The efficacy of computer‐based supplementary phonics programs for advancing reading skills in at‐risk elementary students

In this study we examined the benefits of computer programs designed to supplement regular reading instruction in an urban public school system. The programs provide systematic exercises for mastering word‐attack strategies. Our findings indicate that first graders who participated in the programs made significant reading gains over the school year. Their post‐test scores were slightly (but not significantly) greater than the post‐test scores of control children who received regular reading instruction without the programs. When analyses were restricted to low‐performing children eligible for Title I services, significantly higher post‐test scores were obtained by the treatment group compared to the control group. At post‐test Title I children in the treatment group performed at levels similar to non‐Title I students.     

Relationships between peer interactive play and social competence in at‐risk preschool children

Relationships between peer interactive play and social competence in a sample of preschool children (N = 85) considered at risk for academic difficulties were examined. Ratings of peer interactive play and social emotional development were collected from parents and teachers on the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale and Vineland Social‐Emotional Early Childhood Scale. Multivariate techniques revealed significant correlations between parent and teacher ratings on the measures. Results are discussed within the context of conducting multifaceted, ecological assessments of preschool children. Implications for school psychologists are noted with regard to the important associations between peer interactive play and social–emotional development. The psychometric integrity of the PIPPS is further validated and extended beyond the initial standardization sample to include a sample of primarily Caucasian children living in a more rural area. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 173–189, 2004.     

Contexts of reading instruction: Implications for literacy skills and kindergarteners’ behavioral engagement

This observational study examined kindergarteners’ (n = 170) exposure to literacy instruction in their classrooms (n = 36), child-by-instruction interactions, and behavioral engagement in relation to literacy skills. Time spent in four instructional contexts was coded according to who managed children's attention (teacher-managed, TM or child-managed, CM), and the content focus (basic skills such as teaching letters and their sounds, or meaning-focused such as discussing a book); children's behavioral engagement and off-task behavior were also coded live five times over the year. Word-reading and phonological awareness skills were assessed in fall and spring. Hierarchical Linear Modeling results indicated that kindergarteners with lower initial skills gained more in word-reading, but not phonological awareness, when they were exposed to relatively more time in TM basic skills instruction. In contrast, more time in CM meaning-focused instruction did not interact with initial skills to predict either outcome. Engagement analyses indicated that students were more likely to be off-task in CM than in TM contexts. Children who spent more time off-task during TM contexts had lower spring scores on both outcomes. Discussion explores the implications of this work for both literacy learning and behavioral engagement in the transition year of kindergarten.     

Code-oriented instruction for kindergarten students at risk for reading difficulties: a replication and comparison of instructional groupings

The purposes of this study were to replicate previous research on phonics-based tutoring in kindergarten and to compare treatment effects for students who received individual instruction compared to instruction in dyads. Thirty classroom teachers from 13 urban elementary schools referred at-risk students for participation. Students who met screening criteria were quasi-randomly assigned, within classroom, to one of three conditions: individual tutoring (n = 22), tutoring in dyads (n = 32), or no tutoring (n = 22, classroom instruction only). Twenty-one paraeducators provided 18 weeks of explicit instruction in phonemic skills and the alphabetic code to students during the latter half of kindergarten. Multilevel model results showed that tutored students outperformed non-tutored controls on posttest measures of phonological awareness, word reading accuracy, oral reading fluency, spelling, and comprehension. However, no significant differences were found between the two tutored groups on any measure, suggesting that code-oriented tutoring for pairs of students is a viable alternative to the gold standard of individual instruction.     

Using behavioral and academic indicators in the classroom to screen for at‐risk status

The present study validated a brief at‐risk screening instrument designed for easy use by teachers in the elementary school. School performance measures were collected for students in first to sixth grade one year following initial teacher ratings using the Screening For At‐Risk Status screening instrument. Findings indicated that the instrument is best seen as measuring a single at‐risk construct with items drawn from three domains: academic skills, social confidence, and social cooperation. Correlations between at‐risk scores and school performance measures taken one year later demonstrated predictive validity. The screening instrument correctly identified at‐risk students with 88% accuracy and not‐at‐risk students with 74% accuracy. There were 12% false negatives. Use of the instrument provides teachers with a quick, easy screening of students who may develop difficulties in the future. For schools, the screening can be used as the first step in a supportive response system to assist at‐risk students from developing serious school difficulties and possibly failure in the longer term. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 151–158, 2005.     

