Effects of Read It Again! In Early Childhood Special Education Classrooms as Compared to Regular Shared Book Reading
Piasta, Shayne B.; Sawyer, Brook; Justice, Laura M.; O'Connell, Ann A.; Jiang, Hui; Dogucu, Mine; Khan, Kiren S. (2020). Journal of Early Intervention, v42 n3 p224-243. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1260922
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examining726Students, gradePK
Department-funded evaluation
Review Details
Reviewed: November 2021
- Department-funded evaluation (findings for Read It Again (RIA))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it is a cluster randomized controlled trial with high individual-level non-response, but provides evidence of effects on individuals by satisfying 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
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) Uppercase and Lowercase Letter Recognition subtests |
Read It Again (RIA) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
30.26 |
30.53 |
No |
-- | |
|
Prereading Inventory of Phonological Awareness Rhyme Awareness subtest - phonological awareness |
Read It Again (RIA) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
4.31 |
4.27 |
No |
-- | |
|
Preschool Word and Print Awareness - print-concept knowledge |
Read It Again (RIA) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
106.06 |
105.75 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Renfrew Bus Story - narrative |
Read It Again (RIA) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
16.20 |
17.43 |
No |
-- | |
|
Test of Preschool Early Literacy (TOPEL), definitional vocabulary subtest |
Read It Again (RIA) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
47.76 |
48.76 |
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: 41%
Male: 59% -
Rural, Suburban, Urban
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Race Black 20% Other or unknown 15% White 65% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 17% Not Hispanic or Latino 83%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in two states in 109 early childhood special education (ECSE) classrooms. Over one-fourth (27%) were self-contained ECSE classrooms. The majority (72%) were affiliated with local public schools, with the remaining 28 percent affiliated with Head Start programs.
Study sample
Teachers were an average of 42 years old and predominantly female (92%). The majority were White (89%) and the remainder were Black (5%) and LatinX (8%). Students were on average 52 months old and primarily boys (59%). The majority were White (65%) with 20 percent Black, 17 percent Hispanic or LatinX, and 15 percent identified as "other" or multiple races. Children who were receiving special education services had been diagnosed with speech or language impairment (28%); developmental delay (16%); autism spectrum disorder (9%); emotional disturbance (0.9%); specific learning disability (0.9%); intellectual disability (0.6%); visual, hearing, orthopedic, or other health impairment (4%); or multiple disabilities (22%). Parents did not report specific diagnoses for the remaining 19 percent of children with disabilities.
Intervention Group
The Read it again! (RIA) intervention is a curriculum (manual and lessons) plus accompanying 15 commercially available children's books. RIA was implemented over 30 weeks and provided two lessons per week as part of whole-class instruction (60 lessons in total). RIA lessons follow a systematic scope and sequence, and they embed explicit instruction in key meaning-based skills and code-based skills within shared book reading. Lessons are approximately 20 minutes long and soft scripted. RIA encourages teachers to differentiate instruction through scaffolding. Caregivers of children in the intervention group also received four of the RIA books (one book every 6 weeks), and they were encouraged to read these books to their children once a week.
Comparison Group
The comparison teachers used the same 15 books as the intervention teachers. They devoted two sessions per week for 30 weeks to this portion of their curriculum, but they taught using a business-as-usual approach.
Support for implementation
Teachers received an 8-hour RIA training by means of an in-person workshop prior to implementation. A 3-hour, mid-year refresher workshop also 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.
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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.
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Study findings for this report.
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Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
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as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).