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IES Grant

Title: Efficacy of the Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended as a Small Group Intervention for Intermediate Grade Struggling Readers
Center: NCSER Year: 2011
Principal Investigator: Gelzheiser, Lynn Awardee: State University of New York (SUNY), Albany
Program: Reading, Writing, and Language      [Program Details]
Award Period: 7/1/11–6/30/15 Award Amount: $3,138,200
Type: Efficacy and Replication Award Number: R324A110053
Description:

Purpose: Instructional approaches for improving reading and writing skills of older students may address deficits in knowledge, vocabulary, comprehension, and basic reading skills. Often the approaches feature a standard treatment that does not differentiate instruction based on individual student needs. The research team proposes to investigate the efficacy of the Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended with third and fourth graders who have disabilities or are struggling readers. The intervention is a set of instructional goals, approaches, and materials that supplement classroom reading instruction and can be tailored to the reading and writing needs of individual students. The intervention is intended to accelerate students' basic reading skills, vocabulary, and listening and reading comprehension.

Project Activities: A randomized control trial design will be used to study the efficacy of the Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended for improving basic reading, vocabulary, and listening and reading comprehension skills of third and fourth graders who have disabilities or are struggling readers at risk for disabilities. Students will be randomly assigned to receive the Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended or a business-as-usual control group in the fall semester. The business-as-usual control group will serve as a "wait list" control and will receive intervention during the spring semester. Both groups will be assessed pre-intervention, frequently throughout the school year, and post-intervention in the fall and spring.

Products: The products of this project will be published reports on the efficacy of Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended and moderators of intervention effects.

Structured Abstract

Setting: The research will take place in New York.

Population: Approximately 300 third and fourth grade students who have disabilities or are struggling readers will participate in this research. To qualify as a struggling reader, students must demonstrate adequate verbal ability on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4 but weak reading comprehension on the STAR Reading assessment.

Intervention: The Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended is a set of instructional goals, approaches, and materials that can be tailored to meet the reading and writing needs of individual students. The instructional goals will be used to customize students' interventions and include motivation to read and write, phonological skills, word identification, comprehension and general knowledge, and vocabulary. Approximately 50 to 60 40-minute sessions will be given to groups of three students during one semester. Sessions will begin with a mini-lesson, devote a majority of time to reading and discussion, and end with reflection or writing.

Research Design and Methods: A randomized control trial design will be used to study the efficacy of the intervention. Students who are identified as struggling readers will be randomly assigned to Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended or a business-as-usual control group. The business-as-usual control group will serve as a "wait list" control and will receive intervention during the spring semester. Both groups will be assessed pre-intervention, frequently throughout the school year, and post-intervention in the fall and spring. In addition, a subsample of students who are not struggling readers will be randomly sampled so that the progress of students who receive the Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended can be compared to their typically developing peers.

Control Condition: The Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended administered in the fall will be compared to a business-as-usual condition in which students participate in the classroom and supplementary reading instruction typically provided by the school.

Key Measures: The efficacy of Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended will be evaluated on a continuum of reading measures, including measures of oral reading comprehension, accuracy, and fluency; silent reading comprehension; listening comprehension; basic reading skills; vocabulary; and engagement.

Data Analytic Strategy: Multi-level modeling will be used for data analyses to evaluate the effects of Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended on reading achievement, to compare student growth rates in reading, and to identify potential moderators of intervention effects.

Related IES Projects: Extending the Interactive Strategies Approach to Older Struggling Readers (R324A070223)

Publications

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Gelzheiser, L.M., Hallgren-Flynn, L., Connors, M., and Scanlon, D. (2014). Reading Thematically-Related Texts to Develop Knowledge and Comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 68(1): 53–63. doi:10.1002/trtr.1271 Full text


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