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Program information
Developer and contact
Developed by Dr. Barbara Taylor, Early Intervention in Reading® is distributed by the Early Intervention in Reading Program. Address: EIR® Professional Development Program, c/o Ceil Critchley, 11293 Hastings Street NE, Blaine, MN 55449. Email: ccritchley@comcast.net. Web: www.earlyinterventioninreading.com. Telephone: (763) 785-0701.
Scope of use
Early Intervention in Reading® was developed in 1989–90. Information is not available on the number or demographics of students, schools, or districts using the program.
Teaching
Instruction involves 15–20 minutes of daily supplemental instruction to the whole class or to groups of five to seven struggling readers. In kindergarten, activities address listening to stories, creative dramatics, and literacy development (concepts of print, rhyme, phonemic segmentation and blending, letter and sound recognition). In first and second grades, the lessons include repeated reading of familiar stories, coached reading of a new story, phonemic awareness training and systematic phonics instruction, as well as guided sentence writing, vocabulary, and comprehension instruction. The third and fourth grade programs use narrative and informational picture books and focus on attacking multi-syllabic words and fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies. The study reviewed here focused on first grade students.
EIR® has a number of teacher training modules. Modules cover how to use the program, the research and background of the program, routines for the various grade levels, and use of assessments. Other topics include involving parents, training one-on-one coaches, taking running records, and evaluating EIR® implementation. The training program lasts nine months and consists of two-hour Internet sessions conducted once a month, along with telephone support from an EIR® trainer. Typically, 45 minutes is spent in a large group session, during which an on-site facilitator leads the group through the Internet program. Then 45 minutes is spent in small groups with teachers sharing videos of their own practice. For the last half hour of the session, an EIR® trainer meets with the cohort via conference call to answer questions and highlight appropriate concepts and procedures. Trainers also speak with the teachers by phone between meetings. On-site technical assistance can be requested by program developers.
Cost
Currently, the EIR® Internet training program costs $500 per teacher. One or more site visits by the EIR® trainer can be arranged at an additional cost. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more teachers.
