Setting
The study took place in 23 adult literacy programs.
Study sample
The initial sample consisted of 89 learners. There were 198 learners across all four studies. These learners could read between the 2nd and 6th grade levels. About 55 percent of learners were African American, 28 percent were Hispanic, 12 percent were Asian, and 6 percent were White. Sixty-seven percent were female. Fifty-six percent were English language learners, and the rest of were native English speakers. Twenty-nine percent of learners repeated at least one grade of school, 15 percent attended special education classes while in school, and 49 percent reported graduating from high school.
Intervention Group
The treatment included explicit instruction on reading, extended practice, and curriculum using four parts of the SRA/McGraw Hill Direct Instruction Corrective Reading program: decoding, comprehension, extensive reading, and fluency. In the Decoding component (D), learners learned skills such as phonemic relationships, new sound combinations, word endings, and letter and sound combinations. In the Comprehension component (C), learners learned how to organize groups of facts and use analogies, classifications, deductions, inductions, descriptions, conclusions, contradictions, and written directions. Extensive Reading (E) is extended reading practice using an extensive library of high interest/low vocabulary books. Learners engaged in sustained silent reading, an activity where the teacher read aloud and the learner followed along, followed by discussion about the books everyone was reading. In the Fluency component (F), learners independently practiced a passage until they improved their number of correct words read per minute by 40 percent over their initial level. Teachers gave each learner a passage at his or her reading level and used a guided repeated oral reading approach. Learners practiced for 15 minutes. If they met or exceeded their target, they moved on to a new passage. During each two-hour class, time was allocated as follows: 33 minutes of decoding; 33 minutes of comprehension; 33 minutes of extensive reading (18 minutes of sustained silent reading, 10 minutes of teacher read-aloud, and 5 minutes of book discussion); 15 minutes of fluency; and 5 minutes for a break. The average number of decoding lessons was 36, and the average number of comprehension lessons was 31. Instruction was provided for two hours per class, four times a week, for 12 and a half weeks. Learners attending all classes received 100 hours of instruction.
Comparison Group
The comparison group used a popular existing adult literacy curriculum. Teachers were advised to focus on teaching prime frequency words, W-H questions (who, what, when, where, why how), spelling, oral reading, journal writing, categorization of words, sentence structure, and mechanics of punctuation. Books were not used, but teachers could use excerpts based on learners’ interest. Instruction was provided for two hours per class, four times a week, for 12 and a half weeks. The curriculum did not allocate specific amounts of time for each topic. Learners attending all classes received 100 hours of instruction.
Support for implementation
The teachers were hired specifically for the study. They had teaching backgrounds, but none had experience with the approaches in the SRA/McGraw Hill Direct Instruction Corrective Reading program. Each teacher received one week of training in adult literacy awareness and sensitivity, along with training on each approach. Once classes were in session, coaches observed each teacher five times during the year. Teachers received additional training if necessary.
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