Setting
The study was conducted in 8 schools in 2 inner-city districts. The program, which is a comprehensive reading program, was delivered to the entire class, and included small- and full-group activities.
Study sample
Students: Participants included kindergarten students. About half were male (50.0% and 48.0%), most were Black (98.0% and 96.0%), most received free or reduced price lunch (84.0% and 93.0%), and a minority were classified as LEP (0.58% and 0.92%), or having an IEP (4.41% and 1.50%) for the treatment and control groups, respectively. The mean attendance rate was 93.35 and 96.20 for treatment and comparison groups, respectively.
Classrooms: 12 classrooms participated in the treatment group and 12 classrooms participated in the comparison condition. The mean class size was 19.00 and 18.42 in the treatment and comparison conditions, respectively.
Teachers: On average, teachers had 7.25 and 5.87 years of experience and a mean attendance rate of 96.83 and 97.80 in the treatment and comparison groups, respectively.
Schools: Four pairs of schools in two inner-city districts participated in the study.
Intervention Group
The Voyager Universal Literacy System is a comprehensive reading program for students in K-3. The Voyager program provides students with the skills and knowledge necessary to become proficient readers and focuses on the following items:
1. Core reading curriculum that emphasizes phonemic awareness, phonics instruction, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary
2. Progress monitoring system that measures reading progress and identifies struggling readers
3. Struggling-reader intervention that includes additional time
4. Professional development for teachers, principals, and specialists
5. Home-study curriculum
6. Technology enhancement activities
The Voyager program is highly structured and detailed in scope. In the kindergarten intervention, the curriculum is divided into daily instructional blocks that include 2 hours of Friendship Circle, Reading Stations, and Writing Connection. The following components are addressed as part of the intervention:
1. Phonemic awareness is addressed within each lesson (students learn to segment and blend, map to print, and time to practice and demonstrate learning
2. Phonics instruction that incorporates letter combinations, affixes, and strategies for decoding multisyllabic words
3. Fluency instruction including naming letters, naming sounds, and reading words quickly and accurately
4. Vocabulary including important concept words, useful words, and words that may be confusing for young readers
5. Listening and reading comprehension
6. Variability in group sizes/grouping
Comparison Group
The comparison schools did not receive the Voyager program and instead received business-as-usual, which the authors report included activities that addressed phonemic awareness, phonics, and sight words. They also report that comparison teachers read to students, integrated literacy skills in other lessons, and provided students with opportunities to read on their own, all of which also is part of the Voyager curriculum. Most comparison teachers also used small groups for instruction, though not all used student performance in assigning students to groups.
Support for implementation
A 2-day training is provided for district and campus coaches. A 3-day training is provided for teachers, which focuses on managing the classroom, administering the program, grouping students, delivering the curriculum, and providing the Voyager reading instruction. Ongoing training sessions expand on all of these areas.