Effects Of Reading Intervention Research Articles

Effects of a classwide reading intervention on reading fluency and comprehension of content area text with students in middle school

Partner reading with paragraph shrinking has been shown to be an effective classwide reading intervention in elementary school, but has yet to be studied with eighth-grade students or with content area reading such as science and social studies. The current study examined the effects of implementing the classwide intervention for 3 wk with 86 students in eighth grade that were randomly assigned to the treatment or a control group. The intervention led to significantly higher oral reading fluency (η2 = .49), and higher scores on a researcher-created maze test for science (η2 = .10) and social studies (η2 = .13). Student variables (i.e., receiving English as a second language services, special education, or a free or reduced-price lunch) did not predict student outcomes and added negligible to small amounts of variance. Therefore, the effects seemed to be positive regardless of student-level factors. Potential implications for practice and research are included.

Effectiveness of Reading Interventions on Literacy Skills for Chinese Children with and Without Dyslexia: a Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

This meta-analysis synthesizes 49 standardized mean-change differences between control and treatment groups as effect sizes from 28 independent studies, investigating the efficacy of existing reading interventions on literacy skills for Chinese children. Six potentially important moderators were considered in this study. These moderators included intervention outcome, intervention method, intervention timing, participant type, intervention form, and intervention implementer. Overall, the existing reading intervention significantly impacted Chinese children’s literacy achievement (g = 0.68). Different intervention methods showed somehow different effects on literacy outcomes. Specifically, fluency training (g = 1.78) appeared as the most effective intervention method with a large effect. Working memory training (g = 0.80), phonological training (g = 0.69), orthographic training (g = 0.70), and morphological training (g = 0.66) had significant and medium effects on improving literacy skills of Chinese children. In addition, reading intervention improved literacy skills of older children (g = 0.90) and younger children (g = 0.63) comparably. However, children with dyslexia (g = 0.87) seemed to benefit more than typically developing children (g = 0.49) from reading interventions. Reading interventions seemed to have a better effect on word spelling (g = 0.93) than word reading (g = 0.63). Interventions delivered in group (g = 0.78) seemed to be more effective than interventions delivered individually (g = 0.45). Children gained more from interventions administered by researchers (g = 0.85) or combined implementers (g = 1.11) than by parents (g = 0.27). These findings suggest that appropriate reading interventions are effective and essential for improving the literacy outcomes of Chinese children, but the efficacy might be different depending on the intervention methods, children’s literacy status, outcome measures, and intervention settings.

The effects of computer‐assisted interactive reading model on higher‐level and lower‐level text processing skills and cognitive load

Lay DescriptionWhat is already known about this topic Previous research has shown digital reading involves multiple cognitive processes. Higher and lower‐level text processing skills are positively correlated. What this paper adds The study provides empirical evidence for the interactivity effect in digital text processing. Learners can use different text processing strategies dynamically and nonlinearly, leading to cognitive benefits. Implications for practice and/or policy CALL practitioners and researchers can use the insights from this study to design effective digital reading interventions. Learners may benefit from using different strategies depending on the task at hand.

Empowering Schools to Implement Effective Research-Based Reading Remediation Delivers Long-Lasting Improvements to Children’s Reading Trajectories

There is a wide gap between what research evidence identifies as effective reading intervention and what is currently offered in schools. This effectiveness study reports the results of a long-term research/school system partnership that is implementing reading intervention for children with reading difficulties in Canadian community schools. In Study 1, growth-curve analyses revealed significant long-term shifts in the reading trajectories of children (n = 731) from Kindergarten to Grade 5 as a function of receiving the Empower™ Reading: Decoding and Spelling intervention. Long-term outcomes were higher in children who received intervention in Grade 2 than in Grade 3, supporting the benefit of earlier intervention. In Study 2, we compare reading outcomes before and after children participated in school system-led intervention (Empower™ Reading, n = 341) to results from previously reported researcher-led intervention and business-as-usual controls. Children in both school system-led and researcher-led interventions showed greater improvement than controls on standardized measures of decoding and reading comprehension. Among school system participants, greater gains were seen for those with stronger reading skills at pre-test. Findings demonstrate successful school system implementation of research-originated and validated reading intervention. Researcher/school system partnerships may be integral in closing the research–practice gap.

