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Effective programs for struggling readers: A best-evidence synthesis
Abstract
This article reviews research on the achievement outcomes of alternative approaches for struggling readers ages 5–10 (US grades K-5): One-to-one tutoring, small-group tutorials, classroom instructional process approaches, and computer-assisted instruction. Study inclusion criteria included use of randomized or well-matched control groups, study duration of at least 12 weeks, and use of valid measures independent of treatments. A total of 97 studies met these criteria. The review concludes that one-to-one tutoring is very effective in improving reading performance. Tutoring models that focus on phonics obtain much better outcomes than others. Teachers are more effective than paraprofessionals and volunteers as tutors. Small-group, phonetic tutorials can be effective, but are not as effective as one-to-one phonetically focused tutoring. Classroom instructional process programs, especially cooperative learning, can have very positive effects for struggling readers. Computer-assisted instruction had few effects on reading. Taken together, the findings support a strong focus on improving classroom instruction and then providing one-to-one, phonetic tutoring to students who continue to experience difficulties.
... In a review of research on alternative approaches for struggling readers, Slavin et al. (2011) compared one-to-one tutoring, small group tutorials, classroom instructional approaches, and computer-assisted instruction. Ninety-six studies were included in the review. ...
... While some researchers find that teacher tutors are more effective than paraprofessionals, volunteers, or parents (J-PAL Evidence Review, 2020;Slavin et al., 2011) others suggest that paraprofessionals can be just as effective (Neitzel et al., 2021;Robinson and Loeb, 2021). Paraprofessionals are less costly than certified teachers, a factor that may allow schools to tutor a larger number of students. ...
... Lastly, "at-risk" populations tend to have higher mobility rates and thus the number of students moving during the school year or not returning for the following school year could not have been anticipated or controlled by the researchers. Despite the limitations the study's findings add to a growing body of literature on high-dosage tutoring and corroborates research on the efficacy of one-to-one tutoring to improve reading outcomes of young readers ( Austin et al., 2017;Ehri et al., 2007;Elbaum et al., 2000;Jones, 2015;Slavin et al., 2011;Vadasy et al., 2006;Wanzek et al., 2018). ...
The purpose of this randomized control trial (RCT) was to examine the impact of one-to-one high-dosage tutoring on reading achievement of kindergarten and first grade students, many at risk of reading failure. This nearly two-year study collected reading assessment data from 185 students, from across 13 classrooms, randomly assigned to either the one-to-one high-dosage tutoring group or the teacher-instruction-only group. Treatment students received tutoring support 2-3 times per week across the school year from specially trained tutors using a digital literacy platform. Tutoring focused on sequenced skills beginning with letter identification and sounds and moved to reading stories. The results of the Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analysis, from both Chapter One assessments as well as the nationally recognized assessments, indicate that Chapter One’s high impact tutoring program is highly effective in helping at-risk kindergarten and first grade students achieve reading proficiency. Tutored students outperformed non-tutored students on multiple measures of reading achievement.
... Although individual intervention studies and descriptive syntheses have furnished information about what works to improve outcomes for young students with dyslexia, there is a need for meta-analytic research examining the effects of reading instruction on reading outcomes for this population specifically. Previous metaanalyses (e.g., Gersten et al., 2020;Neitzel et al., 2022;Slavin et al., 2011;Suggate, 2010;Swanson et al., 1999;Wanzek et al., 2016Wanzek et al., , 2018 report robust findings about effective early reading instruction for elementary-grade students with or at risk for RDs broadly defined (i.e., defined as including a wide range of reading and language difficulties). Specifically, these systematic reviews reveal that multicomponent reading interventions that provide explicit, systematic instruction in foundational skills (going forward, we use the term foundational skills to refer to phonological awareness [PA], phonics knowledge, word reading, spelling, and connected-text reading) and simultaneously focus on meaning (i.e., both word meanings and comprehension of connected text) are associated with significant positive effects. ...
... During the last two decades, seven meta-analyses (Donegan & Wanzek, 2021;Gersten et al., 2020;Neitzel et al., 2022;Slavin et al., 2011;Suggate, 2010;Wanzek et al., 2016Wanzek et al., , 2018; see Table 1) have investigated the immediate effects of reading instruction on word reading outcomes for elementary-grade students with or at risk for RDs. One additional research meta-analysis (Galuschka et al., 2020) investigated the immediate effects of spelling instruction on spelling outcomes for students with reading or spelling difficulties. ...
... 556). Grade K-5 students included in studies meta-analyzed by Slavin et al. (2011) were "children in the lowest 33% (or lower) of their classes, or any children receiving tutoring or other intensive services to prevent or remediate serious reading problems" (p. 5). ...
This meta‐analysis included experimental or quasi‐experimental intervention studies conducted between 1980 and 2020 that aimed to improve reading outcomes for Grade K‐5 students with or at risk for dyslexia (i.e., students with or at risk for word reading difficulties, defined as scoring at or below norm‐referenced screening or mean baseline performance thresholds articulated in our inclusion criteria). In all, 53 studies reported in 52 publications met inclusion criteria (m = 351; total student N = 6,053). We employed robust variance estimation to address dependent effect sizes arising from multiple outcomes and comparisons within studies. Results indicated a statistically significant main effect of instruction on norm‐referenced reading outcomes (g = 0.33; p < .001). Because there was significant heterogeneity in effect sizes across studies (p < .01), we used meta‐regression to identify the degree to which student characteristics (i.e., grade level), intervention characteristics (i.e., dosage, instructional components, multisensory nature, instructional group size), reading outcome domain (i.e., phonological awareness, word reading/spelling, passage reading, or reading comprehension), or research methods (i.e., sample size, study design) influenced intervention effects. Dosage and reading outcome domain were the only variables that significantly moderated intervention effects (p = .040 and p = .024, respectively), with higher dosage studies associated with larger effects (b = 0.002) and reading comprehension outcomes associated with smaller effects than word reading/spelling outcomes (b = −0.080). This meta‐analysis included experimental or quasi‐experimental intervention studies conducted between 1980 and 2020 that aimed to improve reading outcomes for Grade K‐5 students with or at risk for dyslexia (i.e., students with or at risk for word reading difficulties, defined as scoring at or below norm‐referenced screening or mean baseline performance thresholds articulated in our inclusion criteria).
... We focused on Slavin et al.'s (2011) findings describing the effects of three types of intensive interventions: (1) one-to-one tutoring by certified teachers, (2) one-to-one tutoring by paraprofessionals and volunteers, and (3) small-group tutoring, which represented 58 studies. Of these, 20 studies examined one-to-one tutoring by certified teachers, which Slavin and colleagues termed the "gold standard" for intervention delivery. ...
... They found similar ES for researcher and teacher implemented interventions (0.52 and 0.50, respectively). Similar to Slavin et al. (2011), they found one-to-one tutoring tended to have higher ES (0.59) than small group interventions (0.33) and ES were higher for interventions lasting more than 63 hours (0.45) than those lasting 63 hours or less (0.33). by Gersten et al. (2020). Their study differed from prior studies in that they selected only those studies that met the standards for methodological rigor based on WWC standards as meeting criteria for "moderate" to "strong" levels of evidence. ...
... They also reported the average ES for word reading skills, comprehension, and fluency of 0.41, 0.32, and 0.31, respectively. These ES are consistent with those reported by Slavin et al. (2011), and slightly smaller than those reported by Wanzek et al. (2015). ...
The purpose of this paper is to describe what we know and what we still need to learn about literacy intervention for children who experience significant difficulties learning to read. We reviewed 14 meta‐analyses and systematic reviews of experimental and quasi‐experimental studies published in the last decade that examined the effects of reading and writing interventions in the elementary grades, including research focused on students with reading difficulties and disabilities, including dyslexia. We attended to moderator analyses, when available, to further refine what we know and need to learn about interventions. Findings from these reviews indicate that explicit and systematic interventions focusing on the code and meaning dimensions of reading and writing, and delivered one‐to‐one or in small groups, are likely to improve foundational code‐based reading skills, and to a lesser extent, meaning‐based skills, across elementary grade levels. Findings, at least in the upper elementary grades, indicate that some intervention features including standardized protocols, multiple components, and longer duration can yield stronger effects. And, integrating reading and writing interventions shows promise. We still need to learn more about specific instructional routines and components that provide more robust effects on students’ ability to comprehend and individual differences in response to interventions. We discuss limitations of this review of reviews and suggest directions for future research to optimize implementation, particularly to understand for whom and under what conditions literacy interventions work best. The purpose of this paper is to describe what we know and what we still need to learn about literacy intervention for children who experience significant difficulties learning to read. We reviewed 14 meta‐analyses and systematic reviews of experimental and quasi‐experimental studies published in the last decade that examined the effects of reading and writing interventions in the elementary grades, including research focused on students with reading difficulties and disabilities, including dyslexia.
... One promising approach for helping struggling readers is to hire certified teachers or specialists as tutors for every classroom (e.g. May et al., 2013;Slavin, Lake, Davis & Madden, 2011). Nevertheless, this can be costly and impractical for under-resourced schools. ...
... Though previous literature has investigated the cost-effectiveness of early literacy programs, evidence suggests high variability in costs depending on program design (Hollands et al., 2013;Simon, 2011). While a literature review of early literacy programs found that interventions focused on improving classroom instruction coupled with providing individualized instruction focused on phonics (Slavin et al., 2011) are promising in terms of impact, few cost analyses have been conducted on programs with such designs (see for example Sawhill & Karpilow, 2014), and none to our knowledge have been conducted on a Pre-K program. A careful cost analysis of the MRC program, which retains many of these promising program components, can help us better understand the resources required to replicate the program impact, how much of each resource is necessary, and how cost-effective the program is relative to alternatives. ...
... Rigorous evaluations of literacy interventions show that one-on-one tutoring delivered by certified teachers is effective in improving reading performance (e.g., May et al., 2013;Slavin, et al., 2011), even relative to alternative interventions such CBCSE Minnesota Reading Corps Pre-K Program Cost Analysis 3 as small group tutorials, classroom instructional approaches and computer assisted learning (Slavin et al., 2011). A review of 96 evaluations of alternative literacy interventions for struggling readers in grades K-5 concluded that a promising approach to addressing gaps in literacy for students lagging behind is combining improved classroom instruction with individualization focused on phonics (Slavin et al., 2011). ...
