Paraprofessional-Led Phonological Awareness Training with Youngsters at Risk for Reading and Behavioral Concerns

Findings

Phonology outcomes—Substantively important positive effect found for the domain

Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement     index	Evidence tier
Test of phonological awareness	Phonological Awareness Training for Reading (PATR) vs. Business as usual	0 Weeks	Full sample; 24 students	84.63	76.40	No	--

Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Study Details

Setting

This study took place in a single suburban elementary school located in the southwestern United States. Students assigned to the intervention group were assigned to one of four groups with 3-4 students apiece. These groups were pulled out of the classroom into a nearby room for purposes of conducting the intervention activities.

Study sample

Four of the 24 students participating in the study were receiving special education services. The children were deemed "at risk" for emotional and behavioral disorders according to their teachers, but that is not a criterion for exclusion. Nine of the children were Hispanic.

Intervention Group

Students assigned to the Phonological Awareness Training for Reading condition (PATR) received 15 hours of supplemental reading/phonological awareness training over the course of 10 week period (three 30 minute sessions per week for 10 weeks). Sessions were led by para-professional who also worked with all three grade 1 teachers. Sessions were held in another room, with students in the PATR condition pulled out. These sessions were conducted outside of students normal literacy instruction period. The PATR intervention is designed to promote students' awareness of sound structure by demonstrating the link between spoken language and letters. The intervention focuses on strengthening students' skills in four areas: (1) rhyming, (2) blending, (3) segmenting, and (4) reading and spelling. Intervention activities for each of the 30 sessions were written out in advance. During initial sessions, the interventionist (the para-professional who was trained to lead these sessions) covered rhyming. Then came activities focused on blending sounds to form words. Later sessions involved leading students through segmenting activities (separating words into distinct phonemes). Students learned to segment by identifying words beginning with same initial sounds, then words ending with the same sounds, and then words with same middle sounds. During the last sessions, the interventionist introduced to students the letters associated with the sounds that produce words. Authors refer readers to the PATR technical manual for more information on the curriculum.

Comparison Group

Students in the comparison condition remained in their classroom while students in the intervention were pulled out for the intervention activities.

Support for implementation

The three first-grade teachers received a two hour training two months prior to the beginning of school. The paraprofessional took part in a separate two hour training (because she was unable to make the training for teachers, but covered the same content). The training covered perspectives of reading development, effective reading programs, behavior management strategies, and the activities and materials with the accompanying resources. Sample lessons were modeled during the training. The paraprofessional also received ongoing training during 30 minute meetings held every week. During these weekly meetings, the research assistants provided the paraprofessional with feedback from implementation data and observations.