Designing effective interventions for children at‐risk for antisocial behavior: An integrated model of components necessary for making valid inferences

Children demonstrating antisocial behavior patterns are at‐risk for a host of negative outcomes including school failure, peer and teacher rejection, academic difficulties, and future delinquency. These children are undoubtedly in need of effective and appropriate interventions to address problem areas in both behavioral and academic domains. To ensure that academic and sociobehavioral interventions will be more successful, three main components: (a) social validity, (b) treatment integrity, and (c) generalization and maintenance must be addressed when designing the interventions. The purpose of this article is to (a) describe the pertinent characteristics (e.g., definition, application, and assessment issues) of each of these components as they relate to school‐based interventions, and (b) introduce an integrated model that illustrates the interrelatedness of these essential intervention components. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Concurrent validity of the early screening profiles and the differential ability scales with an at‐risk preschool sample

The relationship between the Early Screening Profiles (ESP; Harrison, 1990) and the Differential Ability Scales (DAS; Elliott, 1990a) was studied. The participants were 94 (57 males, 37 females) at‐risk preschoolers ranging in age from 3 years 6 months to 5 years 11 months (M= 4 years 7 months; SD= 6.3 months). The sample included 72 Caucasians, 21 African Americans, and one Hispanic. This study found that the DAS GCA (General Conceptual Ability) mean score was significantly lower than the ESP Total Screening mean score. However, a strong relationship (r= .78) was found between the ESP Total Screening and DAS GCA scores, indicating that the ESP is a good predictor of cognitive ability among at‐risk preschoolers. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Writing instruction in kindergarten: examining an emerging area of research for children with writing and reading difficulties

This review examines the literature on how to teach kindergarten children with reading and writing difficulties how to write. Specifically, research on handwriting instruction, spelling instruction, and composition writing is discussed. Due to the limited number of empirical studies on writing that included kindergarten students with diagnosed reading and writing difficulties, selected studies conducted with the full range of kindergarten children, as well as studies conducted in the early elementary grades, are presented to highlight future directions for research.     

Evidence for a simplicity principle: teaching common complex grapheme‐to‐phonemes improves reading and motivation in at‐risk readers

This study examines the effects of teaching common complex grapheme‐to‐phoneme correspondences (GPCs) on reading and reading motivation for at‐risk readers using a randomised control trial design with taught intervention and control conditions. One reading programme taught children complex GPCs ordered by their frequency of occurrence in children's texts (a ‘simplicity principle’). The other reading programme taught children word usage. Thirty‐eight students participated in the 9‐week programme of 30 supplemental small group sessions. Participants in the complex GPC group performed significantly better at post‐tests with generally large value‐added effect sizes (Cohen's d) at both by‐participant and by‐item for spelling, d = 1.85, d = 1.16; word recognition with words containing taught GPCs, d = 0.96, d = 0.95; word recognition, d = 0.79, d = 0.61, and reading motivation, d = 0.34, d = 0.56. These findings suggest that the simplicity principle aids in structuring maximally effective supplemental phonic interventions.     

A forest‐based environment as a site of literacy and meaning making for kindergarten children

This study analyses the valued school experiences of 15 five‐ and six‐year‐old Canadian children, through their creation of multimodal texts. Throughout the school year, the students spent a large portion of each school day in the expansive forest on the school grounds, and their texts revealed their significant interest in this natural outdoor environment. Specifically, the data revealed that the outdoor space provided a context where the children could engage with each other and the environment in meaningful, creative and collaborative ways. This research has the potential to contribute to our understanding of the capacity of young children to share their thoughts on their school experiences by drawing on a range of modes and to contribute to our understanding of the power of alternative learning spaces, such as forest environments, on children's literacy learning and development.     

The association between academic self‐beliefs and reading achievement among children at risk of reading failure

This paper investigates whether children's academic self‐beliefs are associated with reading achievement and whether the relationship is modified by gender and/or age. Data were collected from children at risk of reading failure, that is, emergent readers (6‐ to 8‐year‐olds) in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas reading at a level below the population mean. The authors' own measure of attitude to reading and perceived competence was used. The study found a significant positive association between attitude to reading in class and vocabulary and phonemic awareness and a significant negative association between perceived competence at reading in class and single‐word reading and spelling. Girls' attitude to reading and perceived competence were more positively associated with reading achievement, and this was most evident in the first grade. Perceived competence was inflated among those with the poorest reading and also among boys, in association with reading‐related skills found most challenging by children in this sample.     

The development of children at familial risk for dyslexia: Birth to early school age

Children at risk for familial dyslexia (n = 107) and their controls (n = 93) have been followed from birth to school entry in the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal study of Dyslexia (JLD) on developmental factors linked to reading and dyslexia. At the point of school entry, the majority of the at-risk children displayed decoding ability that fell at least 1 SD below the mean of the control group. Measures of speech processing were the earliest indices to show both group differences in infancy and also significant predictive associations with reading acquisition. A number of measures of language, including phonological and morphological skill collected repeatedly from age three, revealed group differences and predictive correlations. Both the group differences and the predictive associations to later language and reading ability strengthened as a function of increasing age. The predictions, however, tend to be stronger and the spectrum of significant correlations wider in the at-risk group. These results are crucial to early identification and intervention of dyslexia in at-risk children.     

