Empirically evaluating the effectiveness of reading interventions: The use of brief experimental analysis and single case designs

Abstract

Recent advances in area of brief experimental analysis have demonstrated that comparative single case designs can be used to meet criteria for empirically supported treatments. The purpose of the present study is to provide an overview of how single case design methodology can be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of school-based interventions in the area of reading. We examined the effects of combining skill-based and performance-based reading interventions on the oral reading fluency of four elementary-aged students identified with mild reading problems. A brief experimental analysis using an adapted alternating treatment design was employed to examine the effects of the intervention conditions across a 12-week period. For a majority of the participants, the effects of combining these two types of interventions resulted in greater oral reading rates than when a skill-based intervention was presented in isolation. The results of this study demonstrate how single case design elements, combined with brief experimental analysis, can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments as well as treatment components. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.