The Engaged Learners Program: Effects on Student Engagement During Small Group Reading Instruction.

In this study we tested the usability, feasibility, social validity, and effectiveness of Engaged Learners, a behavior support program designed to be integrated into small group reading interventions. Participants included eight Grade 3 to 5 students with co-occurring reading difficulties and inattention. A concurrent multiple-baseline design was utilized to test the effects of Engaged Learners on engagement outcomes. Visual analysis and effect sizes indicated an improvement in engagement for seven students. Interventionists and students viewed the Engaged Learners program to be effective and socially valid. Limitations included lower than expected levels of fidelity for one interventionist and high student absenteeism. More research is needed to identify the extent to which Engaged Learners can support reading outcomes. Educators seeking an effective behavior support program that requires minimal training and coaching may consider integrating Engaged Learners into their small group reading instruction.

Problem Behaviors and Response to Reading Intervention for Upper Elementary Students With Reading Difficulties.

This study investigated the extent to which problem behaviors were factors associated with response to a year-long multicomponent reading intervention for fourth- and fifth-grade students with reading difficulties. Students scoring ≤85 standard score on the Test of Silent Reading Efficiency and Comprehension (n = 108), a reading fluency and comprehension screener measure, were randomized to the researcher-provided treatment condition (n = 55) or the business-as-usual comparison condition (n = 53). Results indicated that problem behaviors were associated with lower reading comprehension outcomes. Findings also suggested that students with higher levels of overall problem behaviors and externalizing behaviors in the treatment condition outperformed similar students in the comparison condition on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test (p < .05). Future research is needed on how to best identify, develop, and adapt effective interventions for students with reading difficulties and problem behaviors within school-wide response to intervention frameworks.

Social Studies Content Knowledge Interventions for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: A Meta-Analysis.

The importance of social studies and civics education is increasing, as evidenced by the growing number of states requiring coursework in this area for graduation and its growing presence in school accountability frameworks. Social studies instruction is critical for all students so that they may understand their roles, rights, and responsibilities as citizens and how their actions can influence their communities. Students who exhibit antisocial behaviors, such as those with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), may especially benefit from social studies and civics education as it promotes college and career readiness and provides opportunities to engage in social problem solving and perspective taking. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the social studies and civics intervention research for students with EBD. We sought to describe and evaluate the extant literature, identify promising practices, and suggest areas for future research. A total of 17 intervention studies were identified. Overall, 10 out of the 17 studies met What Works Clearinghouse Design Standards with or without reservations. Eight of the 10 studies were eligible for effect size calculation, resulting in an overall large effect (g = 0.83). Study limitations, implications for school practice, and directions for research are discussed.

Examining Sources and Mechanisms of Reading Comprehension Difficulties: Comparing English Learners and Non-English Learners within the Simple View of Reading.

In the present study, we compared the extent to which linguistic comprehension (vocabulary and listening comprehension) and word reading explain reading comprehension differentially for English learners (ELs) and non-ELs with reading difficulties, and we investigated whether different mechanisms of reading comprehension failure exist for each group. Using the simple view of reading as our framework, we tested a model in which vocabulary exerts a direct effect on reading comprehension and indirect effects through listening comprehension and word reading. Results from a multigroup structural equation model with a sample of 446 struggling fourth-grade readers (n = 229 for ELs; n = 211 for non-ELs) demonstrated both similarities and differences in the sources and mechanisms of reading comprehension difficulties for ELs and non-ELs with reading problems. Word reading was an important source of reading comprehension difficulty for both groups. For non-ELs, the effect of word reading was larger than the effects of linguistic comprehension (vocabulary and listening comprehension combined); however, for ELs, the effects of linguistic comprehension were greater than the effect of word reading. Vocabulary had indirect effects via both listening comprehension and word reading for ELs, but it demonstrated a direct effect on reading comprehension for non-ELs. These results suggest that developing a range of linguistic comprehension skills (e.g., word-level and sentence-level language skills) may be important for ELs with reading comprehension difficulties in the upper-elementary grades.

