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Reciprocal Reading: Evaluation Report
Abstract and Figures
Efficacy Cluster RCT of Reciprocal Reading interventions (whole class and targeted). Conducted in n=98 schools with n=5222 pupils in England. Targeted intervention showed 2 months reading progress in comparison with controls. Effects were found for both reading comprehension and overall reading ability. Whole class intervention did not have an effect for main sample. Both interventions showed promising effects for socio-economically disadvantaged pupils.
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... Many previous studies confirm that RTS is an effective reading strategy that significantly supports reading comprehension (Ahmadi, 2016;Cockerill et al., 2022;Dew et al., 2021;Hamdani, 2020;O'Hare et al., 2019;Pilten, 2016;Rojabi, 2021;Thurston et al., 2020). In addition, as in RTS, students read better in learning processes used by inquiry strategies (Ahmadi et al., 2021;Ariawan, & Winoto, 2021;Brown, & Pyle, 2021;Bui et al., 2021;Castells et al., 2021;Liu, 2021;Parjan, & Mohamad, 2021;Stuckelman et al., 2022). ...
This study, carried out within the design-based research framework, aimed to create a digital environment for students with learning problems to read better. The social constructivist approach was used in this study, which generally focuses on the assumption that reading is an active, interactive, dynamic, and social language skill. The instructional content, built on a learning management system, was developed in line with this strategy. Focus on the problem, understand the problem, define the design goals, outline the solution, create the solution, and test the solution stages. This results in effective and efficient digital teaching material that students with learning problems can use in their reading processes. The study clearly showed the development process of digital material, as well as a deep theoretical discussion.
... The empirical evidence on the effectiveness of reciprocal teaching as a whole has been mixed and inconclusive. Much previous research confirms that RT is an effective reading strategy that significantly promotes reading comprehension (Ahmadi, 2016;Choo, Eng & Ahmad, 2011;Hamdani, 2020;Huang & Yang, 2015;Koch & Spörer, 2017;Kula & Budak, 2020;Pilten, 2016), particularly for struggling readers (Cockerill, O'Keeffe, Thurston & Taylor, 2022;O'Hare et al., 2019;Thurston et al., 2020) and EFL learners (Navaie, 2018;Rojabi, 2021). Rawengwan and Yawiloeng (2020) went further to demonstrate that RT even improved EFL learners' metacognitive ability, in addition to increasing their comprehension of the reading text. ...
This true experimental study examined the effects of reciprocal teaching on 3rd year Nigerian university students’ mastery of “A Rose for Emily,” an English short story famously known for its intriguing plot but difficult narrative style. The subjects were a class of 60 students who were randomly assigned to either the treatment (n = 30) or control group (n = 30) based on the matching of their pretest scores. The experiment was conducted over 12 weeks where the treatment group studied the short story using reciprocal teaching that comprised the activities of summarizing, questioning, clarifying and predicting, while the control group was taught the same story using direct instruction. The subjects' mastery of the literary text was measured in terms of vocabulary, comprehension and recall using a self-developed test. The reliability of the measures ranged from α = 0.60 to α = 0.80. Descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that RT was very effective in enhancing the subjects’ recall and comprehension of the story and their acquisition of new vocabulary. The treatment group exhibited a significant increase of 67.6 points in their mastery of the short story compared to a significantly lower gain of 44.9 points by the control group. The effect size of the treatment was very large at Cohen’s d = 4.76. The results supported the use of active text processing strategies and social group interaction in facilitating students’ learning of literature as purported by Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory.
Background
Approaches to teacher professional development, such as learning designs (LDs), can facilitate primary school teachers' appropriation of literacy technology in the classroom. LDs are detailed learning activities and interventions designed by teachers to plan their use of technology.
Methods
Using a creative design methodology to carry out a series of LD workshops with teachers, we aimed to understand how primary school teachers envision learning and teaching with two distinct technologies designed to support children's reading skills: a game and an e‐reader. Employing systematic qualitative content analysis, we compared LDs developed by teachers for each technology.
Results
Our study shows that while principles of teacher instruction are consistently incorporated across the LDs, the design of each technology plays an important role in how teachers plan their students' learning and focal reading skills. Further, teachers' perception of the technology is as important as the features of the design. Compared with the e‐reader, the game is perceived as an individual practice activity with less opportunities to learn with peers. Finally, across both technologies, teachers envision supporting additional literacy skills, beyond those designed in the technology, highlighting the importance of explicitly facilitating LDs intended to foster within‐subject learning.
