goals and engagement as well as reading achievement in fourth-grade students. Latent profile analysis identified three profiles (n = 206): Confident and Fixed Mindset, Moderately Confident and Neutral Minds...
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by persistently high levels of inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity that interfere with functioning. Inattention is significantly related to lower reading outcomes, whereas hyperactivity/impulsivity alone is not. Strategies to Read Information Texts and Vocabulary Effectivel...
To best support students with low vision in the general education classroom, special education teachers can facilitate use of several adaptations including: (a) attention to curriculum access (e.g. text magnifiers), (b) mechanisms for promoting social connectedness, (c) managing physical space, and (d) effective instructional techniques. This artic...
The adoption and sustainability of evidence-based Tier 1 literacy practices in secondary content-area classes is important to improve the reading success among students with learning disabilities. We conducted an exploratory multiple-case study investigating teachers’ adoption and sustained use of evidence-based Tier 1 literacy practices that benef...
Informed by theories of reading comprehension and prior reviews of reading comprehension intervention, this meta-analysis uniquely contributes to the literature because it describes the relative effects of various approaches to comprehension intervention for struggling readers in Grades 3 through 12. Findings from 64 studies demonstrate significant...
This study reports the effects of a distributed professional development model emphasizing reading comprehension and vocabulary practices in social studies on the content knowledge, vocabulary, and reading comprehension outcomes of upper elementary students identified as English learners (ELs). Schools were randomly assigned to one of three conditi...
This study examined the differential effects of Strategies for Reading Informational Text and Vocabulary Effectively (STRIVE) on the vocabulary, reading comprehension, and content learning among 4,757 fourth-grade students with and without disabilities. Schools were assigned to one of three conditions: researcher-supported professional development...
This study addressed the effects of Strategies for Teaching Reading, Information, and Vocabulary Effectively (STRIVE), a distributed professional development (PD) model designed to help teachers implement reading comprehension and vocabulary practices in fourth grade social studies classes. Schools (n = 81 schools, n = 235 teachers, n = 4,757 stude...
Teaching vocabulary and reading comprehension during social studies instruction is critical for reading development and the acquisition of content knowledge. This study systematically investigated how elementary teachers integrate vocabulary and reading comprehension instruction during social studies teaching, as well as the extent to which this in...
When recommending a program to achieve objectives such as improving learning outcomes for middle school students, school psychologists need information about cost-effectiveness to identify the best fit for student needs and school budgets. However, few cost studies of evidence-based instructional programs exist. We compared the cost-effectiveness o...
To support reading comprehension and content acquisition among middle school students with reading disabilities and difficulties, content-area teachers must employ evidence-based literacy instruction. This type of instruction is especially critical in the content areas because the majority of students with disabilities—those who typically struggle...
This article presents findings from a quasiexperimental study examining the effects of a Tier 2 intervention aligned to Tier 1 instruction, a nonaligned Tier 2 intervention, and a business-as-usual (BAU) comparison on the content knowledge, vocabulary, and reading outcomes of fourth-grade struggling readers. In the aligned condition, teachers were...
To better understand the impact of using e-books on students’ reading outcomes, we conducted a meta-analysis of 14 studies with students in grades K–12 published between 2007 and 2018. Findings revealed an average effect size across all studies and reading outcomes of 0.9 that did not differ significantly from zero. There was also no statistically...
Despite focused efforts, achievement gaps remain a problem in the America's education system, especially those between students from higher and lower income families. Continued work on reducing these gaps benefits from an understanding of students' reading and math growth from typical school instruction and how growth differs based on initial profi...
To learn challenging content, middle school students are expected to read and comprehend complex text. This poses challenges for content-area teachers whose classes typically include students with reading difficulties and disabilities who have a variety of literacy needs. Some students struggle to decode text while many students struggle with compl...
It is essential for middle school leaders to develop and promote school-wide literacy models, organizational structures that have a significant impact on the learning environment for all students in their building. However, school-wide literacy models can be difficult to implement and sustain over time. Drawing from an Office of Special Education P...
Students with disabilities are often included in general education social studies classes, but these classes can differ in the achievement level of the overall class, including wide variation in content-related background knowledge, reading achievement, or both. The purpose of this study was to examine how background knowledge and reading achieveme...
We examined the efficacy of a content acquisition and reading comprehension intervention implemented in eighth-grade social studies classrooms. Using a within-teacher randomized control design, 18 eighth-grade teachers' social studies classes were randomly assigned to a treatment or comparison condition. Teachers taught all their classes (treatment...