Efficacy of a Word- and Text-Based Intervention for Students With Significant Reading Difficulties.

We examine the efficacy of an intervention to improve word reading and reading comprehension in fourth- and fifth-grade students with significant reading problems. Using a randomized control trial design, we compare the fourth- and fifth-grade reading outcomes of students with severe reading difficulties who were provided a researcher-developed treatment with reading outcomes of students in a business-as-usual (BAU) comparison condition. A total of 280 fourth- and fifth-grade students were randomly assigned within school in a 1:1 ratio to either the BAU comparison condition ( n = 139) or the treatment condition ( n = 141). Treatment students were provided small-group tutoring for 30 to 45 minutes for an average of 68 lessons (mean hours of instruction = 44.4, SD = 11.2). Treatment students performed statistically significantly higher than BAU students on a word reading measure (effect size [ES] = 0. 58) and a measure of reading fluency (ES = 0.46). Though not statistically significant, effect sizes for students in the treatment condition were consistently higher than BAU students for decoding measures (ES = 0.06, 0.08), and mixed for comprehension (ES = -0.02, 0.14).

Embedding Self-Regulation Into Reading Interventions to Support Reading and Behavior Outcomes.

It was almost winter break, and Ms. Salvador, the reading specialist at Awbrey Park Elementary School, was reviewing the fifth-grade progress-monitoring reading data for students receiving intensive small-group reading interventions. She noticed that several students were not making the reading gains that they had expected. Ms. Salvador and her team also realized that during reading instruction, many of these students displayed problem behaviors, such as having difficulty remaining on task and disrupting other students. After reading as much as she could on the topic, Ms. Salvador found that incorporating self-regulation strategies into reading interventions could lead to improvements in reading and an increase in appropriate behaviors that students display during reading instruction. Knowing how interrelated reading and behavior can be, Ms. Salvador decided to collaborate with Mr. Tanner, the behavior specialist, in developing self-regulation interventions for their students at Awbrey Park Elementary. However, before they could begin to create these self-regulation interventions, Ms. Salvador and Mr. Tanner needed to identify more research on what self-regulation strategies were available and how self-regulation strategies could be used to support students with both reading and behavioral difficulties during small-group reading interventions.

Examining the Effects of Afterschool Reading Interventions for Upper Elementary Struggling Readers.

We examined the efficacy of an afterschool multicomponent reading intervention for third- through fifth-grade students with reading difficulties. A total of 419 students were identified for participation based on a 90 standard score or below on a screening measure of the Test of Silent Reading Efficiency and Comprehension. Participating students were randomly assigned to a business as usual comparison condition or one of two reading treatments. All treatment students received 30 min of computer-based instruction plus 30 min of small-group tutoring for four to five times per week. No statistically significant reading comprehension posttest group differences were identified (p > .05). The limitations of this study included high attrition and absenteeism. These findings extend those from a small sample of experimental studies examining afterschool reading interventions and provide initial evidence that more instruction, after school, may not yield the desired outcome of improved comprehension.

Causal Mediation in Educational Intervention Studies.

Understanding the factors that mediate the effect of educational or behavioral intervention is critical to advancing both research and practice. When properly implemented, mediators add depth to the results of intervention research, indicating why a program works, highlighting ways to enhance its effectiveness, and revealing the elements that are essential to successful implementation. However, many researchers find mediation a difficult topic and struggle to implement it properly in statistical models of effects from between-groups randomized studies. In an effort to bring clarity to the topic of mediation and encourage its use where appropriate, this article lays out the requirements for evidence of a causal-mediated effect. An example of a randomized trial of an intervention targeting self-regulation and student behavior is used to illustrate the process of conceptualizing and testing for mediation of treatment effects. Statistical considerations also are addressed.

Text-based Vocabulary Intervention Training Study: Supporting Fourth Graders with Low Reading Comprehension and Learning Disabilities.