The Minnesota Reading Corps (MRC) program is a statewide AmeriCorps early literacy initiative that aims to foster emergent literacy skills of children to ensure reading proficiency by the end of grade 3. MRC and its host organization, Reading & Math, Inc. (RMI), aim to address the resource gaps within under-resourced schools by bringing AmeriCorps members into Pre-K classrooms to provide literacy enrichment for the whole class and tutoring services for specific at-risk students. An impact evaluation of the program conducted in 2013-2014 by the University of Chicago-based research center, NORC, showed positive impacts on emergent literacy outcomes for 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds (Markovitz et al., 2015). Building on the existing evidence on the program effectiveness, this study estimates the costs of providing the MRC Pre-K program that are associated with the impact measured by the 2013-2014 impact evaluation. Rigorous economic evaluations of educational interventions provide important information about the resources necessary to implement a program. Such evaluations bridge the gap between knowledge on program implementation and program impact by identifying the resources utilized to generate outcomes of interest. As such, cost analyses intend to inform policymakers facing decisions to replicate or scale up a program, or trade-offs related to limited resources. Our study used the ingredients method—an approach widely applied to examine costs of educational interventions—to estimate the MRC Pre-K program’s cost (Levin, McEwan, Belfield, Bowden & Shand, 2018). We conducted interviews, surveys, and classroom observations, as well as reviews of program documents, administrative records and past research in order to collect data on all resources utilized to derive program impact based on its theory of change. Wherever important data were missing, we used a Monte Carlo simulation strategy to explore site-level variation on resource use and costs. Overall, the costs of MRC were identified as $1.5 million per year to serve 1,261 students across twenty-five schools, or $1,210 per pupil on average. Costs were found to vary substantially by site, by ingredient category and by who bears the burden of the costs across the 25 sites evaluated. Our analyses of the distribution of who bears the costs suggest that the average cost per student per site borne by schools ranges from $680 to $210, or approximately 25% of the total costs per student. Comparable cost estimates are limited by a lack of similar Pre-K programs that have conducted both impact and cost analysis evaluations. Our study is one of the few rigorous cost analyses in Pre-K programs conducted alongside effectiveness research on a supplemental Pre-K literacy program to date. Nevertheless, these results suggest the Minnesota Reading Corps program leverages a substantial amount of resources into Pre-K classrooms in a way that feasibly distributes costs.
... In the USA, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 have been instrumental in the wide-scale implementation of early oral language and literacy interventions and interest in Response to Intervention (RTI) approaches particularly (Gersten et al., 2009;Gersten, Newman-Gonchar, Haymond, & Dimino, 2017;Slavin et al., 2011). Following a shift in education reform to a more preventive approach to addressing learning difficulties, RTI (Fuchs & Fuchs, 2006) and the broader Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS; Eadie et al., 2018;Hall, 2018) frameworks have been introduced and are gaining momentum in research and school communities (Gilbert et al., 2013). ...
... There is growing research interest in Tier 2 oral language and reading interventions, and several recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses have included an examination of small-group interventions (e.g. Gersten, Haymond, Newman-Gonchar, Dimino, & Jayanthi, 2020;Gersten et al., 2017;Sedgwick & Sothard, 2019;Slavin et al., 2011;Wanzek et al., 2016). For the most part, a broad approach has been taken, incorporating interventions beyond the parameters of small-group Tier 2 intervention. ...
... In the primary school context, Sedgwick and Sothard (2019) and Slavin et al. (2011) both conducted reviews of oral language and reading interventions across the RTI tiers (including small-group interventions) and positive effects of small-group interventions were demonstrated. Specifically, Sedgwick and Sothard (2019) conducted a recent review of mainstream school-based oral language interventions for children with speech, language, and communication needs in the early years of school in the United Kingdom. ...
This systematic review investigated small-group Tier 2 interventions to improve oral language or reading outcomes for children during preschool and early primary school years. Literature published from 2008 was searched and 152 papers selected for full-text review; 55 studies were included. Three strength of evidence assessment tools identified a shortlist of six interventions with relatively strong evidence: (a) Early Reading Intervention; (b) Lonigan and Philips (2016) Unnamed needs-aligned intervention; (c) PHAB+WIST (PHAST)/PHAB+RAVE-O; (d) Read Well-Aligned intervention; (e) Ryder and colleagues’ (2008) Unnamed Phonological Awareness and Phonics intervention; and (f) Story Friends. Investigation of intervention componentry found common characteristics included 3–5 students, 4–5 sessions per week, minimum 11-week duration, content covering a combination of skills, modelling and explicit instruction, and trained personnel. Shortlisted interventions provide a useful foundation to guide further interventions and inform educators and policymakers seeking to implement effective evidence-based interventions in the early years of schooling.
... Certified teachers are better equipped to deliver evidence-based interventions than paraprofessionals and volunteers (Slavin et al., 2011). Teachers are trained and understand the importance of using evidence-based practices and progress monitoring tools with fidelity to improve student outcomes (O'Connor & Witter Freeman, 2012). ...
... Studies show that certified teachers are more qualified to implement these interventions than instructional assistants or volunteers (Slavin et al., 2011). In all three schools, highly trained professionals taught the interventions groups. ...
... However, all practitioners articulated that they felt fully supported while implementing the evidence-based interventions, specifically, from administrators and other practitioners. Studies show highly trained professionals are better equipped to provide specialized instruction to students with intense needs (Slavin et al., 2011), and effective implementation of these evidence-based interventions requires support of administrators, providing trainings and resources for the practitioners (O'Connor & Witter Freeman, 2012). ...
... De eerste aanbeveling komt uit de review van Slavin et al. (2011). De tweede aanbeveling duikt in niet minder dan zeven reviews op, telkens voor verschillende doelgroepen (Baye et al., 2019;Cheung & Slavin, 2012a;Dietrichson et al., 2017;Dietrichson et al., 2020;Hall & Burns, 2018;Shenderovich et al., 2016;Slavin, 2011). Ook de derde aanbeveling wordt geruggensteund door verschillende reviews (Hall & Burns, 2018;Richards-Tutor et al., 2016;Shenderovich et al., 2016;Slavin et al., 2011). ...
... De tweede aanbeveling duikt in niet minder dan zeven reviews op, telkens voor verschillende doelgroepen (Baye et al., 2019;Cheung & Slavin, 2012a;Dietrichson et al., 2017;Dietrichson et al., 2020;Hall & Burns, 2018;Shenderovich et al., 2016;Slavin, 2011). Ook de derde aanbeveling wordt geruggensteund door verschillende reviews (Hall & Burns, 2018;Richards-Tutor et al., 2016;Shenderovich et al., 2016;Slavin et al., 2011). De vierde aanbeveling is gebaseerd op het gebrek aan eenduidige conclusies in de reviews. ...
... Buitenlandse taaltrajecten illustreren diverse manieren om met verschillende deelvaardigheden aan de slag te gaan. De tweede aanbeveling is gebaseerd op de logische opbouw in deze buitenlandse taaltrajecten, maar wordt ook ondersteund door de verwijzing naar het voordeel van goed gestructureerde programma's in twee reviews (Shenderovich et al., 2016;Slavin et al., 2011) en de nadruk op een systematische aanpak in drie reviews (Ehri et al., 2001a;Graham & Santangelo, 2014;Slavin et al., 2011). De derde aanbeveling ten slotte is volledig gebaseerd op een analyse van de thema's in de buitenlandse taaltrajecten die opgenomen zijn in de referenties. ...
Voor meer informatie en het wetenschappelijk rapport: www.taaltrajecten.be
... This implementation aims to increase these students' inclusion and academic success (Swanson, 2008). Instructional models that support reading difficulties should help students to improve their reading skills and facilitate their progress (Slavin et al., 2011). Gilmour et al. (2019), in their meta-analysis study on the reading achievement of individuals with special needs placed in inclusive settings, indicated that the reading performance of students with SLD was below 1.44 standard deviations or four years for students with typical development. ...
... This difference between non-pupils with SLD reveals the importance of supportive reading interventions to improve reading performance. Students with reading difficulties should be supported with different teaching methods in inclusive classrooms (Slavin et al., 2011). For this reason, it is very important to prepare individualised programs that support reading skills. ...
Students with specific learning disabilities continue their education in an inclusive environment in Türkiye. Teachers play an important role in effectively teaching students in inclusive settings. Teachers' classroom practices in reading, the most difficult academic area for students with specific learning disabilities, are critical for achieving successful results. There is a limited number of studies on this subject. This study aims to analyse the requirements, problems, and opinions of inclusive primary school teachers who teach students with specific learning disabilities. A qualitative research method was used in this study. The data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 11 inclusive classroom teachers in a study group and analysed through the content analysis method. The results show that the resources required for teaching students with specific learning disabilities in reading are insufficient and that the students need reading improvement programs. In addition, the teachers stated that the additional resources to support the students’ reading skills should consist of short, fun, and interesting texts.
... In contrast, other studies have suggested that struggling readers do not benefit as much from small group instruction as they do from one-to-one tutoring. Specifically, another review (Slavin et al., 2011) found that phonics-based one-on-one instruction produced larger effect sizes (ES + 0.69) compared with a control group than small group phonics-based intervention produced (ES + .31). In a follow-up review, Neitzel et al. (2021) replicated these findings. ...
... Taken together, these findings suggest that both versions of Reading Rescue instruction have the potential to significantly improve the early literacy skills of struggling readers in high-needs communities, and that participation in this programme with a small group of peers may be even more beneficial for the development of phoneme segmentation skills. This provides evidence contrary to the findings of Slavin et al. (2011) andNeitzel et al. (2021) that one-on-one interventions showed larger effect sizes than small group interventions. It also adds to the limited number of studies directly comparing one-on-one to small group versions of the same programme. ...
Reading Rescue (Reading Rescue), a research and evidence‐based programme for struggling readers (Ehri et al. 2007; Miles et al. 2018), was developed by an academic in response to the cost and lack of explicit letter, phonemic awareness and phonics instruction in Reading Recovery. Reading Rescue represents a pathway from research to practice. An academic advisor works closely with the nonacademic partner that trains school staff to deliver the programme in order to maintain alignment of the curriculum with research from the reading science field. In this study, the academic and nonacademic partner evaluated the effectiveness of small‐group delivery of Reading Rescue, which has previously only been evaluated in a one‐to‐one delivery mode. This study therefore provides an illustration of how academics and practitioners can work together to achieve practical outcomes. This study compared the performance of two cohorts (N = 146; 104) of randomly assigned first‐graders who received 50 sessions of Reading Rescue in a one‐to‐one or a small group setting compared with a control group. Results showed that intervention groups outperformed the control group (for most associations, p < .05) and performed similarly to each other (for most associations, p > .05), suggesting the small group protocol is as effective as one‐to‐one, enabling the programme to serve substantially more students. Discussion focuses on the importance of collaboration between academics and practitioners in expanding the reach of evidence‐based programmes. The collaboration in this study serves as a model for how academics, and practitioners can join forces and leverage their expertise to reach more students. What is already known about this topic A need for strong academic–nonacademic partnerships is essential for translating science of reading findings into effective and manageable instructional approaches (Seidenberg et al., 2020; Solari et al. ,2020) Ehri et al. (2007) demonstrated that students who received Reading Rescue outperformed students who received an alternative intervention, as well students in the control group. Also, Miles et al. (2018) found that Reading Rescue continued to be effective even after the programme had expanded substantially across a large metropolitan area. The National Reading Panel (2000) and other studies have demonstrated that depending on the format, small group instruction has the potential to be just as effective, if not more effective, for students learning certain foundational skills, but other reviews of the research (Neitzel et al., 2021) have suggested that small group instruction is either not as effective or less effective than individual instruction. More research is needed directly comparing two versions of the same programme. What this paper adds This paper examines whether the small group version of the programme, designed and implemented with strong academic oversight, is as effective as the one‐to‐one version of the programme. This paper demonstrates that a strong partnership between academics and nonacademics can be mutually beneficial, resulting in expanded reach of evidence‐based programmes. An explanation of the roles, traits and contributions that academics, non academics and stakeholders played in this study may serve to guide future partnerships. Implications for theory, policy or practice This collaboration serves as an illustration of how to best leverage academic and practitioner skills to create, adjust and evaluate programmes to reach more students. This study also serves as a guide for how policy makers and administrators can engage with academics and literacy programmes to provide resources, guidance and opportunities to do more with evidence‐based programmes.