Conclusions
These findings raise a new set of considerations on how to support teachers to design literacy learning and teaching activities with technology, and also offer a new methodological approach to facilitate LDs in future research and teacher training.
Highlights
What is already known about this topic Professional development supports teachers to appropriate literacy technologies in the classroom.
The learning design approach has been shown to facilitate professional development by placing teachers in the role of the designer.
The learning design approach can support and complement existing pedagogical approaches in the classroom, as well as to foster socio‐constructivist learning.
What this paper adds In the context of literacy, teachers rely on the learning aims of the technology and its pedagogical approach to determine how and what their students will learn.
Teachers embed learning with peers when the technology aligns with existing social practice in the classroom.
Teachers reappropriate literacy technology designed to support reading skills to extend into other literacy skills, such as writing and oral language.
Implications for theory, policy or practice The paper offers a learning design methodology to support teachers in creating activities that integrate literacy technologies in the classroom.
The methodology includes strategies that support teachers to embed learning with peers alongside reflecting a broad coverage of literacy learning objectives.
There continue to be challenges of transfer from research evidence to practice in education. This paper reports on the implementation of a well‐evidenced Reciprocal Reading approach in 35 schools across a high poverty region in England, working cooperatively at transition between primary and secondary. The purpose of the research reported here was not to test children to establish whether Reciprocal Reading improves student outcomes, as randomised controlled trial evidence from studies in England has already established the positive impact of this approach in primary and secondary schools. Instead, a process evaluation was undertaken using naturally occurring data and staff survey data, to understand whether it is possible to implement this approach across a region with high fidelity. The theory of change exemplified in previous randomised controlled trial evaluations was used to interrogate the data in respect of teacher behaviours and attitudes, and student behaviours as reported by school staff during implementation. Findings suggest high levels of adherence to programme design and resources by schools was present across the sample during implementation, together with staff competence and positive relational factors during programme delivery. These findings are in line with health‐based research where high fidelity of implementation is used as an indicator of transfer to practice.
A Phase 3 definitive RCT research design is proposed to determine whether the Reciprocal Reading Secondary program can improve reading outcomes for students aged 11–12. This targeted reading comprehension program is designed to support school staff who will deliver the program to the selected students. The proposed sample will be up to 800 students from 20 schools in England from high socio-economically disadvantaged areas. The program will be delivered to the targeted students over a period of 6 months.
This paper presents the research protocol for a Phase 2 randomized controlled trial of the Fluency into Comprehension program in primary schools. The program is a workforce development program that supports teachers and teaching assistants develop and deliver targeted reading fluency and comprehension instruction to children aged 7–9. The protocol outlines a research design to assess whether the program delivered over approximately 12 weeks improves reading outcomes, in a sample of up to 192 children from 12 schools in four English districts with high socio-economic disadvantage. The outcome measures are two reading standardized tests. A process evaluation will measure fidelity and potential for scale-up.
This paper presents the research protocol for a pragmatic RCT of the Reciprocal Reading programme. Reciprocal Reading (RR) is a workforce development programme that supports practicing Teachers/Teaching Assistants develop and deliver comprehension instruction in mainstream UK settings for pupils aged 8–11 years. The protocol outlines a research design that will assess whether the RR programme can improve a number of specific outcomes in intervention group pupils, in a sample of schools experiencing higher than average levels of disadvantage. The primary outcome for analysis is reading comprehension with secondary outcomes of overall literacy, reading accuracy and comprehension pre-cursors at the child and school level. The study will also include a process evaluation using qualitative data and quantitative implementation data.
Research has demonstrated that in controlled experiments in which small groups are being tutored by researchers, reading-strategy instruction is highly effective in fostering reading comprehension (Palincsar & Brown, Cognition and Instruction, 1(2), 117–175, 1984). It is unclear, however, whether reading-strategy interventions are equally effective in whole-classroom situations in which the teacher is the sole instructor for the whole class. This meta-analysis focuses on the effects of reading-strategy interventions in whole-classroom settings. Results of studies on the effectiveness of reading-strategy interventions in whole-classroom settings were summarized (Nstudies = 52, K = 125) to determine the overall effects on reading comprehension and strategic ability. In addition, moderator effects of intervention, study, and student characteristics were explored. The analysis demonstrated a very small effect on reading comprehension (Cohen’s d = .186) for standardized tests and a small effect (Cohen’s d = .431) on researcher-developed reading comprehension tests. A medium overall effect was found for strategic ability (Cohen’s d = .786). Intervention effects tended to be lower for studies that did not control for the hierarchical structure of the data (i.e. multilevel analyses).For interventions in which “setting reading goals” was part of the reading-strategy package, effects tended to be larger. In addition, effects were larger for interventions in which the trainer was the researcher as opposed to teachers and effect sizes tended to be larger for studies conducted in grades 6–8. Implications of these findings for future research and educational practice are discussed.