Decoding Abilities in Early Elementary School Bosnian Children: Towards a Better Understanding of Reading

<p style="text-align: justify;">Acquiring mastery in reading is considered one of the primary academic skills during the early years of elementary school. Additionally, attaining proficiency in reading during the early grades of elementary school serves as a strong predictor for future academic achievements and overall success in life. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the effect of several linguistic and cognitive variables on decoding abilities in the Bosnian language. The sample consisted of 153 children in the 2nd to 5th grades of elementary school. To assess decoding abilities, we employed tasks involving reading real words and non-words (pseudowords). The key predictors for both tasks included phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming of letters, working memory, and processing speed. Both models accounted for approximately 64% of the variance in the scores, signifying a substantial advancement compared to existing models of reading in the Bosnian language. The results of this study may contribute to the development of targeted and effective reading interventions in early elementary education.</p>

Prevalence of undiagnosed dyslexia in African-American primary school children

Dyslexia is among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children, yet despite its high prevalence all too frequently goes undiagnosed. Consequently dyslexic children all too often fail to receive effective reading interventions. Here we report our findings from a study using a teacher completed evidence-based dyslexia screener to first screen then test predominantly African-American children in grades kindergarten through second grade in two inner city public charter schools in New Orleans. Almost half (49.2%) of the children screened as at risk for dyslexia and of these the majority were found to be dyslexic on more detailed testing. Our results suggest that large numbers of African-American students with dyslexia may be overlooked in schools.

Can mathematics-unrelated reading intervention improve children’s mathematical performance?

This study aims to examine whether a maths-unrelated reading intervention can improve children’s mathematical performance and to compare the effects of maths-related and maths-unrelated reading interventions. Furthermore, this study examines whether the effects of reading interventions are moderated by individual differences, including gender, pre-test maths performance and general cognitive ability. One hundred thirty-four second-grade Chinese children were recruited into three different groups. In the control group, the children received business as usual teaching, while in the two experimental groups, the children received a maths-related or maths-unrelated reading intervention. The results showed that the maths-unrelated reading intervention could significantly improve children’s mathematical performance, and the beneficial effect did not differ from the maths-related intervention. Moreover, the effects of the two reading interventions were not moderated by children’s individual differences. These findings support the function hypothesis of language for mathematics.

A Road Less Traveled for Designing Rigorous Studies to Identify Effective Technology-Based Reading Interventions

A Road Less Traveled for Designing Rigorous Studies to Identify Effective Technology-Based Reading Interventions

Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 3–12 With Significant Word Reading Difficulties

Most students with reading difficulties struggle to read words. We examined intervention effects for students with significant word reading difficulties (SWRD; standard score of 80 on at least one pretest measure of word reading), which includes individuals with or at risk for dyslexia. We investigated: (a) What are the effects of reading interventions for students in Grades 3–12 with SWRD? and (b) What intervention features (i.e., instructional components and elements of dosage) are related to improved reading outcomes for the target population? A meta-analysis of 22 studies and 208 effect sizes revealed a statistically significant, positive, mean effect (g = 0.14, standard error [SE] = 0.04, p = .01, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [0.04, 0.23]) of interventions for the target population. Subset analyses revealed positive, statistically significant intervention effects on measures of pseudoword reading (g = 0.38, SE = 0.07, p = .0003, 95% CI [0.21, 0.54]) and pseudoword reading fluency (g = 0.29, SE = 0.09, p = .010, 95% CI [0.09, 0.49]). Moderator analyses yielded statistically significant, positive effects associated with increased total hours of intervention, β = 0.003, SE = 0.0009, t(8.31) = 3.58, p = .007. Overall, findings indicate a need for interventions that improve generalized real-world reading for the target population.

Text Types and Their Relation to Efficacy in Beginning Reading Interventions

AbstractResearchers disagree about the value of controlling the decodability of texts for students with reading difficulty, specifically what type of text they should read: decodable texts (words limited to taught patterns), nondecodable texts (those not limited by instruction), or both. We analyzed the effects of reading intervention for elementary‐age students with reading difficulty (k = 119) to determine whether effects varied by the type of texts students read—decodable, nondecodable, or both—compared with interventions without text reading. Inadequate information was available to code text type for 22 interventions including text reading; effect sizes were calculated for 97 studies. Effects for interventions with decodable or nondecodable reading did not differ from no‐text interventions. For both types of interventions, the effect (g = 0.28) approached significance versus no‐text, 95% CI [−0.09, 0.65]. Disaggregating effects by whether the measures were standardized or researcher‐designed showed a significant both‐types effect, g = 0.45, 95% CI [0.02, 0.89] relative to no‐text. Disaggregating by whether outcomes were for word recognition or reading comprehension showed a positive both‐types effect for word recognition outcomes; data were inadequate to examine comprehension. A possible confounding effect of time spent reading was tested but was uncorrelated with the intervention effect. The both‐types finding suggests the possible value of varied reading experiences in intervention, but this analysis did not account for other factors that might be correlated with text type and the intervention effect. Furthermore, more comprehensive reporting about text types is important for replication and meta‐analytic review.

