Four methods of identifying change in the context of a multiple component reading intervention for struggling middle school readers
Frijters, J. C., Lovett, M. W., Sevcik, R. A., & Morris, R. D. (2013). Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 26(4), 539-563.
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examining270Students, grades6-8
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: December 2019
- Single Study Review (findings for PHAST Reading)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it is a compromised cluster randomized controlled trial, but it satisfies the baseline equivalence requirement for the individuals in the analytic intervention and comparison groups.
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
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ-III): Word Attack subtest |
PHAST Reading vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
88.69 |
83.74 |
Yes |
|
|
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: 29%
Male: 72% -
Suburban, Urban
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Georgia, International
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Race Black 15% White 71%
Study Details
Setting
This study was conducted in middle schools in Toronto and surrounding area in southern Ontario, and the metropolitan Atlanta area. Study participants were those students identified as being significantly below age-expected achievement in reading.
Study sample
Study participants had an average age of 12.42 years, with the majority male (71.5%) and Caucasian (71.1%). An additional 15.2% identified as African American.
Intervention Group
PHAST Reading is a multiple-component active reading remediation intervention, administered for 1 hour each day, for a total of 125 hours of instruction in small groups. Combining direct instruction, dialogue-based strategy instruction, and daily reading practice, PHAST Reading integrates phonological and strategy-based reading instruction to help students decode words and become strategic readers.
Comparison Group
Students assigned to the comparison group received at least 125 hours of small-group instruction using locally developed, eclectic programs that taught decoding, reading comprehension, and/or writing content.
Support for implementation
No support for implementation was provided.
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).