... Les recherches ont établi des preuves robustes sur l'efficacité des pratiques d'enseignement de la lecture pour tous, mais aussi en direction des élèves les plus en difficulté (e.g., National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000 ;Bissonnette et al., 2005 ;2010 ;Ehri, 2005). En outre, un certain nombre d'études montre l'efficacité de certaines pratiques visant à prévenir les difficultés (Bianco et al., 2012 ;Zorman et al., 2015) ou à proposer une réponse pédagogique adaptée aux élèves en difficulté en lecture (e.g., Torgesen, 2002 ;Slavin et al., 2011 ;Billard & Barbe, 2016 ;Hall & Burns, 2018). Il a notamment été largement démontré que l'enseignement explicite du code grapho-phonémique avait des effets très positifs sur l'apprentissage de tous les élèves (pour une revue récente, voir Castles et al., 2018). ...
... Outre le fait qu'ils complètent fréquemment les ouvrages édités avec des ressources qu'ils créent ou trouvent sur internet, la très grande majorité combine aussi plusieurs méthodes (2 à Likert (de 1 = jamais à 5 = toujours). Les listes des affirmations ont été construites à partir de la littérature relative à l'efficacité des pratiques (Bressoux, 1994 ;Bissonnette et al., 2005 ;Hattie, 2009), aux pratiques d'enseignement de la lecture avec les élèves en difficulté (e.g., Al Otaïba et al., 2014 ;Bissonnette et al., 2010 ;Connor et al., 2014 ;Gersten et al., 2009 ;Slavin et al., 2011 ;Wanzek et al., 2016Wanzek et al., , 2018) et au traitement de la difficulté scolaire en contexte français (Piquée, 2007(Piquée, , 2010Piquée & Viriot-Goeldel, 2016). Les propositions de réponses à la question relative aux ressources humaines mobilisées par les PE lorsqu'ils sont face à une difficulté professionnelle (question 4) sont inspirées de celles utilisées par la DEPP dans une enquête de 2016 (Le Laidier, 2018). ...
... The current impact evaluation focused upon providing an independent assessment of the effectiveness of the main SfA programme in improving struggling readers' literacy skills in English schools. The SfA programme has good evidence of effectiveness within the United States where a large number of evaluations have recorded positive improvements in children's literacy with pooled average effect sizes of around +0.5 (Slavin et al., 2011). While many of these studies have involved quasi-experimental matched non-randomised designswhich have a tendency to inflate effect sizes (Wilson & Lipsey, 2007) there have been two major cluster randomised trials conducted in the US. ...
... While many of these studies have involved quasi-experimental matched non-randomised designswhich have a tendency to inflate effect sizes (Wilson & Lipsey, 2007) there have been two major cluster randomised trials conducted in the US. The first of these involved 41 schools and found positive but more modest effect sizes (0.2-0.3) (Borman et al., 2007) than the pooled average effect of +0.5 reported by Slavin et al. (2011). Similarly, the second more recent trial (Quint et al., 2015) involved 37 schools in total and reported even more modest effects, between 0.03 and 0.15 on the subscales of the Woodcock Johnson reading skills measure. ...
Success for All (SfA) is a whole-school approach to improving literacy in primary schools. Teachers receive training in areas including group learning strategies, phonics, and assessment, and are provided with structured daily lesson plans and teaching materials. There is also support for school leadership in areas such as data management, ability grouping, and parental engagement. In this trial, the programme was delivered over two academic years on a whole-school basis by teachers and classroom assistants who were trained and supported by the Success for All Foundation. In total, schools received 16 days of training and support. Although the intervention was delivered on a wholeschool basis, the evaluation focused only on the outcomes of 1,767 pupils starting in Reception class,
following them through until the end of Year 1. Fifty-four schools took part in this effectiveness trial. An implementation and process evaluation ran alongside the trial to explore implementation and delivery challenges. The evaluation took place between September 2013 and June 2016.
... Given that there is no clear cut-score in terms of the decision to discontinue versus refer a child to their school the exit achievement profiles of these children would be variable (cf. Slavin et al., 2011). In addition, decisions to discontinue or refer could be affected by PSC performance among those still participating in RR when they take the PSC, which would bias our results if we attempted to disaggregate by these categories. ...
The purpose of this research was to analyze the performance of pupils (N = 6,023) who took part in Reading Recovery (RR) in England on a decoding test, the Phonics Screening Check (PSC), administered at the end of Year 1 when children are approximately 5 to 6 years of age. The data cover two academic years (2015/2016 and 2016/2017) and include demographic information, pre- and post-intervention achievement test scores and PSC results. Descriptive statistics and linear regression modeling (using a linear spline specification for timing) were used. Results indicated that pupils who had an RR intervention before the PSC performed better than peers who had the intervention during or after the PSC. There was a positive and statistically significant increase in PSC performance among those whose RR intervention began earlier relative to the PSC.
... Low-achieving students, often from low socioeconomic and diverse ethnic backgrounds (Dietrichson et al., 2017;Slavin et al., 2011), enter schools with relatively weak collaboration, cognition, metacognition skills and interest in learning (Becker & Luthar, 2002). Previous studies suggest that Knowledge Building can not only help students improve their academic performance but also develop high-level competencies (Yang, 2019;Yang et al., 2020). ...
Knowledge Building is a pedagogical approach that emphasizes students’ collective responsibility to continuously improve their community knowledge. Advancing the frontiers of community knowledge is an exciting but challenging process, especially for low-achieving students, because it involves a continuous experience of cognitive disequilibrium and equilibrium. This knowledge generation process triggers various emotions (e.g., curiosity, surprise, and confusion) that may promote or hinder Knowledge Building. This study investigated the types and evolution of emotions experienced by academically low-achieving students in the Knowledge Building process supported by Knowledge Forum. The participants were 120 students from two Grade 9 classes and two Grade 11 classes in a Band 3 secondary school in Hong Kong. This school enrolls students performing at the 10th percentile on a pre-admission government examination at the end of elementary school. The participants built knowledge around Visual Arts. The emotions reflected in the digital Knowledge Forum notes and the evolution patterns of emotions in inquiry threads were both analyzed using content analysis and sequential pattern analysis. The participants demonstrated a high percentage of joy and relatively low percentages of frustration and boredom. Emotions were likely to maintain consistency (e.g., joy to joy) or transition between similar emotions (e.g., boredom to frustration) in the inquiry threads. By synthesizing the emotion transitions and subsequences manifested in the inquiry threads of different classes, we constructed a model of the evolution of emotions of academically low-achieving students during Knowledge Building. This model has implications for designing scaffolding or interventions to facilitate low-achieving students' learning and promote favorable emotions.
... In deciding to focus on second-grade readers, the importance of this stage in development for establishing reading fluency and reading self-efficacy was taken into account, as well as the greater effectiveness of early reading intervention. The intervention was carried out by the participants' classroom teachers, who tend to be significant figures in the lives of elementary school children (Birch & Ladd, 1996), and can be highly effective interventionists when provided with proper training (Slavin et al., 2011). The intervention program, named lomdim bema'agal (literally "learning in a circle"), draws on several theoretical sources. ...
Studies have shown that dialogic instruction can promote reading comprehension, but its contribution to lower-level skills like reading fluency is not as well understood. The paper reports on a dialogically oriented small group intervention for struggling second-grade Hebrew readers, targeting both comprehension and fluency. Rather than top-down instruction, the program focused on providing ample opportunities for students to engage with literacy in enriching and meaningful ways. Nine schools from the same Israeli city were randomly assigned to the intervention or business-as-usual control conditions. Sixty students from the five intervention schools were selected as participants based on RTI Tier 2 criteria. The control group comprised 39 students from the remaining four schools. The groups were matched on measures of reading and reading comprehension. The intervention was administered by participants’ teachers, each working with five children twice weekly for a total of 18–20 sessions. Teachers followed specially designed lesson plans while receiving guidance from the research team. Post-intervention assessments showed that the groups did not differ in reading comprehension, but the intervention group had a significantly higher average reading rate coupled with lower accuracy. Considering the well-known phenomenon in Hebrew reading development, where transitioning from piecemeal decoding to higher-order strategies results in a phase of faster but less accurate reading, these results point to an improvement in participants’ reading fluency. The intervention’s effect on reading fluency and lack of effect on reading comprehension are discussed, as well as the implications of dialogic instruction for broader aspects of literacy and student well-being.
... Discussion The current results suggest school efforts to improve student math outcomes can be augmented by resources from their proximal communities, similar to comparable efforts in reading (Ritter et al., 2009;Slavin et al., 2011). Although no impact was observed on the state proficiency test, both STAR Math and fact fluency showed a significant, positive impact. ...
... What empirical evidence is there to support this supposed effectiveness? Generally, the one-to-one tutoring format is known to be effective because it allows intensive and individually adapted support (Elbaum et al., 2000;Slavin et al., 2011). However, it is difficult to accurately assess the effectiveness of extra-curricular learning (e.g., private tutoring) because the students who avail of it may be quite different from those who do not (Hof, 2014). ...
Within intervention research, there is still little attention paid to explaining effects. This paper intends to explain differential effects of a Paired Reading study (RCT) of third grade students struggling with reading (N = 129). The study showed differential effects on reading fluency, depending on whether volunteers or parents conducted the training. The mediating role of several implementation and process features, and the role of tutor characteristics, are investigated. Even though volunteers and parents differed in several aspects regarding implementation, process features and tutor characteristics, these differences cannot explain the differential effects. The difficulty uncovering the components responsible for the efficacy of the method is discussed, and implications for future research presented.
... Research demonstrates that volunteer tutoring programs can promote students' reading performance (Cobb, 2001;Edmondson, 2002;Slavin, Lake, Davis, & Madden, 2011). For example, Cohen, Kulik, and Kulik (1982) conducted a seminal meta-analysis of 65 studies examining tutoring programs. ...
This study was a result of noticing that classroom teachers, especially in the elementary level often use minimally trained tutors to help striving readers improve on their literacy skills. While desirable, schools are not able to provide striving students with trained teachers for one-to-one literacy instruction. The question than arose as to what could minimally trained tutors do to help those students? Self-reflection, which is widely accepted as an element of quality teaching might be a possible solution. Case studies of three minimally trained tutors in the America Reads Program in elementary schools were conducted. This study explores the journeys that each America Reads tutor made when introduced to the Korthagen ALACT model of self-reflection as an intervention. This study looked at what tutors reflected on, when and how reflection was done, and the lessons each participant learned from their self-reflection. Findings indicate that the tutors' experiences vary depending on the classroom, their tutoring responsibilities and their personal reflections, and that tutors who self-reflected became more aware about their actions and made better tutoring decisions. Findings have implications on how minimally trained tutors can be better supported in this program and in other similar programs. iv Acknowledgments
... In a follow-up study, the effect was even negative for low-achieving students (Campuzano et al., 2009). In their review of 14 studies, Slavin et al. (2011) found only very small effects (Effect Size, ES = 0.09) of educational technology programs for struggling elementary readers. More recently, a meta-analysis by Cheung and Slavin (2013) on the effects of 20 CAI studies on the reading skills of struggling readers in comparison to "business as usual" methods showed somewhat larger effects (ES = 0.14). ...
