Jenkins, Joseph R.; Peyton, Julia A.; Sanders, Elizabeth A.; Vadasy, Patricia F. (2004). Scientific Studies of Reading, v8 n1 p53-85. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ683127
Reviewed: June 2016
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.
Reviewed: September 2010
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.
Please see the WWC summary of evidence for Sound Partners.
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bryant Pseudoword Test |
Sound Partners vs. none |
Posttest |
Grade 1;
|
20.82 |
9.40 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Woodcock Reading Mastery Test Revised (WRMT-R): Word Attack subtest |
Sound Partners vs. none |
Posttest |
Grade 1;
|
14.70 |
8.25 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Wide Range Achievement Test- Revised (WRAT-R): Reading subtest |
Sound Partners vs. none |
Posttest |
Grade 1;
|
46.77 |
40.40 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE): Sight Word Efficiency subtest |
Sound Partners vs. none |
Posttest |
Grade 1;
|
27.18 |
21.10 |
No |
-- | |
|
Woodcock Reading Mastery Test Revised (WRMT–R): Word Identification subtest |
Sound Partners vs. none |
Posttest |
Grade 1;
|
32.84 |
26.20 |
No |
-- | |
|
Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE): Phonemic Decoding Efficiency subtest |
Sound Partners vs. none |
Posttest |
Grade 1;
|
10.73 |
8.05 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Woodcock Reading Mastery Test Revised (WRMT-R): Passage Comprehension subtest |
Sound Partners vs. none |
Posttest |
Grade 1;
|
14.66 |
9.75 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Phonetically Controlled Passage Accuracy |
Sound Partners vs. none |
Posttest |
Grade 1;
|
0.81 |
0.71 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Phonetically Controlled Passage Rate |
Sound Partners vs. none |
Posttest |
Grade 1;
|
41.30 |
27.70 |
No |
-- | |
|
Nonphonetically Controlled Passage Accuracy |
Sound Partners vs. none |
Posttest |
Grade 1;
|
0.81 |
0.73 |
No |
-- | |
|
Nonphonetically Controlled Passage Rate |
Sound Partners vs. none |
Posttest |
Grade 1;
|
36.13 |
26.35 |
No |
-- |
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
| Asian | 15% | |
| Black | 12% | |
| Other or unknown | 15% | |
| White | 44% |
| Hispanic | 13% | |
| Not Hispanic or Latino | 87% |
The study was conducted in 11 public schools in an urban area.
Teachers identified first-graders from 26 classrooms in 11 schools whom they considered at risk for reading failure. The researchers then identified 121 students who scored at or below the 25th percentile on the Reading subtest of the WRAT-R as eligible for inclusion in the study. The treatment and comparison groups were formed partly by convenience and partly through random assignment, with some schools agreeing to allow students to serve only as the comparison group. After attrition, the analysis sample included 79 students (in 21 classes) in the treatment condition and 20 students (in 10 classrooms) in the comparison condition. The study was conducted in a single school year.
The tutoring lessons in phonics were drawn from Sound Partners. They targeted letter-sound correspondences, blending letters into sounds, reading and spelling phonetically regular words, and reading nondecodable and high-frequency words scheduled to appear in the text portion of the lesson. Tutors also worked with students who read from storybooks that had varying degrees of decodability, with one of the treatment groups reading from books with highly decodable words and the other treatment group reading from books with high-frequency but less decodable words. The WWC considers the two treatment groups to be variants of the Sound Partners intervention and so presents them as a single treatment group. Lessons were scripted, and all tutoring was one-on-one. Lessons were provided 30 minutes a day, four days a week, for 25 weeks.
Children in the control group received typical classroom instruction only, without tutoring in phonics or story reading.
At the conclusion of the intervention, the students were given the Phonemic Decoding and Sight Word reading subtests of the TOWRE; the Word Attack, Word Identification, and Passage Comprehension subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test–Revised; the Bryant Pseudoword Test; the Reading subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test–Revised; and fluency and accuracy reading tests from passages with highly decodable words, as well as passages with less decodable words. The study includes a text reading list that contained words that the students read as part of the Sound Partners curriculum. The WWC determined that this outcome was overaligned with the intervention and is therefore not included in this review. Students also took two spelling tests that are not included in this review because they are outside the scope of the Beginning Reading review protocol. For a more detailed description of the included outcome measures, see Appendices A2.1–A2.3.
Tutors received scripted phonics lessons, directions for book reading, attendance forms and recording sheets for each student’s lesson coverage, and a set of books for reading practice. Research staff provided tutors with three hours of formal training in lesson procedures, conducted weekly observations, provided ongoing coaching in lesson delivery, and held monthly follow-up meetings.
Reviewed: February 2009
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.
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
| Asian | 15% | |
| Black | 12% | |
| Other or unknown | 15% | |
| White | 44% |
| Hispanic | 13% | |
| Not Hispanic or Latino | 87% |
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.
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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).
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