The Effects of Data-based Instruction (DBI) for Students with Learning Difficulties in Korea: A Single-subject Meta-analysis.

Dongil Kim,Seohyeon Choi,Mohammed Saqr

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0261120

Abstract

Data-based instruction (DBI) is an ongoing process to utilize students’ data for determining when and how to intensify intervention. It is an educational approach that is suggested as effective to enhance achievements of struggling learners, particularly for those who did not respond to intensive intervention in usual ways. In Korea, DBI was introduced and applied for students with learning difficulties especially since 2000 when the first Korea curriculum-based measurement (CBM) was developed as the name of Basic Academic Skills Assessment. Despite a number of studies accumulated since then, there has been a lack of research that examined the level of evidence-based practice (EBP) of DBI research. Thus, the present study sought to synthesize the DBI research so far in Korea by analyzing the effectiveness of DBI for school-aged students with learning difficulties via meta-analysis and evaluating the quality of the research. In this study, a total of 32 single-subject design studies were used. Multilevel meta-analysis revealed that the mean effect size of DBI was statistically significant (B = 1.34) and there was significant variance across participants in effect sizes. The results from the conditional model showed that exceptionality type, the number of sessions, and the length of each session were significantly accountable for the variability of effect sizes. In addition, the results of the qualitative analysis revealed the acceptable quality of the overall DBI research with some limitations. Based on these findings, implications and study limitations were discussed.

Highlights

In general school classrooms, there are groups of students who have severe difficulties in acquiring and using basic learning skills
Keywords for students with learning difficulties (“learning difficulties”, “learning disabilities”, “atrisk”, “low achievement”, and “underachievement”), keywords for basic academic skills (“basic academic”, “basic learning”, “reading”, “writing”, and “math”), keywords related to Data-based instruction (DBI) (“data-based instruction”, “evidence-based instruction”, “data-based individualization”, and “curriculum-based measurement”), and keywords for BASA (“Basic Academic Skills Assessment”, and “BASA”) were used in various combinations, and Korean terms were used for the search
The mean of the effect sizes across all participants was 1.34. It was significantly different from zero, suggesting that DBI was effective in improving basic academic skills of participating school-aged students with learning difficulties

Summary

Introduction

There are groups of students who have severe difficulties in acquiring and using basic learning skills. These are very diverse and heterogeneous groups, and may be affected by a variety of factors, including learning disabilities, dyslexia, emotional or behavioral problems, below-average or borderline intelligence, multicultural backgrounds, environmental deficits, and insufficient educational opportunities. The term ‘learning difficulties’ refers to the large group of students who exhibit severe problems with learning and need extra assistance with schooling [1]. This generic term reflects the willingness to provide proper. The effects of DBI for students with learning difficulties in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

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