Purpose
This study was designed to assess the efficiency of a French version of GraphoGame (GG) against an equally engaging math intervention (Fiete Math, FM) in a large school sample of children from socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods in grade 1 (N = 921).
Method
The intervention was implemented in two different cohorts who used GG or FM for about four months four times a week for 30 minutes. Gains in reading and mathematics were assessed before and after intervention. Given the nested nature of the data, results were analyzed using hierarchical linear mixed effect models with intervention and initial pretest level as fixed effects and individuals and classes as random effects.
Results
We found positive intervention effects of GG on phoneme awareness (effect size, ES = 0.23), orthographic choice (ES = 0.27) and word reading fluency (ES = 0.18). FM had a significant effect on math achievement (ES = 0.28) but not number comparison. Correlations between intervention gains and game variables (overall accuracy, number of levels played) suggest that the effects of GG were specific.
Conclusions
Positive effects for focused digital reading and math interventions were found in a large school sample of children from socially disadvantaged neighborhoods.
... Several of the excluded studies examined digital writing versus handwriting in primary schools [66] from the theoretical perspectives of cognitive psychology [67], neuroscience and learning [68], socio-cultural learning [69], and new literacy [69]. These studies have drawn on the traditional concepts of writing [67], student-centered perspective [69], a broader concept of literacy including dimensions such as interactive writing and reading [70] or classical dimensions of early writing [71]. A few excluded studies explored the effectiveness of iPad for writing as a pedagogical tool that improves students' writing skills in visualization, sequencing, and incorporating sensory details, responding to the Common Core Standards [72]. ...
Concerns about learning how to write are ubiquitous in elementary schools across the world, one reason why this is the case is that many students received insufficient writing instruction in elementary classrooms. The lack of specific instructional practice and adaptions have impeded students’ writing development. Given the changing nature of literacy and the importance of early writing, integrating technology and writing in elementary classrooms provided a potential solution for this problem. This paper examined 20 empirical studies published between 1990 and 2020 by conducting a meta-analysis to measure the impact of technology on the writing performances of elementary students. The results of this meta-analysis confirmed that technology has a medium effect on writing quality and a strong effect on writing quantity for elementary school students. Subsequently, the authors analyzed the effect sizes of moderating variables by including study features such as types of technology integration, writing genres, demographics, and methodological characteristics. The authors have found that the type of technology integration and writing genres are two important variables affecting the casual relationship of technology and writing performances for elementary students. This aspect has been overlooked by previous literature. The novel findings indicated how we can address writing issues and change classroom writing practices for the better across the world by increasing stakeholders’ awareness about the importance of elementary school writing, with the goal of developing visions for curriculum and instruction at the classroom, school, and policy levels. Recommendations for more research on elementary school writing with advanced technology were discussed.
... In order, to meet the struggling students' needs, many schools have incorporated intense intervention programs, differentiated instruction, and have turned to technology-embedded programs that help students stay engaged and motivated to learn their reading skills (Slavin, Lake, Davis, Madden, 2009). The advancement of educational technologies, especially computer technologies has brought significant changes in our educational systems, with computers playing a more important role in teaching and learning (Gulek, 2005). ...
... Another meta-analysis of seven programs that utilized volunteer or college tutors to work with at-risk elementary students in Grades 1 to 3 (Elbaum et al., 2000) indicated that volunteerstaffed interventions can be highly effective. In addition to reviews of volunteer-focused reading interventions, Slavin et al. (2011) completed a comprehensive review of 96 experimental-control comparison studies of various programs designed to improve reading achievement for struggling readers. Only one of the programs that was assessed as having strong evidence of effectiveness (i.e., effect sizes of .61 in word recognition and 1.07 for oral reading), Book Buddies, was a one-on-one AmeriCorps tutoring program. ...
This study examines the impacts of two AmeriCorps programs, Minnesota Reading Corps and Wisconsin Reading Corps, where AmeriCorps volunteers provide literacy tutoring to at-risk kindergarten through third-grade (K–3) students utilizing a response-to-intervention framework. This evaluation replicates a prior randomized controlled trial evaluation of the program 4 years later and for the first time evaluates the program model replicated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The results of the two evaluations showed that kindergarten and first-grade students who received a single semester of Reading Corps tutoring achieved significantly higher literacy assessment scores, and demonstrated meaningful and significant effects after a full-school year of the intervention for second- and third-grade students.
... Explicit direct instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics are evidence-based alternatives for early reading instruction. In the second phase, (identifying the prevalence), it is clear that this practice is quite prevalent across North America (Moats, 2000;Slavin et al., 2011). The prevalence of whole language instruction in individual systems where it will be de-implemented should be determined by local researchers or practitioners within those systems. ...
Evidence-based practice is foundational to school psychology; as a field, we have contributed a great deal of evidence for specific practices. However, school psychologists must continue to find ways to more effectively reduce the gap between research and practice, supporting educational outcomes for all students. Two interconnected strategies that may help bridge this gap include implementation and de-implementation science. Implementation science focuses on adopting practices that have a strong evidence base, and there is some evidence of this practice in school psychology research. However, we identified no research in school psychology in the area of de-implementation science, which focuses on identifying and removing practices that do not have a strong evidence base. We urge school psychology researchers to actively engage not only in implementation but also in de-implementation in order to inform practice and to reach these goals. We provide two examples where school psychology can contribute to this area: reading instruction and mental health services. We conclude with recommendations to extend the evidence base for de-implementation in school psychology.
... If the aim of private tutoring is for students to improve at school, students and parents should closely monitor whether the expected improvement really occurs. The granting of public subsidies for private tutoring with voucher programs and similar measures (Bray, 2009) cannot be supported by our findings and should be weighed up carefully against structured, free-ofcharge tutoring programs that take place within school as these have been shown to be an effective measure to improve reading and mathematics achievement (Pellegrini et al., 2018;Slavin et al., 2011) independent of the parents' willingness and potential to pay for private tutoring lessons. ...
Private supplementary tutoring is a widespread phenomenon. However, evidence that private tutoring has positive effects on academic achievement or about the specific conditions of successful private tutoring is rare. Adapting Carroll's (1963) model for school learning to private tutoring, we expected to find positive effects of tutoring duration, tutoring intensity, and students' motivation to attend private tutoring. In a sample of eighth-grade students in German secondary schools (N = 8510, 18.6% currently being tutored), we conducted regression analyses with multiple covariates and did not find a positive main effect of private tutoring attendance in any of the school subjects examined. Moreover, within the subsamples of tutored students, we were not able to identify positive effects of tutoring duration, tutoring intensity, tutoring content (such as a focus on homework completion, test preparation, or study behavior), or students' motivation to attend private tutoring. Given these disillusioning findings, we primarily derive suggestions for future research.
... Zoals we in hoofdstuk 1 al aangaven, is er geen principieel onderscheid tussen de gewone didactiek voor alle leerlingen en de zogenaamde orthodidactiek voor zwakke of dyslectische lezers. Slavin (2011) onderzocht in een meta-analyse op 96 studies de effecten van allerlei vormen van extra begeleiding aan leerlingen met ernstige leesproblemen. Uit dit onderzoek bleek dat vooral de intensiteit van de behandeling onder de vorm van goede klassikale instructie aangevuld met individuele begeleiding het verschil maakt (zie ook Vernooy, 2012). ...
... In Macaruso et al.'s (2006) study of Grade 1, the program yielded positive results, especially with below-average readers whether they were monolinguals or spoke an additional language. Furthermore, the Lexia V R program was the only one examined by Slavin et al., (2011) that received a positive report in their broad-based, strictly conducted review of the results of technology-assisted reading support for struggling readers (Cheung and Slavin, 2013). The intervention provides instruction in what are considered five critical areas of reading: phonological awareness, structural analysis, automaticity/fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. ...
This longitudinal study documents a trilingual child’s struggle with decoding and word recognition, the remedies sought to help him start reading in his second language (English) while he was in French immersion, and his performance after the intervention on tests of phonological awareness in L1 Romanian, L2 English, and L3 French. The study commenced at age 5;6, when the child, Alex, was in English kindergarten and diagnosed with a reading deficit. The initial diagnostic assessment uncovered his near-complete lack of phonological awareness, a key ingredient of emergent reading. An intervention using a multisensory approach to reading was used twice a week until the child was 7;9, at which point he was completing grade 2 in French immersion. Alex’s phonological processing abilities were assessed in all three languages immediately after remediation in order to determine: (i) whether his phonological processing skills improved in English, the language of the intervention; (ii) whether there were similar effects in the two non-remediation languages (Romanian and French); and, finally, (iii) whether children at-risk for reading difficulties are able to continue their education in an L3, such as French in an immersion context.
... One technique used to promote oral reading fluency in weak readers is one-onone tutoring (Dufrene et al., 2010;Hewison & Tizard, 1980;Rasinski & Stevenson, 2005). Several meta-analyses have indicated that tutoring delivered by minimally trained volunteers or stronger peers augments academic achievement across different content areas and tutee grade levels (Nickow et al., 2020;Ritter et al., 2009;Slavin et al., 2011). ...
For decades, researchers and practitioners have supported developing readers via synchronous oral reader with a stronger peer or adult tutor. These methods–collectively known as Paired Oral Reading—are purported to promote reading achievement for tutee readers. However, despite nearly 60 years of investigation, no known research has adequately reviewed and synthesized the effects of similar practices commonly known as Paired Oral Reading. This dissertation systematically reviewed the published literature on the various methods of Paired Oral Reading with elementary-age students then meta-analyzed the quantitative studies that met pre-established inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis calculated the effect of Paired Oral Reading outcomes on tutee reading achievement and subsequently investigated differential outcomes for various factors such as tutor type, time variables, and reading outcome (fluency/comprehension). The results indicate that tutees receiving Paired Oral Reading support experience greater achievement with adult tutors over peer tutors and in reading comprehension versus oral reading fluency. The systematic review and meta-analysis of these data demonstrate that strategic use of these methods can support weak or developing elementary readers. Further, it is proposed that future research and application of these techniques are framed as a single family of methods; Synchronous Partnered Oral Reading Techniques (SPORT). Other implications for future research and classroom application of SPORT are discussed.
... Our study revealed that repeaters seem worst off in 'separation countries', applying grade retention and tracking to tackle student heterogeneity, and best off in the United States, applying ability grouping, setting, and streaming (and to a much lesser extent grade retention) to deal with student heterogeneity. Keeping in mind the costs grade retention brings about to the economy and the (family of the) individual student, we advocate countries, and particularly 'separation countries', efforts to make available more resources for schools (a) to identify at an earlier stage those students at risk for developing school difficulties, by means of a more regular, careful monitoring of their students' progress (especially those countries not yet doing so), (b) to provide all at-risk students with targeted remedial interventions that have been proven to be cost-effective (e.g., self-regulation interventions, reading interventions, 1-to-1 or small-group tuition, summer schools; Baye, Inns, Lake, & Slavin, 2019;Higgins et al., 2016;Slavin, Lake, Davis, & Madden, 2011), be it inside or outside the classroom, from the exact first moment difficulties arise, and (c) to pay considerable attention to repeaters and to give them all services needed, if it is decided to hold particular students back in grade, in their best interest, whatever the reason may be (e.g., outlining a specific plan highlighting how the retention year will be different from the previous year, for example, with regard to level of intensity and duration of support). ...