The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.
This study offers a commentary on the articles contained in the special issue of Prevention Science, "Readiness to implement Social- Emotional Learning interventions." The commentary also puts these articles into current context by summarizing important findings in implementation research and listing some priorities for future work.
A randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate the effects of a prosocial behavior after-school program called Mate-Tricks for 9- and 10-year-old children and their parents living in an area of significant socioeconomic disadvantage. The children were randomly assigned to an intervention (n=220) or a control group (n=198). Children were compared on measures of prosocial behavior, antisocial behavior, and related outcome measures. The trial found adverse effects on four outcomes among the intervention group compared to the control group: antisocial behavior increased on two different measures (d=0.20) and (d=0.18), childreported liberal parenting increased (d=0.16), and child reported authoritarian parenting also increased (d=0.20). In addition, parental participation was significantly associated with several program outcomes. It was concluded, that group based after-school behavior programs may have the potential to cause iatrogenic effects and must be designed, piloted, evaluated and implemented with a high degree of care.
This research explored the influence of children's perceptions of a pro-social behavior after-school program on actual change in the children's behavioral outcomes over the program's duration. Children's perceptions of three program processes were collected as well as self-reported pro-social and anti-social behavior before and after the program. Statistical models showed that: Positive perceptions of the program facilitators’ dispositions significantly predicted reductions in anti-social behavior; and positive perceptions with the program activities significantly predicted gains in pro-social behavior. The children's perceptions of their peers’ behavior in the sessions were not found to a significant predictor of behavioral change. The two significant perceptual indicators predicted a small percentage of the change in the behavioral outcomes. However, as after-school social learning programs have a research history of problematic implementation children's perceptions should be considered in future program design, evaluation and monitoring.
Purpose:
The Bonferroni correction adjusts probability (p) values because of the increased risk of a type I error when making multiple statistical tests. The routine use of this test has been criticised as deleterious to sound statistical judgment, testing the wrong hypothesis, and reducing the chance of a type I error but at the expense of a type II error; yet it remains popular in ophthalmic research. The purpose of this article was to survey the use of the Bonferroni correction in research articles published in three optometric journals, viz. Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics, Optometry & Vision Science, and Clinical & Experimental Optometry, and to provide advice to authors contemplating multiple testing.
Recent findings:
Some authors ignored the problem of multiple testing while others used the method uncritically with no rationale or discussion. A variety of methods of correcting p values were employed, the Bonferroni method being the single most popular. Bonferroni was used in a variety of circumstances, most commonly to correct the experiment-wise error rate when using multiple 't' tests or as a post-hoc procedure to correct the family-wise error rate following analysis of variance (anova). Some studies quoted adjusted p values incorrectly or gave an erroneous rationale.
Summary:
Whether or not to use the Bonferroni correction depends on the circumstances of the study. It should not be used routinely and should be considered if: (1) a single test of the 'universal null hypothesis' (Ho ) that all tests are not significant is required, (2) it is imperative to avoid a type I error, and (3) a large number of tests are carried out without preplanned hypotheses.
The use of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), most commonly a medical sciences research tool, is a hotly debated topic in Education. This book examines the controversial aspects of RCTs in Education and sets out the potential and pitfalls of the method.
Drawing on their own extensive experience of running RCTs, and their work at the Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation (CESI) at Queen’s University, Belfast, the authors provide a thorough practical introduction to the use of randomised controlled trials in education. Using real data sets, chapters equip the reader with all of the key knowledge and skills required to design, run, analyse and report an RCT.
Coverage includes:
· Step-by-step guidance on analysing data
· How to assess the reliability and validity of results
· Advice on balancing the demands of various stakeholders
Essential reading for postgraduate and more experienced researchers, as well as teachers and educationalists seeking to increase their knowledge and understanding of the use of such methods in education.
https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/using-randomised-controlled-trials-in-education/book243420