Study: 89481

Practice Guide

Review Details

Reviewed: November 2021

No statistically significant positive
findings

Meets WWC standards without reservations

For:

Practice Guide (findings for Reading intervention 1 (Roberts et al. (2018)))

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

Measures of general reading proficiency and English Language Arts outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index	Evidence tier
Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests (GMRT): Total	Reading intervention 1 (Roberts et al. (2018)) vs. Business as usual	0 Days	Full sample; 240 students	461.33	465.24	No	--

Reading Comprehension outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement index	Evidence tier
Passage Comprehension Subtest: Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement III	Reading intervention 1 (Roberts et al. (2018)) vs. Business as usual	0 Days	Full sample; 240 students	485.91	485.13	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.

17% English language learners
Suburban, Urban
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West

Race
Black		36%
Native American		2%
Other or unknown		20%
White		42%

Ethnicity
Hispanic		6%
Not Hispanic or Latino		94%

Study Details

Setting

Seven schools from two southwestern U.S. school districts participated in the study, three from urban areas and four from “near-urban” areas. The intervention was implemented during after-school tutoring sessions at the schools.

Study sample

Of the 278 randomly assigned to the text processing with foundational reading skills (TP+FS) and comparison conditions, 75 were in grade 3, 109 were in grade 4, and 94 were in grade 5. In addition, 16.5% of the sample were English learners; 18.25% received services in special education; 36% were Black, 6.1% were Hispanic, 2.15% were Native American, 41.75% were White, and 6.45% have two or more races/ethnicities. On average 61% of students in the seven schools were qualified for free and reduced-price lunch.

Intervention Group

The study examined the effectiveness of a reading intervention for students struggling with reading. Students in the intervention group received an offer to attend a supplementary reading program after school aimed to develop their reading comprehension. The intervention of interest in this contrast (text processing with foundational reading skills) consisted of 30 minutes of computer-based instruction and 30 minutes of small-group instruction delivered to three to six students. Sessions occurred 4 to 5 days per week from November to May. The intervention consisted of using text processing approaches as a way to help students work through text and understand it, instead of focusing on specific routines for reading. The intervention also worked on building the foundational reading skills of students (e.g., phonemic awareness and phonics).

Comparison Group

Students assigned to the comparison condition continued with business-as-usual instruction. They received no invitation to attend an after-school program.

Support for implementation

Tutors completed six hours of training before the intervention, a two-hour training during the intervention, and ongoing observations and support as needed. The training sessions focused on implementing the intervention components, instructional techniques, promoting student engagement, and behavior management.

Examining the Effects of Afterschool Reading Interventions for Upper Elementary Struggling Readers [Text processing with foundational reading skills intervention vs. business as usual]