Study: 86385

IES Performance Measure

Review Details

Reviewed: August 2023

At least one finding shows promising evidence of effectiveness

At least one statistically significant positive finding

Meets WWC standards without reservations

For:

IES Performance Measure (findings for Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB))

Using:

Rating:

Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.

This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.

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

Findings

Comprehension outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index
Nonverbal Literacy Assessment: Conventions of Reading subtest	Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB) vs. Business as usual	9 Months	Full sample; 74 students	0.77	0.65	Yes	18
Show Supplemental Findings
Nonverbal Literacy Assessment: Conventions of Reading subtest	Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB) vs. Business as usual	2 Months	Full sample; 74 students	0.58	0.48	No	--
Nonverbal Literacy Assessment: Conventions of Reading subtest	Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB) vs. Business as usual	6 Months	Full sample; 74 students	0.71	0.62	No	--
Nonverbal Literacy Assessment: Conventions of Reading subtest	Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB) vs. Business as usual	4 Months	Full sample; 74 students	0.63	0.56	No	--

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

Sample Characteristics

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.

Female: 31%
Male: 69%
Suburban, Urban
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Midwest, West

Study Details

Setting

The study takes place in 16 elementary schools within 11 school districts; 9 of the elementary schools were in one Pacific Coast state while the remaining 7 elementary schools were located in two Midwestern states. Of the 9 schools in the Pacific Coast state, six of the schools were in urban settings and three were in suburban settings. All of the Midwestern elementary schools were urban schools. The study included students in kindergarten through 4th grade.

Study sample

All 80 participating students were in grades K-4 with 24 percent in kindergarten, 24 percent in grade 1, 30 percent in grade 2, 13 percent in grade 3, and 10 percent in grade 4. Also, 69 percent of the students were male; 56 percent were classified as having an intellectual disability and 44 percent with autism; and 70 percent were classified as verbal and the other 30 percent as nonverbal.

Intervention Group

Students in the Early Literacy Skills Builder intervention condition received instruction in a small group setting over the course of the 9-month school year. These lessons were conducted for 30-40 minutes during the literacy block in general education classrooms throughout the school year. Early Literacy Skills Builder includes two components: Building with Sounds and Symbols and Building with Stories. Building with Sounds and Symbols contains seven levels with five lessons each. These lessons focus on teaching alphabetics and vocabulary. Building with Stories is shared story-reading time that includes instructing students to interact with books and developing listening comprehension and vocabulary skills. Two focal students and two general education classmates (called “reading buddies”) typically participated in the lessons. The participating paraprofessionals implemented components of the literacy instruction under the supervision of the special education teachers. No other literacy instruction was provided at other times during the day.

Comparison Group

Students in the comparison condition received business-as-usual instruction planned by special education teachers to address the literacy goals in the students’ individualized education programs (IEPs) during the 9-month study year. The instruction included published curricula as well as teacher-made materials and lesson plans. These lessons were conducted for 30-40 minutes during the literacy block in general education classrooms throughout the school year. The majority of lessons were delivered in small groups, but a few classrooms implemented the comparison condition through whole class instruction and other classrooms used a combination of whole class and small group instruction.

Support for implementation

Members of the study team were certified in Early Literacy Skills Builder implementation by members of the research team who developed and evaluated the curriculum (from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte). The special education teachers who delivered the intervention participated in a two-day ELSB training conducted by the research team members during the summer prior to implementation. This training also included a refresher session just before the beginning of the school year. To support implementation during the school year, site coordinators observed literacy lessons weekly and provided corrective feedback as needed.

Implementing Comprehensive Literacy Instruction for Students with Severe Disabilities in General Education Classrooms