Research on the effectiveness of grade retention has a long history, yet, has seen an upsurge during the last decade. In this study, we review 84 recent, methodologically sound studies estimating effects of retention in grades K-12 on repeaters’ and nonrepeaters’ development, in a variety of countries across the world, disentangling grade and age comparison results. Based on vote counting analysis and three-level metaregression analysis we find grade retention to have an average zero effect, indicating that repeaters and non-repeaters seem to show a similar development, on average. At the same time, we find grade retention effects to differ according to some specific effect and study characteristics. More specifically, grade retention seems less effective in countries applying a mixture of grade retention and tracking to tackle student heterogeneity, and when repeaters are compared with non-repeaters of the same age. Conversely, grade retention seems more effective in countries using strategies such as ability grouping, setting, and streaming to deal with student heterogeneity. Positive effects also seem to arise when studying students’ psychosocial functioning, when investigating short-run effects, when comparing repeaters with their younger non-retained grade-mates, and when evaluating effects via a regression discontinuity method.
... As already mentioned, some interventions were directed and monitored by external personnel or hired by researchers, especially university educators and graduate students. However, in studies such Slavin [57] it was found that the effect size for tutorials carried out by teachers (ES = +0.62) was much higher than those carried out by paraprofessionals (ES = +0.39). ...
(1) Background: The response to intervention (RtI) model makes possible the early detection of reading problems and early intervention for students at risk. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effective measures that identify struggling readers and the most effective practices of the RtI model in reading in Primary Education. (2) Method: A systematic review of the literature published between 2010 and 2020 was performed, analyzing in the 31 selected articles, the identification and monitoring methods and the interventions at the different tiers of the RtI model. (3) Results: There are different methods to identify struggling readers, and there is no consensus on the matter. There are also many differences in the implementation of the different tiers of the RtI model; however, its effectiveness is demonstrated. (4) Conclusions: The implementation of the RtI model in a flexible way adapted to the circumstances of each moment, and can be considered as a highly effective resource in the prevention and early detection of reading learning problems.
Although early-life adversity can undermine healthy development, an evolutionary-developmental perspective implies that children growing up in harsh environments will develop intact, or even enhanced, skills for solving problems in high‐adversity contexts (i.e., 'hidden talents'). This Element situates the hidden talents model within a larger interdisciplinary framework. Summarizing theory and research on hidden talents, it proposes that stress-adapted skills represent a form of adaptive intelligence enabling individuals to function within the constraints of harsh environments. It discusses potential applications of this perspective to multiple sectors concerned with youth from harsh environments, including education, social services, and juvenile justice, and compares the hidden talents model with contemporary developmental resilience models. The hidden talents approach, it concludes, offers exciting directions for research on childhood adversity, with translational implications for leveraging stress-adapted skills to more effectively tailor education, jobs, and interventions to fit the needs of individuals from a diverse range of life circumstances.
This paper reports on the results of a critical literature review that focusses on the classroom deployment of teaching assistants (TAs) in England between 2010 and 2020, a period marked by an upward trend in the number of these adults in school workforces internationally. The study utilises the theory of practice architectures (Kemmis, Wilkinson, et al. [2014]. Changing practices, changing education. Springer Singapore) to reconceptualise this literature, using this framework to draw a distinction between an epistemological and an ontological view of practices. A process of systematic review was undertaken, with 20 peer-reviewed articles retained for critical scrutiny against this framework. Findings show how influential studies conducted over this period have developed a comprehensive view of these practices in England. Yet, within this view of TA deployment there are areas of complexity which deserve further attention from researchers. The remaining literature is used to highlight these areas through the cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political architectures that serve to prefigure the ways in which these practices unfold. It is concluded that, whilst it is useful for research to establish models of practice that codify effective features of TA support, this should be supplemented by methodologically and theoretically diverse studies which can chart how these models unfold in relation to specific groups of people and the features encountered at local sites.
Education systems around the world have moved to develop literacy progressions that describe a sequence of development in oral language (talking and listening), reading/viewing and writing. In Australia, the National Literacy Learning Progression (ACARA, 2021) is designed to support students’ literacy development across the years of primary and secondary school. Common arguments for the use of such descriptions include the need to provide extra detail to official English syllabuses, and to inform teachers’ pedagogical choices of the next logical focus for teaching. However, while it is understandable that teachers want to identify their students’ needs and to plan for their development, there is slim evidence for common and systematic progression through stages of literacy development for all students. In this paper we report on a review of the literature into literacy development (Weekes, forthcoming) pointing out the gaps and discontinuities in the existing research as well as demonstrating the highly contextualised nature of literacy growth. We argue such factors pose significant challenges for policy and curriculum writers charged with responsibility for producing literacy progressions.
La identificación y tratamiento de las consecuencias neu- ropsicológicas en la infancia de los supervivientes de cánc- er infantil es una práctica poco frecuente. Sin embargo, el abordaje neuropsicológico en la oncología pediátrica es de suma importancia. Las mejoras de tratamiento médico on- cológico afortunadamente han aumentado la cantidad de su- pervivientes. Asimismo, la estrategia oncológica de abordaje es extremadamente agresiva para el tejido nervioso todavía en desarrollo. La aparición de secuelas neuropsicológicas a mediano y largo plazo es cada vez más frecuente. En Argen- tina, no se han encontrado registros de programas o evalu- ación neuropsicológicas en pacientes oncológicos infantiles. Se presenta un trabajo con un doble objetivo: a) revisar tratamientos oncológicos pediátricos y consecuencias sobre el Sistema Nervioso Central y neuropsicológicas; b) revisar las propuestas de abordaje neuropsicológico.
Recent studies in the field of language education policy (LEP) have emphasized the agency of educators in language policy implementation, which considerably influences the policy outcome. These studies, however, often focus on LEP measures for newcomers or ethnic minority students, and on the language used for instruction as the main LEP indicator. This study adopts an educational effectiveness framework in order to provide a more comprehensive view of the LEP measures that school teams deploy. By means of a multiple case study in six mainstream primary schools in Flanders (Belgium), it examines how language education policies are enacted in local school contexts. Focus group interviews were conducted with both teachers and school management teams. The results reveal conflicts between the official LEP and the interpretations of what LEP is and should be according to school team members, and between management team members and teachers within the same school. The rationale for the schools’ enacted LEP, too, is built up from different argumentations that are not necessarily consistent with each other. The combination of these dynamics results in LEPs that either display none, one or – in one case only – both dimensions of what can be called an effective or strategic LEP. This study helps to understand how future policies can respond to local needs. By zooming in on local policy implementation, we were able to identify the difficulties that school teams struggle most with when implementing their LEPs.
This action research explored the literacy and numeracy levels of Grade 7 learners and implemented an intervention program to enhance their literacy and numeracy skills.
Emergent literacy skills are a critical base for later academic success. Since gaps in reading skills appear as early as kindergarten, pre-K programs are compelled to increase the quality of whole class literacy instruction and to provide additional personalized support as needed. Given that additional personnel are needed to do both, there is a policy tension: hiring certified specialists that follow an evidence-based approach or utilizing a more affordable option that uses unpaid volunteer instructors where quality may be mixed. In this study, we explore an alternative emergent literacy model called the Minnesota Reading Corps (MRC) Pre-K Program and analyze its associated costs. The MRC Pre-K model places stipend AmeriCorps members into existing pre-K classrooms and integrates coaching and supervisory support from certified instructors, making enhanced whole-class literacy instruction and at-risk support possible. Using the ingredients method (Levin et al., 2018), we estimate that the average incremental cost per student of the MRC Pre-K Program is approximately $1,300 per year. We find that the majority of costs are borne by the MRC program (38%), with a much smaller portion of the costs borne by schools (25%), primarily from a reallocation of school staff time. These results demonstrate the opportunity of MRC with trained AmeriCorps members to increase early literacy support at a low-cost to schools.
This study meta‐analyzed the last four decades (1980–2020) of reading intervention research focused on improving reading outcomes for English language (EL) students in Grades K–5 with or at risk for word reading difficulties. Experimental and quasi‐experimental group design and single‐case experimental design (SCED) studies were included; 10 group design and 7 SCED studies met inclusion criteria (m = 61; total student N = 2,270). Visual inspection of the effect size distribution revealed that the assumption of between‐study heterogeneity was not supported; therefore, the findings were synthesized for SCED studies separately from those reported in group design studies. Implications for practice, policy, and future research are discussed.
The National Reading Panel identified phonemic awareness (PA) as one of the five components of reading and found explicit instruction effective in developing PA skills in students. In the current meta-analysis, we explored the extent to which PA instruction was effective for developing PA skills in preschool through first grade students and examined moderators related to malleable instructional characteristics relevant to the effective implementation of PA instruction in schools (e.g., type of instructor, specifically including computer programs and parents aside from teachers as instructors) and their possible interactions. We collected data from 46 experimental and quasi-experimental primary studies, with 59 independent samples providing 119 effect sizes (treatment groups, N = 1,892; control groups, N = 1,747). Using robust variance estimation, PA instruction was moderately effective (g = 0.63, p < .001) at improving PA outcomes. No statistically significant difference was found for type of instructor. Other moderator analyses revealed no significant differences for group size, duration, PA skills taught, use of letters, grade level, at-risk for reading difficulties status, or English language learner status. Finally, examination of the interaction between type of instructor and at-risk status suggested teachers, computer programs, and parents are effective instructors for both at-risk and low risk students. As schools plan for effective PA instruction, results indicate computer programs and parents can be useful resources to build PA skills for students to supplement teacher instruction.
Over the past 50 years, our schools have failed to teach a large portion (one-third) of students to read at a basic level by the end of fourth grade. After presenting evidence of this reading education problem and overviewing historical attempts to address it, I argue that serious, one-to-one tutoring initiatives offer the best chance for meaningful change. I use a detailed case study to show how a school could mount an effective one-to-one tutoring program for at-risk readers in grades 1–3. The key factor is an expert reading teacher who is willing to supervise the tutoring efforts of teacher assistants, paraprofessionals, and possibly community volunteers. Standing in the way of such an evidence-based approach is cost and, relatedly, a school culture that has relied on recurring changes in classroom teaching methods, as opposed to intensive one-to-one instruction, to address early reading failure.
A calm environment, conducive to learning, is one of the most basic prerequisites for good learning. This study has an important special education focus as good studies are of particular importance for students with special needs. It´s more difficult for them, often with their origins in socio-economically vulnerable environments, to compensate for a lack of peace of mind and a poor working environment. The overall aims are with the theories of Aspelin and Persson (2011) and a bottom-up method investigate teachers in a larger Swedish municipality and their views on studies in their classes and gain in-depth knowledge of their experiences, their experience of using disciplinary measures to achieve a calm environment, conducive to learning, and whether they perceive that the school supports them in the use of such measures according to the Swedish School Act.
