WWC review of this study

Severe Reading Difficulties--Can They Be Prevented? A Comparison of Prevention and Intervention Approaches [Remedial assistance vs. comparison]

Scanlon, Donna M.; Vellutino, Frank R.; Small, Sheila G.; Fanuele, Diane P.; Sweeney, Joan M. (2005). Exceptionality, v13 n4 p209-227 2005. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ722558

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    319
     Students
    , grade
    K

Reviewed: February 2023

At least one finding shows promising evidence of effectiveness
At least one statistically significant positive finding
Meets WWC standards without reservations
Letter identification outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Letter Sounds Raw Score

Remedial assistance for severe reading difficulties—Scanlon et al. (2005) vs. Business as usual

3 Months

Full sample;
319 students

22.14

19.26

Yes

 
 
13
 

WRMT-R/NU Letter Identification

Remedial assistance for severe reading difficulties—Scanlon et al. (2005) vs. Business as usual

3 Months

Full sample;
319 students

97.10

95.60

No

--
Word reading  outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

High Frequency Word ID Raw Score

Remedial assistance for severe reading difficulties—Scanlon et al. (2005) vs. Business as usual

3 Months

Full sample;
319 students

6.49

4.97

Yes

 
 
12
 

Woodcock Reading Mastery Test -Revised (WRMT-R): Basic Skills Cluster

Remedial assistance for severe reading difficulties—Scanlon et al. (2005) vs. Business as usual

3 Months

Full sample;
319 students

80.01

75.63

Yes

 
 
10
 

Primary Decoding Raw Score

Remedial assistance for severe reading difficulties—Scanlon et al. (2005) vs. Business as usual

3 Months

Full sample;
319 students

6.07

5.04

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.

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    New York

Setting

Intervention was provided in small group settings (three children per one teacher).

Study sample

Students were identified as poor readers, but there is no indication that they had disabilities or were classified as English learners.

Intervention Group

The kindergarten intervention was a remedial assistance program provided to children in small groups (three children to one teacher). As part of the intervention, the teacher focused on emergent literacy skills, which included: reading to and with children, phonemic awareness, letter name and letter-sound knowledge, and writing. The program was provided from mid-October until early June. Each session lasted for 30 minutes and all of the children within a small group came from the same classroom. The goals for the kindergarten intervention were: 1. Motivation to read and write 2. Phoneme awareness 3. Letter identification 4. Letter-sound association 5. Alphabetic principle 6. Print awareness 7. Print conventions 8. Whole word identification

Comparison Group

Business as usual and in some cases, this included extra assistance. The specific type of assistance available to comparison students varied by district. The authors noted that several schools opted to provide comparison students with considerable assistance with early literacy skills.

Support for implementation

The authors provided staff with a 5-day training workshop. Following this training, the authors provided bimonthly group meetings and one-to-one supervision meetings, which occurred every 6 to 8 weeks.

Reviewed: June 2016

Meets WWC standards without 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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