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Research
Individual and group sensitivity to remedial reading program design: examining reading gains across three middle school reading projects
The purpose of this project was to examine group- and individual-level responses by struggling adolescents readers (6th–8th grades; N = 155) to three different modalities of the same reading program, Reading Achievement Multi- Component Program. The three modalities differ in the combination of reading components (phonological decoding, spelling, fluency, comprehension) that are taught and their organization. Latent change scores were used to examine changes in phonological decoding, fluency, and comprehension for each modality at the group level. In addition, individual students were classified as gainers versus non-gainers (a reading level increase of a year or more vs. less than 1 year) so that characteristics of gainers and differential sensitivity to instructional modality could be investigated. Findings from both group and individual analyses indicated that reading outcomes were related to modalities of reading instruction. Furthermore, differences in reading gains were seen between students who began treatment with higher reading scores than those with lower reading scores; dependent on modality of treatment. Results, examining group and individual analyses similarities and differences, and the effect the different modalities have on reading outcomes for older struggling readers will be discussed.
Calhoon, M. B., & Petscher, Y. (2013). Individual and group sensitivity to remedial reading program design: Examining reading gains across three middle school investigations. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 26(4), 565-592.
What Is the Best Choice for Scheduling Remedial Reading Classes at the Middle School Level?
Students who have reading disabilities benefit from additional reading remediation, but when should this additional reading instruction occur? Research has shown that remediation at the expense of traditional ELA instruction can cause students to lose existing skills, so what courses could be replaced to allow for the additional instruction? A period during which elective courses are typically scheduled affords the perfect opportunity to schedule additional time for reading instruction. There is a trade-off, though, when remediation replaces electives, but the payoff appears to be well worth it in terms of gains in reading skills.
Now that when the instruction has been established, how much remedial time is optimal? Though more time in intervention may seem intuitively to be better, significant reading skill improvements with students with RD were seen using an alternating day schedule. Access to research will provide administrators and teachers the necessary information about which programs, using which schedules, for which students, will most efficiently and effectively maximize middle school students with RD reaching grade level in reading.
Calhoon, M. B., & Sharp, E. (2012). What is the best choice for scheduling remedial reading classes at the middle school level? IDA Perspectives. Spring Publication of the International Dyslexia Association. 38, 30-35.Reorganizing the instructional reading components: could there be a better way to design remedial reading programs to maximize middle school students with reading disabilities’ response to treatment?
The primary purpose of this study was to explore if there could be a more beneficial method in organizing the individual instructional reading components (phonological decoding, spelling, fluency, and reading comprehension) within a remedial reading program to increase sensitivity to instruction for middle school students with reading disabilities (RD). Three different modules (Alternating, Integrated, and Additive) of the Reading Achievement Multi-Modular Program were implemented with 90 middle school (sixth to eighth grades) students with reading disabilities. Instruction occurred 45 min a day, 5 days a week, for 26 weeks, for approximately 97 h of remedial reading instruction. To assess gains, reading subtests of the Woodcock Johnson-III, the Gray Silent Reading Test, and Oral Reading Fluency passages were administered. Results showed that students in the Additive module outperformed students in the Alternating and Integrated modules on phonological decoding and spelling and students in the Integrated module on comprehension skills. Findings for the two oral reading fluency measures demonstrated a differential pattern of results across modules. Results are discussed in regards to the effect of the organization of each module on the responsiveness of middle school students with RD to instruction.
Calhoon, M. B., Sandow, A., & Hunter, V. (2010). Re-organizing the instructional reading components: Could there be a better way to design remedial reading programs to maximize middle school students with reading disabilities' response to treatment? Annals of Dyslexia. 60, 57-85.
Reading Achievement Multi-Modular Program (RAMP-UP) The Promise of Classwide Peer Tutoring as an Instructional Delivery Model for Remedial Reading Programs
The use of reciprocal CWPT as an instructional delivery model for remedial reading programs for middle school students with RD shows promise. When CWPT is built into the development and design of the reading program, as in RAMP-UP at its inception, teachers are provided with direction in how to individualize, provide immediate feedback, monitor guided practice, and stay in touch with the diverse needs of their remedial reading classrooms. RAMP-UP has begun to demonstrate that not only can reading comprehension skills be successfully taught with reciprocal CWPT, but so can phonological decoding, spelling, and fluency skills. Because middle schools are dealing with large numbers of struggling readers, CWPT may provide an alternative to expensive one-on-one tutoring and large whole classroom remedial reading instruction.
Additionally, the basic reciprocal CWPT procedures used in the RAMP-UP program are easily trained and learned by both teachers and students. Once learned, these procedures can be transferred into other content area classes such as science, social studies, and history. This transfer of a specific teaching technique across all content area classes would provide teachers and students within a school a common language when discussing comprehension, decoding, spelling and fluency. CWPT has been used successfully with younger students (K–5 grade) for decades; however, it has never been adequately researched as a delivery model for instructional programs or older students. Research conducted using RAMP-UP begins to demonstrate that reciprocal CWPT may be more appropriate instructional delivery model than previously thought for older students with RD.
Calhoon, M. B. (2009). Reading Achievement Multi-Modular Program (RAMP-UP): The Promise of Classwide Peer Tutoring as an Instructional Delivery Model for Remedial Reading Programs. IDA Perspectives. Fall Publication of the International Dyslexia Association 35(4), 29-33.
Effects of a Peer-Mediated Phonological Skill and Reading Comprehension Program on Reading Skill Acquisition for Middle School Students with Reading Disabilities
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a peer-mediated instructional approach on the teaching of phonological skills and reading comprehension for middle school (sixth- to eighth-grade) students with reading disabilities. All students (n = 38) were identified as having learning disabilities and reading at the third-grade level or below. One group was taught using a peer-mediated phonological skill program, Linguistics Skills Training (LST), and a peer-mediated reading comprehension program, Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS). The contrast group was taught in the more traditional whole-class format using a widely implemented remedial reading program. The results showed significant differences between conditions, with students receiving the LST/PALS instruction outperforming the contrast group on Letter–Word Identification, Word Attack, and Passage Comprehension using the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement–III. Furthermore, large effect sizes for growth were found on Letter–Word Identification, Word Attack, and Passage Comprehension for the LST/PALS treatment group. No differences were found between conditions for reading fluency. Findings are discussed in regard to instruction delivery format (peer tutoring vs. whole class) with respect to best practices for middle school students with reading disabilities.