A literature review describes what a good study environment can create, much based on the central concept of classroom management. The fact that even a skilled teacher sometimes needs to take disciplinary action is not an objective in itself. Methods of this kind could not be given too much importance and be seen as punishment by the students. According to the Swedish School Act, they are supposed to be a natural part of the school's everyday life.
A larger municipality in Sweden has been investigated by putting questions to the teachers, using a Google questionnaire. According to the teachers in the municipality surveyed, there are major shortcomings in maintaining a calm environment, conducive to learning in grades 6 to 9. The problem in public schools in the city is particularly high, although the municipal schools in the country also have widespread shortcomings according to study. Independent schools in the urban environment also face major challenges.
Two-thirds of all teachers in the survey find that students sometimes talk about other things than studies during lessons. Students' late arrivals, unrest and brawls outside the classroom, students' private use of mobiles and students moving inside and out of the classroom interfering with teaching, is an obstacle giving one third of teachers. A majority of teachers are in favor of disciplinary measures to improve the quality of study. However, about half of the teachers in the municipal city school do not believe that they receive sufficient support from the school managements to create a good study environment.
This study suggests that unscientific practices is pre-emanating in public schools. There is reason to be skeptical about movements, especially when they want to use theories that are not scientifically tested and since according to the Swedish law it is illegal to use methods that lack scientific support. Many municipalities, including several of the largest cities and the municipality in this study, seems to use unscientific methods and practice that are not fully supported by the Swedish School Act.
This report evaluates the implementation, impacts, and costs of Reading Partners, a school-based early-intervention literacy program that relies on volunteer tutors. The work is a partnership between MDRC and CBCSE. The findings illustrate that the program is an efficient option for schools to consider in providing supplemental reading services to students who are not reading at grade-level.
Two periods of compulsory school closure in England as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the adoption of virtual teaching and learning environments. Although such platforms had already been launched in English schools prior to March 2020, when schools closed, their usage by classroom teachers had not been established. Pupil premium funding to support disadvantaged students in English schools began in 2011, with the aim of narrowing the academic performance gap between these students and their peers. Less likely to do as well at school as their peers, the consequent narrative around these children at school is one of ‘catch-up’, a narrative which grew during the pandemic with debate around ‘lost learning’ amongst all children, but particularly, the disadvantaged. The enduring assumption that these children will do less well than their peers, rather than be less likely to, was thus further compounded. This paper considers one secondary school English department’s provision of additionality to support equity during the pandemic, its success and lessons which might be applied in the future.
The current study evaluated the impact of a math tutoring program delivered in 20 schools to students in 4th through 8th grades by community members over one academic year. Students were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Multi-level linear and generalized linear mixed models were used to evaluate group differences in post-test scores and the probability of attaining the spring proficiency benchmark on two increasingly distal measures of math achievement. Intent-to-treat analyses identified higher achievement scores among students assigned to treatment on a measure of fact fluency and a computer adaptive measure of overall math achievement. Students assigned to treatment also had a higher probability of reaching grade-level benchmarks on the computer adaptive test. No statistically significant effects were observed on a state proficiency test. Implications for significant and null findings are discussed within the context of intervention content and delivery.
This book presents specific methods for the physical rehabilitation, mental health restoration, and academic remediation of post-institutionalized international adoptees. The focus of the book is on the neurological, psychological, and educational consequences of complex childhood trauma in the context of a fundamental change in the social situation of development of former orphanage residents. A discussion of after-adoption traumatic experiences includes a critique of certain “conventional” approaches to the treatment of mental health issues and different disabilities in international adoptees. Using his 30-year background in research and clinical practice, the author expertly describes and analyses a range of methodologies in order to provide an integrated and practical system of “scaffolding” and “compensation” for the successful rehabilitation and remediation of children with ongoing traumatic experiences. This is essential reading for researchers and practicing clinicians concerned with childhood trauma, remedial education, and issues of international adoption.
Whether the effects of an oral-language intervention is tested with measures of trained vocabulary (treatment-inherent tests) or standardized measures (treatment-independent tests) can have consequences for the mean effect size in meta-analyses. Moreover, based on a theory of transfer effects, effects on the trained words could serve as an index of how much benefit is gained by children from the intervention. We present a meta-analysis that assesses the differences and relation between the intervention effects of these two types of outcomes, trained vocabulary and standardized vocabulary tests. The results show large effects on trained vocabulary, limited effects on standardized measures, and no clear relation between the two. The moderator analysis indicates that less instruction time is associated with larger effect sizes on trained vocabulary but that trained vocabulary is not a predictor of either standardized expressive or receptive vocabulary. Thus, in interventions and meta-analyses, it is important to distinguish between effects on trained vocabulary and standardized tests, and trained vocabulary effects does not necessarily transfer to standardized measures. This indicates that effects on trained vocabulary outcomes provide limited information when evaluating language interventions.
This study examined a literacy program that targeted students most at risk of reading difficulties in kindergarten and first grade of 12 Swedish schools. The program used multi-sensory learning methods that focused on phonological awareness and phonics, and was delivered during 10 weeks over 30–35 sessions by teachers in a one-to-one or one-to-two setting. In total, 161 students aged 6–7 years were randomly assigned to a treatment group or a waiting list control group. The treatment group showed large and statistically significant improvements compared to the control group on the two pre-registered primary outcome measures: a standardized test of decoding (Hedges’ g = 1.07) and a standardized test of letter knowledge (g = 1.03). The improvements were also significantly larger on measures of phonological awareness (g = 0.56) and self-efficacy (g = 0.57), but not on measures of enjoyment and motivation. The program appears cost-effective relative to other tutoring programs.
Congress posed questions about the effectiveness of educational technology and how effectiveness is related to conditions and practices. The study identified reading and mathematics software products based on prior evidence of effectiveness and other criteria and recruited districts, schools, and teachers to implement the products. On average, after one year, products did not increase or decrease test scores by amounts that were statistically different from zero. For first and fourth grade reading products, the study found several school and classroom characteristics that were correlated with effectiveness, including student-teacher ratios (for first grade) and the amount of time products were used (for fourth grade). The study did not find characteristics related to effectiveness for sixth grade math or algebra. The study also found that products caused teachers to be less likely to lecture and more likely to facilitate, while students using reading or mathematics software products were more likely to be working on their own. The results reported here are based on schools and teachers who were not using the products in the previous school year. Whether products are more effective when teachers have more experience using them is being examined with a second year of data. The study will involve teachers who were in the first data collection (those who are teaching in the same school and at the same grade level or subject area) and a new group of students. The second-year study will also report results separately for the various products.
This article systematically reviews research on elementary reading programs for English language learners and other language-minority students. It focuses on studies that compared experimental and control groups on quantitative reading measures. Among beginning reading models, research supported structured, phonetic programs emphasizing language development in both native-language and English instruction. Tutoring programs were also supported. For upper-elementary reading, research supported a broad range of programs, but particularly effective were programs using cooperative learning, extensive vocabulary instruction, and literature.
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 as 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. Pie 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.
This article systematically reviews research on the achievement outcomes of four types of approaches to improving the reading success of children in the elementary grades: reading curricula, instructional technology, instructional process programs, and combinations of curricula and instructional process. Study inclusion criteria included use of randomized or matched control groups, a study duration of at least 12 weeks, valid achievement measures independent of the experimental treatments, and a final assessment at the end of Grade 1 or later. A total of 63 beginning reading (starting in Grades K or 1) and 79 upper elementary (Grades 2 through 5) reading studies met these criteria. The review concludes that instructional process programs designed to change daily teaching practices have substantially greater research support than programs that focus on curriculum or technology alone.
The goal of this project was to develop and test the efficacy of a research-based early reading program that provided integrated reading instruction in kindergarten through 2nd grade. The Reading and Integrated Literacy Strategies (RAILS) program provided integrated instruction in word reading, vocabulary development, and comprehension to students in regular and self-contained special education classes in 2 schools serving low-income populations. Teachers provided explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle, phonemic analysis, word reading, vocabulary development, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. Classes were organized so students received 2 periods of reading instruction daily, a longer morning period of instruction and a shorter afternoon review of instruction. The students in the RAILS program had significantly higher performance on standardized reading and language achievement tests, as well as on individually administered tests of phonemic awareness and reading fluency. The implications for research-based instructional practice that integrates instruction in word reading, vocabulary, and comprehension are discussed.
This study examined the effects of the Waterford Early Reading Program on reading achievement gains across the first-grade year. The results of this longitudinal analysis demonstrated meaningfully greater gains on reading achievement for those with access to the Integrated learning system (ILS) (η = .10). Furthermore, the positive effects associated with access to the ILS were greatest for students demonstrating the lowest initial reading skills—those with reading skills at or below the 25th percentile at the beginning of first grade (η = .43). The results are interpreted as support for the ILS in early reading instruction, provided that the ILS is fully integrated into the teachers' reading curriculum and is not used as a stand-alone program.
As a nation, we are struggling to identify means of preventing early academic performance problems, particularly in reading and mathematics. In various forms, academically-focused tutoring programs for young children are being promoted widely as promising strategies for improving academic performance. There is a body of evidence showing the benefits of tutoring provided by certified, paid professionals. However, similar evidence does not exist for tutoring programs employing adult volunteers or college students as tutors. ^ This dissertation presents the results of an experimental-design study measuring the impacts on student outcomes of a major university-public school partnership that provides volunteer tutoring services for young students in inner-city elementary schools. The two primary hypotheses are: (1) Tutoring will lead to significantly improved academic outcomes as measured by academic grades and standardized test scores; and (2) Tutoring will lead to significant benefits in terms of student self-perception of academic ability, student motivation, and school attendance. ^ The study sample is comprised of 385 elementary school students identified by their teachers as in need of tutoring services. From this pool of "eligible" students, approximately half (51 percent) were randomly selected to work with college-age tutors. The remaining students served as a study control group. Regression analysis was used to analyze the effectiveness of the tutoring and the impact of factors other than tutoring on several outcomes of interest related to academic performance, self-confidence, and motivation. ^ There are two key findings from this study. First of all, the review of the research literature underscores how little we know about what, if anything, "works" in the way of volunteer tutoring to improve student outcomes. Second, the experimental-design study revealed no evidence that participation in the tutoring program during the 1998-99 academic year resulted in any measurable academic benefits for the tutees. The findings suggest that this type of intervention may not improve measurable academic outcomes in the short run. This study should serve to caution policymakers who believe that increasing volunteerism in schools will result in important academic benefits for low-income children in urban areas.
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Ms. Wasik reviews the current state of knowledge about the effects on achievement of various tutoring programs that use adult volunteers. If the America Reads Challenge is to attain its ambitious goals, it is essential that its tutoring programs be founded on a solid base of research, she points out.