Is the treatment weak or the test insensitive: Interrogating item difficulties to elucidate the nature of reading intervention effects

Intervention research in education is sometimes criticized for the use of experimenter developed assessments, especially when these are over aligned with treatment. At the same time, intervention researchers sometimes prefer locally developed assessments because they appear to be more sensitive to treatment effects even when the test is not subject to the criticism of over alignment. This paper examines the question of test sensitivity to treatment effects for experimenter developed and standardized tests for the specific case of reading in grade 8. We examine similarities and differences between a specific experimenter developed test and widely used standardized reading assessment. Analyses show these particular tests to be quite comparable. The paper concludes with an examination of test sensitivity by simulating treatment effects of different magnitudes. These analyses highlight some potential limitations of the standardized test for detecting small to moderate effects depending on the ability range of the students participating in intervention. The implications for intervention research and identification of students under response to intervention are discussed.

Matching Effects of Cognitive Learning Styles with Reading Interventions on L2 Reading of Struggling Readers

The purpose of this study is to explore the interactive effects of reading interventions and learning styles on those who struggle with L2 reading. The final objects of this study are 95 struggling readers who are freshmen in college. To explore the effects of the reading intervention and to identify whether there are any reciprocal effects of learning styles and instructions, data were gathered from 3 reading classes (2 experimental groups and 1 control group). According to the results of this study, the findings show that the group of participants receiving reading instructions matched with their individual learning styles outperformed those who are the opposite. This study will provide English reading teachers, who could modify reading their instructions to incorporate cognitive learning styles, with useful information.

Effects of Reading Interventions on Student Understanding of and Misconceptions about Antibiotic Resistance

Students possess informal, intuitive ways of reasoning about the world, including biological phenomena. Although useful in some cases, intuitive reasoning can also lead to the development of scientifically inaccurate ideas that conflict with central concepts taught in formal biology education settings, including evolution. Using antibiotic resistance as an example of evolution, we developed a set of reading interventions and an assessment tool to examine the extent to which differences in instructional language affect undergraduate student misconceptions and intuitive reasoning. We find that readings that confront intuitive misconceptions can be more effective in reducing those misconceptions than factual explanations of antibiotic resistance that fail to confront misconceptions. Overall, our findings build upon investigations of intuitive reasoning in biology, examine possible instructional interventions, and raise questions about effective implementation of reading interventions in addressing persistent misconceptions about biology.

Differentiating between Good Readers and Poor Readers: The Role of Linguistic and Cognitive Factors


 
 
 
 Attainment of reading ability is one of the most important goals of early elementary education. The goal of the present study was to compare groups of good readers and poor readers on several cognitive and linguistic skills and to determine the influence of these variables in differentiating these two groups of readers. An additional goal was to determine whether there are differences in proportion of boys and girls in groups of good and poor readers. The sample for this study comprised 60 third-grade children divided in two categories, 30 children in the category of good readers and 30 children in the category of poor readers. The results of this study revealed the largest differences between good readers and poor readers were on the phoneme deletion task and processing speed task. Another finding is that more boys than girls were in the group of good readers and more girls than boys in the group of poor readers. It is very important to know which underlying skills best differentiate good and poor readers at certain age. This in turn will lead to creating more effective reading interventions.
 
 
 
 

Effects of a Reading Intervention and a Mentoring Intervention for Ninth-Grade English Learners with Reading Difficulties

This study examined the effects of Reading Intervention for Adolescents (RIA) and a mentoring intervention (MI) implemented for 1 year with ninth-grade English learners (ELs) with reading difficulties. Eligible students enrolled at three urban high schools were randomly assigned to the RIA (n = 142), MI (n = 163), RIA and MI (n = 164), or business-as-usual comparison condition (n = 154). The RIA lessons focused on advanced word study, fluency, academic vocabulary, and collaborative comprehension strategies with content area texts. The MI assigned each student a mentor who helped them access and participate in school activities with the expectation that this condition would be associated with improved self-perceptions toward school engagement. RIA (RIA and RIA + MI) had significant, positive effects on sentence-level fluency and comprehension (g = 0.17) and vocabulary learning (g = 0.30), but not on measures of word reading, vocabulary, or reading comprehension (g range: −0.1 to 0.05). The MI intervention did not yield discernable effects on students’ self-reported engagement questionnaire, absences, course failures, or disciplinary referrals. We present considerations for how to address systemic changes for meeting the needs of ELs with persistent reading difficulties in high school.

