Evaluating the effectiveness of a phonologically based reading intervention for struggling readers with varying language profiles.
Duff, F. J., Hayiou-Thomas, M. E., & Hulme, C. (2012). Reading and Writing, 25(3), 621–640. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ956317
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examining59Students
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: February 2023
- Practice Guide (findings for Reading intervention emphasising the link between phonological awareness and reading—Duff et al. (2012))
- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it uses a quasi-experimental design in which the analytic intervention and comparison groups satisfy the baseline equivalence requirement.
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
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Letter knowledge |
Reading intervention emphasising the link between phonological awareness and reading—Duff et al. (2012) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
25.13 |
25.38 |
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.
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Female: 30%
Male: 29% -
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International
Study Details
Setting
The study takes place in 8 primary schools in the North Yorkshire county of UK.
Study sample
The comparison group was even split in terms of gender (15 males/15 females), as was the intervention group (14 males/15 females). Age of students ranged from 5 years 3 months to 7 years 3 months. Three of the comparison students and 7 of the treatment students were reported by teachers as having speech/language difficulties.
Intervention Group
The 10-week intervention program provides daily 20-minute sessions, alternating each day between individual and small (3-students) groups. The structure of the group sessions consisted of: - 6 minutes - letter and word identification training where new words are introduced and reinforced through multi-story activities, - 8 minutes - phonological awareness activities, where students practice the blending, segmenting, deleting, and transposing syllables and phonemes and linkage between sound and letters is demonstrated - 6 minutes - group narration of a sentence or short story with the children using sound linkage to write down a section from the narrative. The structure of the individual sessions consisted of: - 4 minutes - reading an easy book - 5 minutes - formal assessment by teaching assistant of student's reading ability, - 2 minutes - identify teaching points to improve student's reading skills (e.g. introduce new sight words, emphasize phrasing and fluency), - 9 minutes - student reads a book at the 'instructional level' by himself, and then again with the TA using a scaffolding approach to shared reading.
Comparison Group
The comparison condition included business as usual instruction. Regular literacy instruction provided about 15 minutes of phonics instruction daily. Classrooms generally provided guided reading (adult working with small groups of children , grouped by ability) and independent reading.
Support for implementation
The teaching assistants who delivered the intervention received four days of training from the local education authority.
Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade
Review Details
Reviewed: June 2016
Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade Practice Guide- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Meets WWC standards with reservations
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
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
Study sample characteristics were not reported.An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
The WWC may review studies for multiple purposes, including different reports and re-reviews using updated standards. Each WWC review of this study is listed in the dropdown. Details on any review may be accessed by making a selection from the drop down list.
Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).