Understanding the efficacy of evidence-based reading practices delivered in the Tier 1 (i.e. general classroom) setting is critical to successful implementation of multi-tiered systems, meeting a diverse range of student learning needs, and providing high quality reading instruction across content areas. This meta-analysis presents evidence on the...
This article reports a synthesis and meta-analysis of intervention studies investigating the effects of team-based learning on content knowledge outcomes. Team-based learning is a particular set of instructional components most often used in higher education classrooms. Authors of team-based learning reviews report that team-based learning improves...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of inference making, decoding, memory, and vocabulary on reading comprehension among 7th- through 12th-grade struggling readers with varying levels of inattention and hyperactivity. We categorized a group of 414 struggling readers into 3 groups based on results from factor mixture modeling: (a...
Supporting the reading comprehension and content knowledge acquisition of English language learners (ELs) requires instructional practices that continue beyond developing the foundational skills of reading. In particular, the challenges ELs face highlight the importance of teaching reading comprehension practices in the middle grades through conten...
This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a content knowledge and reading comprehension treatment implemented by 8th-grade social studies teachers over the course of 1 school year. We randomly assigned 8th-grade students with reading difficulties to the intervention treatment condition (n = 45) or the business-as-usual comparison condition (n =...
High school social studies teachers face unique challenges in helping their students learn independently from text in their discipline. In this article, a set of research-based practices that couple independent student reading with high-quality instruction proven to improve content learning for high school nonnative English speakers is provided. Sp...
This study investigated the effects of Promoting Adolescent Comprehension Through Text (PACT), a content knowledge and comprehension treatment for English learner and non–English learner students with disabilities who were provided instruction in general education social studies classrooms. Eighth-grade students with disabilities in the treatment c...
Research in special education has yielded beneficial outcomes for students with disabilities as well as typical achieving students. The authors provide examples of the valuable knowledge special education research has generated, including the elements of response to intervention (e.g., screening and progress monitoring), instructional practices suc...
This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a content knowledge and reading comprehension treatment implemented by eighth-grade general education social studies teachers among students with disabilities included in the classes. Data on students with disabilities across 2 years of study were combined for the analysis presented here. Students in th...
The authors examined the effects of team-based learning (TBL) implemented in Grade 8 social studies classes on student content acquisition. Twenty-four classes were randomly assigned to treatment or comparison blocking on teacher. In the treatment classes teachers integrated TBL practices in the content instruction. The authors examined teacher ins...
This study aimed to replicate findings that demonstrated impact on students’ reading comprehension and social studies content learning. Using a randomized control trial, intervention, and outcome measures, this study was replicated in 85 8th-grade social studies classes with 19 teachers. Teachers were provided professional development on comprehens...
We examined the effectiveness of implementing team-based learning (TBL) practices on content acquisition for 11th grade students with high-incidence disabilities enrolled in general education social studies courses. TBL components focus on collaborative discourse within heterogeneous teams. TBL, which requires critical thinking and the application...
This study reports vocabulary and reading comprehension instructional practices implemented in middle and high school social studies and language arts classrooms. It also describes text reading practices. We conducted 137 observations of 11 social studies and 9 language arts teachers over the course of 1 academic year. We observed instructional pra...
Teacher read-alouds (TRA) are common in middle and high school content area classes. Because the practice of reading the textbook out loud to students is often used out of concern about students’ ability to understand and learn from text when reading silently (SR), this randomized controlled trial was designed to experimentally manipulate text read...
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content Through Text intervention implemented with 11th-grade students enrolled in U.S. History classes. Using a within-teacher randomized design, the study was conducted in 41 classes (23 treatment classes) with 14 teachers providing the treatment...
This randomized control trial examined the efficacy of team-based learning implemented within 11th-grade social studies classes. A randomized blocked design was implemented with 26 classes randomly assigned to treatment or comparison. In the treatment classes teachers implemented team-based learning practices to support students in engaging in dial...
Secondary-level content area teachers face unique challenges in helping their students successfully read, understand, and learn content from complex texts in their discipline. In this article, a set of research-based practices designed to provide effective and feasible instruction to improve students' reading and comprehension of text and content i...
This study examined the effects and fidelity of collaborative strategic reading (CSR) implemented by experienced CSR teachers (participated in previous study; Vaughn et al., 2011) on the reading comprehension outcomes of students in English/Language Arts (ELA) or Reading classes. Eligible teachers (12 of 17; others reassigned to teach grades/subjec...
