WWC review of this study

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

  • Quasi-Experimental Design
     examining 
    59
     Students

Reviewed: February 2023

No statistically significant positive
findings
Meets WWC standards with reservations
Letter identification outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
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;
59 students

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.

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.


  • Female: 30%
    Male: 29%
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    International

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.

Reviewed: June 2016

Meets WWC standards with reservations


Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Study sample characteristics were not reported.
 

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