Effects of single‐case reading interventions for students with and at‐risk of emotional and behavioral disorders in grades K–12: A quantitative synthesis

This study examined the effects of reading interventions from single‐case design studies for students with and at‐risk of emotional and behavioral disorders in grades K–12 using a quantitative synthesis. Seventeen studies met the selection criteria of having one more dependent variables meeting what works clearinghouse (WWC) design standards with or without reservations. Although students’ reading performance significantly improved from baseline to intervention phases (p < 0.001), the overall weighted average effect size was weak (Tau‐U = 0.58, 95% confidence interval = [0.54, 0.63]; d = 0.29); smaller effects were found on reading comprehension. Interventions were less effective for students in secondary grades, students with a comorbid disability, and students in substantially separate settings. While no studies meeting the selection criteria were conducted in inclusive settings, the teacher provided interventions were more effective than those provided by researchers suggesting the importance of the student–teacher relationship for reading instruction. Study limitations, areas for future research, and implications for school practices are discussed.     

The relationship between strategic reading instruction,student learning of L2‐based reading strategies and L2 reading achievement

This study investigates the relationship between strategic reading instruction, the process of learning second language‐based reading strategies and English reading achievement for Thai university students of science and technology. In a course in reading general English texts for 16 weeks, 82 students were taught using a strategies‐based approach (experimental cohort), whereas another 82 students were taught using a traditional, teacher‐centred approach (control cohort). A pre‐test/post‐test research design was employed, and a portfolio approach was used to investigate the experimental cohort students' process of learning reading strategies. The results showed that the experimental cohort outperformed the control cohort in the post‐course standardised English test. The higher‐level reading proficiency learners in the experimental cohort were also found to be better than their low‐level peers at learning to use second language‐based reading strategies effectively. Implications are discussed for alternative instructional practice of reading in English as a foreign language (EFL).     

Attendance,performance and the acquisition of early literacy skills: A comparison of Indigenous and non-Indigenous school children

As part of an evaluation of a web-based early literacy intervention, ABRACADABRA, a small exploratory study was conducted over one term in three primary schools in the Northern Territory. Of particular concern was the relationship between attendance and the acquisition of early literacy skills of Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. Using the GRADE literacy assessment, it was found that students made significant gains in a number of early literacy skills (e.g. phonological awareness skills and vocabulary processing). Classroom attendance was strongly and positively correlated with the acquisition of phonological awareness skills and early literacy skills (e.g. letter recognition, word identification processing). Indigenous children attended class significantly less frequently than non-Indigenous children and performed significantly worse overall, particularly with regard to phonological processing tasks. In light of these findings, it is suggested irregular attendance contributed to the Indigenous students' lowered literacy acquisition.     

Providing preschool foundations for later reading comprehension: The importance of and ideas for targeting inferencing in storybook‐sharing interventions

A significant gap in emerging literacy intervention with preschoolers relates to a skill that is crucial to later reading comprehension–the ability to engage in inferencing. This article presents a theoretical rationale for fostering inferential language during book sharing with preschool children, and provides research‐based ideas for how this can be best accomplished. It is suggested that, at the preschool level, children can be supported in their ability to make inferences about stories read aloud to them by having adults ask both literal and inferential questions that, first and foremost, relate to the causal structure of stories. Additionally, questions focused on informational and evaluative inferences serve to further enhance story comprehension. A rubric for connecting such questions to the elements of story grammar is offered, and a specific example from a published preschool level storybook is provided. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Making sense in the city: Dolly Parton,early reading and educational policy‐making

In this paper, we present a case study of a philanthropic literacy initiative, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a book‐gifting scheme for under 5s, and consider the impact of the scheme on literacy policy in the English city where it was introduced. We bring four lenses to bear on the case study. First, we analyse the operation of the scheme in the community it was intended to serve; second, we consider the case study as an early literacy intervention aimed at promoting reading development; then we consider it from the perspective of theories about marketing and branding; and finally, we analyse it from the perspective of new philanthropy theory. We use these lenses to help us make sense of the current pressures on educational policy‐making in English cities, as city officials struggle to manage competing political agendas, to initiate reforms in situations where they have significant responsibilities but reduced power, and to maintain the distinctiveness of the places they represent. We argue for the need to reassess our understandings of the ways that literacy policies are made at the local level within this rapidly changing context.