This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a content acquisition and reading comprehension treatment implemented by eighth-grade social studies teachers. Using a within-teacher design, the eighth-grade teachers' social studies classes were randomly assigned to treatment or comparison conditions. Teachers (n = 5) taught the same instructional con...
A synthesis and meta-analysis of the extant research on the effects of reading interventions delivered using social studies content for students with learning disabilities in kindergarten through Grade 12 is provided. A total of 27 studies met criteria for the synthesis, with 16 studies providing sufficient data for inclusion in the meta-analysis....
This study reports on the perceptions and instructional practices of Grades 3 through 5 special education teachers in
a school district that implemented a multitiered response to intervention (RTI) framework for the previous 5 years.
The authors used focus groups and interviews to examine special education teachers’ perceptions of RTI. In additio...
A summary of inclusion and co-teaching syntheses was conducted to better understand the evidence base associated with collaborative models of instruction. Collectively, the syntheses represented 146 studies. The syntheses investigated research on collaborative models; student outcomes; teachers' attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions; and students' pe...
The authors conducted an experimental study to examine the effects of collaborative strategic reading and metacognitive strategic learning on the reading comprehension of students in seventh- and eighth-grade English/language arts classes in two sites (Texas, Colorado) and in three school districts. Students were randomly assigned to classes and th...
Treatment fidelity reporting practices are described for journals that published general and special education intervention research with high impact factors from 2005 through 2009. The authors reviewed research articles, reported the proportion of intervention studies that described fidelity measurement, detailed the components of fidelity measure...
Upper elementary school students face increasing demands to read and comprehend different types of text. By fourth grade, they are more often engaged in learning from exposi-tory text (Chall, 1983; Gajria, Jitendra, Sood, & Sacks, 2007; Wharton-McDonald & Swiger, 2009) that is dense and thick with meaning (Armbruster, 1984). In addition, many upper...
A synthesis and meta-analysis of the extant research on the effects of storybook read-aloud interventions for children at risk for reading difficulties ages 3 to 8 is provided. A total of 29 studies met criteria for the synthesis, with 18 studies providing sufficient data for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Read-aloud instruction has been examined...
Adolescent students with learning disabilities (LD) often
struggle with comprehending complex text structures used
in middle and high school content-area classes (Williams,
1998, 2000). Compared to students in the upper elementary
grades, middle school students are expected to read greater
amounts of information across subject areas (Gajria, J...
Around fourth grade, content-area text gains increasing presence and importance in the curriculum and is often used as a primary source of information and presumed learning. For many students, the density of unfamiliar vocabulary preempts their ability to read and construct meaning from text (Armbruster & Anderson, 1988). Harmon, Hedrick, and Wood...
This effectiveness study examined a supplemental reading intervention that may be appropriate as one component of a response-to-intervention (RTI) system. First-grade students in 31 schools who were at risk for reading difficulties were randomly assigned to receive Responsive Reading Instruction (RRI; Dentón, 2001; Dentón & Hocker, 2006; n = 182) o...
This study documents the amount and quality of reading instruction provided to second- through fifth-grade students with learning disabilities provided resource-room services. Reading instruction provided by 10 special education resource-room teachers was observed. Findings reveal that teachers and students were on task during instructional time th...
While weaknesses for students with learning disabilities (LD) may exist in basic reading skills, difficulty understanding text goes beyond reading the words on the page. The complex nature of reading requires educators to provide struggling readers with reading strategies that support active engagement with text, comprehension monitoring, and a mea...
This article synthesizes previous research studies examining reading instruction for students with learning disabilities (LD) through classroom observation methods. An extensive search of the research literature between 1980 and 2005 yielded 21 observation studies. Findings revealed that reading instruction for students with LD is generally of low...
The use of student assessment data is a key component of a model of instructional coaching, Student-Focused Coaching (Hasbrouck
& Denton, 2005), designed to support student achievement by engaging reading teachers in a collaborative problem-solving process to modify
instructional strategies with the goal of enhanced student outcomes. In this paper,...
Previous research studies examining the effects of spelling and reading interventions on the spelling outcomes of students with learning disabilities (LD) are synthesized. An extensive search of the professional literature between 1995 and 2003 yielded a total of 19 intervention studies that provided spelling and reading interventions to students w...
Charter schools play an important role in promoting school choice, thus attracting parents of children with disabilities. A number of charter schools, however, are unprepared to meet the needs of children with disabilities. This article explores potential reasons for this phenomenon and presents suggestions for charter schools and parents.