This experimental study examined the effectiveness of a text-based reading and vocabulary intervention with self-regulatory supports for 4th graders with low reading comprehension. Students with standard scores on the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test between 1.0 standard deviation (SD) and 0.5 SD below the normative sample were included (N=44) and randomly assigned to treatment condition (n=25) or no treatment comparison condition (n=19). Researchers provided the intervention to students in groups of approximately 2-3 students for eight 30 minute sessions. Students in the treatment condition made statistically significant gains on a researcher-developed measure of reading and vocabulary compared with students in the comparison condition.

Further evaluation of latency-based brief functional analysis methods: An evaluation of treatment utility.

OBJECTIVE: Objectives were to evaluate latency-based brief functional analysis (BFA) model for identifying functions of aberrant behavior and treatments generated based on the results of the latency-based brief functional analysis. METHODS: We conducted latency-based BFA, including contingency reversals, and function-based treatment evaluations, including non-contingent reinforcement (NCR) and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) with three individuals with autism using single subject design methodology. RESULTS: Socially-mediated functions (attention; tangible) were indicated for two participants and an automatic function was identified for one participant. The treatments generated based on results of the BFA were effective at reducing aberrant behavior for all participants. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide additional support that latency-based BFA model has utility in (a) the identification of functions of aberrant behavior and (b) the generation of function-based treatments. These results suggest clinicians who encounter setting and client-specific constraints (e.g. time; severity of aberrant behavior) have additional flexibility in choosing assessment tools.

A Century of Progress: Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4-12, 1914-2014.

The history of research on interventions for struggling readers in Grades 4 through 12 dates back to 19th-century case studies of seemingly intelligent children who were unable to learn to read. Physicians, psychologists, educators, and others were determined to help them. In the process, they launched a century of research on a wide variety of approaches to reading intervention. As shown in this systematic narrative review, much has changed over time in the conceptualization of reading interventions and the methods used to determine their efficacy in improving outcomes for struggling readers. Building on the knowledge gathered over the past 100 years, researchers and practitioners are well-poised to continue to make progress in developing and testing reading interventions over the next 100 years.

Reading interventions with behavioral and social skill outcomes: a synthesis of research.

Research findings have suggested that reading deficits and problem behaviors are positively related. This synthesis investigated how reading interventions impact behavioral/social skill outcomes by reviewing studies that included (a) a reading intervention without behavioral/social skill components, (b) behavioral/social skill dependent variables, and (c) students in Grades K-12. Fifteen articles were evaluated by the type of reading intervention, associations between positive reading effects and behavioral/social skill outcomes, and The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) determinants of study ratings. Findings suggested that reading interventions tended to have positive reading outcomes, while behavioral/social skill outcomes were small or negative. Research did not suggest an association between improved reading and behavioral performance, regardless of the WWC study determinants rating. Implications include reading instruction may not be sufficient to improve behavioral and social skill outcomes. Additional research is warranted to investigate the long-term impact of reading on behavioral and social skill outcomes.

Cognitive Attributes, Attention, and Self-Efficacy of Adequate and Inadequate Responders in a Fourth Grade Reading Intervention.

We examined cognitive attributes, attention, and self-efficacy of fourth grade struggling readers who were identified as adequate responders (n = 27), inadequate responders with comprehension only deficits (n = 46), and inadequate responders with comprehension and word reading deficits (n = 52) after receiving a multicomponent reading intervention. We also included typical readers (n = 40). These four groups were compared on measures of nonverbal reasoning, working memory, verbal knowledge, listening comprehension, phonological awareness, and rapid naming as well as on teacher ratings of attention problems and self-reported self-efficacy. The two inadequate responder groups demonstrated difficulties primarily with verbal knowledge and listening comprehension compared to typical readers and adequate responders. Phonological awareness and rapid naming differentiated the two inadequate responder groups. In addition, both inadequate responder groups showed more attention problems and low self-efficacy compared to typical readers.