동화를 활용한 읽기 중재가 느린 학습자, 지적장애 학생의 읽기 능력에 미치는 효과

본 연구에서는 동화를 활용한 읽기 중재가 느린 학습자와 지적장애 학생의 읽기능력에 미치는 효과를 알아보고자 하였다. 경남 J시에 위치한 초등학교에 재학하고 있는 2학년 학생들 중 읽기에 어려움을 지닌 느린 학습자 3명과 지적장애 학생 3명을 대상으로 방과 후에 동화를 활용한 읽기 중재를 실시하였다. 읽기 능력 중 음운 인식과 단어 재인에 대하여 대상자간 중다간헐기초선 설계를 적용하였으며, 실험은 기초선, 중재, 유지 단계의 순으로 진행되었다. 각 단계별로 수집된 자료는 시각적인 분석과 함께 PND 값으로 분석했으며, 동시에 대상자별로 수집된 각 단계별 평균값과 점수의 범위 그리고 증감률을 제시하였다. 연구의 결과, 동화를 활용한 읽기 중재가 느린 학습자와 지적장애 학생의 읽기 능력 중 음운 인식과 단어 재인 능력 향상에 효과적인 것으로 나타났으며, 중재가 종료된 이후에도 중재 효과가 높은 수준으로 유지되었다. 본 연구의 의의는 다음과 같다. 읽기의 경우, 학습하는 데 있어서 도구로서의 중요성이 강조되고 있는 만큼 읽기 능력이 부족한 느린 학습자와 지적장애 학생들에게 읽기 기초 능력을 향상시킬 수 있는 중재 방법을 제시했다는 데 그 의의가 있다. 또한, 읽기 중재를 통하여 읽기 능력의 어려움에서 기인할 수 있는 이차적인 문제들을 예방함으로써 읽기에 어려움을 지닌 학생들이 성공적인 학교생활을 할 수 있는 데 도움을 줄 것으로 기대된다.

Correction to: Effects of reading interventions implemented for upper elementary struggling readers: a look at recent research

Correction to: Effects of reading interventions implemented for upper elementary struggling readers: a look at recent research

Effects of Reading Interventions Implemented for Upper Elementary Struggling Readers: A Look at Recent Research.

In this study, we conducted a review of reading intervention research (1988-2019) for upper elementary struggling readers and examined intervention area (e.g., foundational, comprehension, or multicomponent) and intensity (e.g., hours of intervention, group size, and individualization) as possible moderators of effects. We located 33 studies containing 49 treatment-comparison contrasts, found small effects for foundational reading skills (g = 0.22) and comprehension (g = 0.21), and decreased effects when considering standardized measures only. For intervention area, only multicomponent interventions predicted significant effects for both comprehension and foundational outcomes. For intensity, we did not find systematic evidence that longer or individualized interventions were associated with larger effects. However, interventions implemented in very small groups predicted larger comprehension outcomes. Overall, more research examining the quality of school provided reading instruction and how the severity of reading difficulties may impact effects of more intensive interventions is needed.

From the Editors

From the Editors

Comparing the Effects of Reading Intervention Versus Reading and Mindset Intervention for Upper Elementary Students With Reading Difficulties

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of providing mindset intervention in addition to reading intervention compared with only reading intervention for fourth graders with reading difficulties. Reading intervention was provided daily in 45 min sessions throughout the school year. Mindset intervention occurred in small groups for 24–30 min lessons. Multilevel structural equation modeling (SEM) via n-level SEM was used to account for the latent variable representation of constructs, and the complex nesting and cross-classification structure of the data. Students in the reading intervention plus mindset condition significantly outperformed the business as usual condition on nonword reading (d = 0.35) as did students in the reading intervention condition (d = 0.20), who also outperformed the business as usual condition on phonological processing (d = 0.28). There were no significant differences among students in the three conditions on nonword reading, word reading, phonological processing, reading comprehension, or growth mindset. Initial reading achievement, mindset, and problem behavior did not generally moderate these findings.