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a comprehensive reading intervention on the beginning reading skills of elementary students at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Forty-seven first grade students (28 experimental, 19 comparison) who were formally screened and determined to be at risk for EBD participated in the study. Participants randomly assigned to the experimental condition received the standard reading curriculum plus an intensive supplemental reading intervention [i.e., Sound Partners (Vadasy, Wayne, O'Connor, Jenkins, & Pool, 1996)]. Sound Partners is an evidence-based, comprehensive, and intensive 100-lesson intervention that offers systematic and explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, letter-sound relationships, word identification, text reading, and writing. Participants in the comparison condition received the standard reading curriculum and a social adjustment intervention. ^ A pre/post experimental group design was used to address the following research question: What effects did the Sound Partners reading intervention have on the beginning reading skills of first grade students at risk for EBD? Results indicated that (1) the reading intervention was implemented with fidelity, and (2) participants in the experimental condition generally showed statistically and educationally significant improvements in measured reading skills across one standardized and three curriculum-based measures of beginning reading skills. Statistically significant differences were determined for one cluster (i.e., basic skills) and an overall reading score (i.e., total reading) of the standardized measure [i.e., Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised-Normative Update (Woodcock, 1998)]. Statistically significant differences were also determined for all three curriculum-based measures (i.e., nonsense word fluency, phoneme segmentation fluency, and oral reading fluency) of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (Good & Kaminski, 2002). Treatment effects were moderate to large in magnitude. Effect sizes ranged from 0.60 for both a curriculum-based measure of phonemic awareness and a standardized measure of reading comprehension to 0.87 for a curriculum-based measure of alphabetic principle. Implications, limitations, and areas for future research are discussed.
Les AA. ont evalue l'efficacite de la reeducation en lecture dans dix ecoles primaires de la Nouvelle Galles de Sud. Repartis en deux groupes (reeducation en lecture et situation controle), les eleves en difficulte de lecture ont effectue des tests de competences a plusieurs reprises. L'efficacite de la reeducation en lecture n'est alors plus aussi pertinente
Evidence from existing literature suggests that the decoding and reading comprehension skills of poor readers can be improved by assisting them to read material that is too difficult for them to read fluently by themselves. The study examined the reading achievement effects of reading in dyad groups (also called buddy reading groups), a strategy designed to assist poor readers in the second grade to read difficult material. The 32 poor readers used in the study were second graders from five elementary schools who could not independently read the second-grade basal reader. The 32 low achievers were matched by sex and pretest reading achievement measures with low achievers in control classrooms in the same schools. We used a pretest-posttest control group research design. Reading comprehension and vocabulary were measured using the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Level B, Form 1. We administered the Gates test to all students, both experimental and control, in the fall of 1985 and in the spring of 1986. Students involved in the dyad reading experiment made greater achievement gains on reading comprehension and vocabulary than the matched control students. We speculated that dyad reading might help poor readers focus on the important aspects of text, free them from the decoding burden, and speed up the decoding process so that readers can give the needed attention to the text message.
Low achieving students in grades 4–6 were given supplementary microcomputer assisted instruction in reading and mathematics. Students' performance was assessed with a pretest/posttest nonequivalent control group design using standardized achievement and affective tests. Although all microcomputer experimental groups showed statistically significant pretest/posttest gains in reading and mathematics, the control groups using conventional instructional methods also showed similar gains. Analysis of covariance of achievement gains revealed only one experimental group, sixth grade reading, to be statistically superior to the control groups' performance. No significant changes in students' attitudes toward schooling or sense of control over their own performance were detected. Implications of this study's design and findings are discussed with respect to past CAI research and present CAI school practices.
READING RECOVERY(R) is an early instructional intervention for at-risk children. This article analyzes its effectiveness. Specifically, it considers whether Reading Recovery leads to learning and compares the amount of learning accomplished relative to the gains of average and low-achieving students. The analysis considers whether learning gains attributable to Reading Recovery can be maintained once special instruction is discontinued, and whether the program leads to other instructional changes in schools. Costs and benefits of the program are analyzed. It was found that Reading Recovery leads to learning. Students make greater than expected gains in reading, effects comparable to those accomplished by the most effective educational interventions. It is less effective and more costly than has been claimed, and does not lead to systemic changes in classroom instruction, making it difficult to maintain learning gains. This is discouraging given program claims and its great expense. Reading Recovery, like other effective interventions, merits continued support. Several recommendations are made for monitoring the program more effectively and for encouraging innovations that might lower costs while maintaining effectiveness.
• In a pretest-posttest design with two matched control groups, 86 first-graders screened as vulnerable to academic failure and behavioral decompensation were each assigned to one of three groups: (1) channel-specific perceptual stimulation, (2) regular academic tutoring (contact controls), or (3) no contact. On most measures, including perceptual and achievement tests and behavior ratings by teachers, group 1 showed more improvement than either of the control groups. Several of these differences were significant (P <.05, two-tailed). In general, the two control groups came closer to each other than to group 1.
With no further intervention, follow-up one year later showed more dramatic significance. On every measure, group 1's improvement surpassed that of the control groups, and diverged from them even more than at posttest; this divergence was significant on most measures. Group 1 improved significantly (P <.05 to P <.01) in reading, lQ, and three behavior scales, while both control groups showed only deterioration on these measures. Group 1 gained five IQ points on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, while the controls lost five. On the Davids Scale, group 1 improved significantly (P <.01) to "probably not hyperkinetic," while both control groups deteriorated to "probably hyperkinetic." The hypothesized mechanism of group 1's behavioral superiority at follow-up was its significant (P <.01) reading improvement, with secondary emotional benefits.
In this research we evaluated two methods to improve the reading fluency of struggling readers. Poor readers in Grades 2 and 4 with (n = 17) and without (n = 20) learning disabilities were randomly assigned to one of two fluency practice variations or to a control group. Students in the treatments practiced reading aloud under repeated or continuous reading conditions with an adult listener in 15-min sessions, 3 days per week for 14 weeks. For students in the treatment conditions, growth curve analyses revealed significant differences in fluency and reading comprehension over students in the control. We found no significant differences between practice conditions.
The authors assessed the effectiveness of two microcomputer programs for improving word recognition/decoding skills, and the extent to which decoding improvements lead to improvements in reading comprehension. The programs were used for 8 months in all three fourth-grade classes of a school with a history of low reading achievement, and whose students were from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Measures included standardized achievement tests and laboratory tasks. The authors found that use of the programs led (a) to substantial increases in word recognition/decoding skills, and (b) to substantial improvements in comprehension at the word and proposition/sentence level, but to no improvement at the passage level. The implications of these findings for theories of the relationship between decoding and comprehension are discussed. /// [French] Les auteurs évaluent l'efficacité de deux programmes micro-informatiques conçus pour améliorer la capacité d'identification/décodage des mots et veulent savoir jusqu'à quel point les progrès au niveau du décodage peuvent entraîner une meilleure compréhension en lecture. On a utilisé les programmes pendant huit mois avec les trois groupes de quatrième année d'une même école dont le passé démontre de faibles résultats en lecture et dont les élèves proviennent de familles défavorisées. Pour procéder à cette évaluation, on a utilisé des tests standardisés et des exercices de laboratoire. Selon les résultats obtenus, l'utilisation des programmes a entraîné (a) un progrès considérable au niveau de la capacité d'identification/décodage des mots, et (b) une importante amélioration de la compréhension au niveau de la phrase/proposition, mais aucune amélioration au niveau de la compréhension d'un passage. Les auteurs discutent de l'implication de ces résultats sur la validité de la théorie de l'efficacité verbale de Perfetti et Lesgold (1977, 1979). /// [Spanish] Los autores estiman la efectividad de dos programas para microcomputadoras para mejorar las habilidades de reconocimiento y decodificación de palabras, y la extensión a la que una mejora en la decodificación se traduce en mejora también en la comprensión de lectura. Los programas se usaron durante ocho meses en las tres clases de cuarto grado de una escuela que tenía una larga historia de bajo rendimiento en lectura, y cuyos estudiantes provenían de familias con un estatus socioeconómico bajo. Las medidas usadas incluían pruebas estandarizadas de rendimiento y tareas de laboratorio. De acuerdo a los resultados, el uso de los programas condujo (a) a incrementos substanciales en las habilidades de reconocimiento y decodificación de palabras y (b) a mejoras substanciales en comprensión al nivel de frases y proposiciones, aunque sin mejora alguna a nivel de pasaje. Los autores discuten las implicaciones de estos hallazgos en relación a la validez de la teoría de eficiencia verbal de Perfetti y Lesgold (1977, 1979). /// [German] Die autoren bewerten die Wirksamkeit von zwei Mikrokomputer-Programmen für die Verbesserung von Worterkenntnis/entzifferungsgeschick, und das Ausmaß, in dem Entzifferungsverbesserungen zu Verbesserungen im Leseverständnis führen. Diese Programme wurden angewandt in einer Acht-Monats-Spanne in allen drei der Viertschuljahr-Klassen einer Schule, die den Ruf hat, Schüler aufzuweisen, die aus Familien mit niedrigem sozialwirtschaftlichem Stand stammen und geringe Lesefähigkeiten aufweisen. Die Maßnahmen enthielten, Standard-Fähigkeitsprüfugen sowie Labor-Aufgaben. Wie die Resultate zeigen, führte die Anwendung dieser Programme zu a) wesentlichen Erhöhungen der Worterkenntnis/entzifferungsfähigkeit und b) wesentlichen Verbesserungen im Verständnis von Präposition/Satz, jedoch keiner Verbesserung auf der Abschnittsebene. Die Autoren erörtern die Begleiterscheinungen dieser Resultate mit Sicht auf die Gültigkeit von Perfetti und Lesgolds (1977, 1979) Verbal-Leistungstheorie.
Publication bias is the tendency to decide to publish a study based on the results of the study, rather than on the basis of its theoretical or methodological quality. It can arise from selective publication of favorable results, or of statistically significant results. This threatens the validity of conclusions drawn from reviews of published scientific research. Meta-analysis is now used in numerous scientific disciplines, summarizing quantitative evidence from multiple studies. If the literature being synthesised has been affected by publication bias, this in turn biases the meta-analytic results, potentially producing overstated conclusions. Publication Bias in Meta-Analysis examines the different types of publication bias, and presents the methods for estimating and reducing publication bias, or eliminating it altogether. Written by leading experts, adopting a practical and multidisciplinary approach. Provides comprehensive coverage of the topic including: • Different types of publication bias, • Mechanisms that may induce them, • Empirical evidence for their existence, • Statistical methods to address them, • Ways in which they can be avoided. • Features worked examples and common data sets throughout. • Explains and compares all available software used for analysing and reducing publication bias. • Accompanied by a website featuring software, data sets and further material. Publication Bias in Meta-Analysis adopts an inter-disciplinary approach and will make an excellent reference volume for any researchers and graduate students who conduct systematic reviews or meta-analyses. University and medical libraries, as well as pharmaceutical companies and government regulatory agencies, will also find this invaluable.
The effectiveness of a phonologically based reading program delivered to first- through sixth-grade impaired readers in small groups (3–5) was examined. The 115 students from a predominantly low socioeconomic school were selected based on poor phonetic decoding and word-level reading skills, then matched and randomly assigned to one of two groups. The treatment group received the Spell Read program for eight weeks while the no-treatment control received only regular classroom reading instruction. At posttest-1 the treatment group performed significantly better than the controls on phonological awareness and decoding, reading accuracy, comprehension and spelling. Except for fluency, effect sizes were strong for most measures across all grades. Improved reading skills as a result of the phonological program were evident regardless of level of deficiency prior to instruction, and were not limited to specific grades. Outcome scores at posttest-2 after the control group was also given the Spell Read program indicated similar growth in reading. Results provide supportive evidence for small-group instruction as an effective remedial alternative for deficient readers.
The authors compared phonics and reading comprehension achievement of 1st-grade children and reading achievement of 2nd-grade children who received daily supplemental reading instruction with the achievement of children who did not receive supplemental instruction. The authors collected data through individual administration of phonics and reading tasks, classroom observations and field notes, and teacher interviews. First- and 2nd-grade children served by models that included daily instruction as a supplement to their regular classroom reading instruction achieved significantly higher scores on the reading comprehension measure than did students in the models without this feature. Yet, authors found no significant differences between the 1st-grade students in the 2 groups on phonics measure. Findings have implications for policy making when educators decide to include supplemental instructional opportunities in their overall school literacy plan.
A series of experiments measured human ability to discriminate durations of auditory signals. A two‐alternative forced‐choice procedure was used: two sine‐wave signals of identical amplitude and frequency, differing only in duration, were presented sequentially on each trial. The order of presentation was random, and the task was to state, for each experimental trial, whether the longer signal had occurred first or second. The signals were presented in a background of continuous white masking noise, which was held at a constant level throughout the experiments. In separate experiments the effects on performance of signal voltage, “base” duration, and increment duration were measured. A model was developed within the framework of statistical decision theory to account for the data in terms of a signal‐independent “counting mechanism” operating over the relevant durations. Limitations of discrimination are due to uncertainty regarding the end points of the time interval, and memory decay between observations on a single trial. Two parameters were estimated for each observer to fit the data, and the results of two further experiments were predicted. Some implications of the model for psychophysical theory will be discussed. (This research was part of a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Michigan. It was conducted under contracts with the Operational Applications Laboratory of the Air Force Command and Control Development Division and the Office of Naval Research. The author is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.)
(ABSTRACT) The purpose of this quantitative/qualitative evaluation study was to analyze the impact of the Success for All (SFA) program on reading achievement, attendance, and academic self-efficacy. Robert Slavin (1996) and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University developed the Success for All program, which incorporates a comprehensive school restructuring approach. This program focuses on improving achievement of at-risk children and aims to have every child reading on or above grade level by grade three (Slavin, 1996). Two urban, schoolwide Title I elementary schools were compared using a non-equivalent matched group, evaluation design. Stanford 9 reading comprehension scores and attendance data were analyzed through an Analysis of Variance. Results yielded positive effects for group membership (SFA, non-SFA) in reading achievement and reading self- efficacy with mean scores of 58.6 NCEs vs 33.6 NCEs and 86.6 vs 68.7 respectively. Focus group results showed strong parental and staff support for the program. Implications are presented along with suggested future avenues of research such as the SFA program's impact over time and the investigation of the program's impact on other measures of achievement.
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.
This research examined the efficacy and feasibility of (a) Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies for First-Grade Readers (1st-Grade PALS) conducted for 35-min sessions, three times per week for 16 weeks with first-grade children of varying reading ability, and (b) the impact of adding 8–10 hr of phonological awareness instruction via the computer to the curriculum already including 1st-Grade PALS with low-performing children. Conducted in naturally constituted academically heterogeneous first-grade classrooms, 36 first-grade teachers in eight schools in a southeastern medium-sized school district participated: 12 conducted 1st-Grade PALS, 12 conducted 1st-Grade PALS and computer-assisted instruction (CAI), and 12 continued their typical instruction. Within these classrooms, the impact of the interventions was investigated with 183 first-grade students (118 low-, 33 average-, and 32 high-achieving students). Data collected included (a) time-series phonological awareness and reading fluency data and (b) pre- and post-measures of concepts of print, decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Students and teachers also were asked to rate their satisfaction with various aspects of the interventions. The results indicate that 1st-Grade PALS enhanced reading performance both in terms of statistical significance and in terms of educational relevance, although not equally for all learner types. Results also indicate that CAI in phonological did not impact student performance beyond that achieved with 1st-Grade PALS alone. Both students and teachers implemented 1st-Grade PALS with relative ease, demonstrated high fidelity, and reported high levels of satisfaction.
Syntheses of research on educational programs have taken on increasing policy importance. Procedures for performing such syntheses must therefore produce reliable, unbiased, and meaningful information on the strength of evidence behind each program. Because evaluations of any given program are few in number, syntheses of program evaluations must focus on minimizing bias in reviews of each study. This article discusses key issues in the conduct of program evaluation syntheses: requirements for research design, sample size, adjustments for pretest differences, duration, and use of unbiased outcome measures. It also discusses the need to balance factors such as research designs, effect sizes, and numbers of studies in rating the overall strength of evidence supporting each program.
THIS RESEARCH examines the effectiveness of Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies for First-Grade Readers (First-Grade PALS) as a tool for enhancing the reading achievement of different learner types, particularly low-achieving students, representing the range of academic diversity typically present in primary grade classrooms. First-Grade PALS helps teachers to accommodate this diversity (a) by decentering instruction through peer mediation so that students become more actively involved in the learning process, (b) by including provisions for integrating phonological and alphabetic skills into the decoding of words in connected text, and (c) by providing extensive and repeated exposure to a variety of children's literature. In this research, the efficacy and feasibility of First-Grade PALS were examined in naturally constituted, academically heterogeneous first-grade classes, during rime normally allocated for reading instruction. Twenty first-grade teachers and 96 first-grade students (46 low, 20 average-, and 20 high-achieving) participated. Ten teachers incorporated First-Grade PALS into their reading program; 10 continued to teach reading as usual. Data collected included (a) time-series phonological awareness and reading fluency data and (b) pre-and post-measures of concepts of print, decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Students and teachers also were asked to rate their satisfaction with various aspects of First-Grade PALS. Results indicate that all learner types were positively affected by participation in First-Grade PALS, with the greatest gains indicated for low-achieving students. Likewise, both students and teachers implemented First-Grade PALS with relative ease, demonstrated high fidelity, and reported high levels of satisfaction.
IN THIS study the authors examine issues related to selecting and evaluating early intervention programs for first graders at serious risk For failing in reading acquisition. The program evaluated is Early Steps, an intervention with one-to-one tutoring and with particular emphasis on story reading, writing, and phonological skills. Four neighborhood schools were selected to participate in the study-two experimental and two control schools. The 49 children came from lower- to middle-class Caucasian families with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. The design of the study includes pre-, post-, and retention assessments of an experimental and a control group. Various tests were used to assess spelling performance, word recognition, nonword reading, and reading comprehension. The results at the end of Grade 1 and at the beginning of Grade 2 indicate that the experimental group performed statistically significantly better than the control group on all variables assessed. In particular, the children with the lowest pretest levels, the very high-risk children, benefit most from the intervention. Their improvement approaches the average performance level after an intervention period of 8 months. We presume that the substantial progress among high-risk children reflects the importance of a balanced approach to beginning reading and the power of the Early Steps program to increase the phonological and word study skills among those children most at risk in this domain.
This meta-analysis assesses the effectiveness of volunteer tutoring programs for improving the academic skills of students enrolled in public schools Grades K–8 in the United States and further investigates for whom and under what conditions tutoring can be effective. The authors found 21 studies (with 28 different study cohorts in those studies) reporting on randomized field trials to guide them in assessing the effectiveness of volunteer tutoring programs. Overall, the authors found volunteer tutoring has a positive effect on student achievement. With respect to particular subskills, students who work with volunteer tutors are likely to earn higher scores on assessments related to letters and words, oral fluency, and writing as compared to their peers who are not tutored.
Research in fields other than education has found that studies with small sample sizes tend to have larger effect sizes than those with large samples. This article examines the relationship between sample size and effect size in education. It analyzes data from 185 studies of elementary and secondary mathematics programs that met the standards of the Best Evidence Encyclopedia. As predicted, there was a significant negative correlation between sample size and effect size. The differences in effect sizes between small and large experiments were much greater than those between randomized and matched experiments. Explanations for the effects of sample size on effect size are discussed.
A 2-year study was conducted to determine the long-term effects of a comprehensive cooperative learning approach to elementary reading and language arts instruction on students' achievement, attitudes, and metacognitive awareness. In the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) program, students in second through sixth grade worked in heterogeneous learning teams on reading and writing activities related to stories they were reading. Teachers provided students with explicit instruction on comprehension strategies and used a writing process approach to teach writing and language arts. The study also mainstreamed academically handicapped students in regular classes, and these students were active participants in the cooperative learning team activities. In the study 635 students at 3 elementary schools using the CIRC program were compared to 664 students at 4 matched schools that used traditional instruction. The 72 academically handicapped students at the CIRC schools were mainstreamed in CIRC and compared to 65 students in pull-out programs in the control schools. The first-year results showed that CIRC students had significantly higher achievement in reading vocabulary and reading comprehension. Second-year results indicated that CIRC students had significantly higher achievement in vocabulary, comprehension, and language expression. The CIRC students also exhibited greater metacognitive awareness than did their peers. Academically handicapped students who were mainstreamed in CIRC classes had significantly higher achievement in reading vocabulary, reading comprehension, and language expression than did comparable special education students taught in traditional settings. There were no significant effects on students' attitudes toward reading or writing.
Grade 4 and 7 poor comprehenders (N = 72) participated in 13 sessions of reading-strategy instruction or reading practice (control condition). Trained students were instructed to make predictions when reading, to generate questions about text, to summarize what was read, and to clarify points that were hard to understand. The strategies were taught using the reciprocal instruction approach developed by Palincsar and Brown (1984), involving provision of support to students as they needed it and peer teaching of strategies. Control subjects were exposed to the same materials as reciprocally trained students but were given no strategy instruction. The most important finding was a greater increase from before to after training on a standardized test of reading comprehension in the reciprocally trained than in the control condition. This effect is important since standardized comprehension tests measure important reading skills and are used extensively in making curriculum and instruction decisions. The import...
This study examined the effectiveness of a reading tutoring program for children “at risk” for reading problems. Forty‐two first grade children were selected based on both teacher recommendations and scores on Clay's Observational Survey. Children were matched on demographic variables and assigned randomly to tutored and control groups. Children in the tutored group met one‐on‐one with a trained community volunteer who tutored the child three times a week for 45 minutes each session. Children in the control group did not receive tutoring. The tutored group performed higher on measures of letter identification and overall reading compared with the control group. Tutored boys showed more improvement than girls, and older tutored children outperformed their younger tutored counterparts. Anecdotal evidence from teachers and tutors supports the efficacy of this program.
We examined the effectiveness of 3 different reading interventions in second and third graders with identified reading disabilities. Fourteen special education teachers taught 114 second and third graders either synthetic phonics, analytic phonics, or sight-word programs in the resource room 60 min a day for 1 school year. Growth in phonological and orthographic processing and word reading was compared for the 3 interventions. Facilitative effects of synthetic phonics were reduced when demo- graphic and Verbal IQ covariates were included in the growth-curve models. How- ever, the most significant mediator of intervention effects was initial differences in phonological and orthographic processing skills. Implications for service delivery and identification of children for special education are discussed.