Focused Reading Instruction and Student Achievement

1. Focused Reading Instruction and Student Achievement Dr. Richard Evans, PhD evansra@jmu.edu Taryn Goodwin MEd goodwitm@jmu.edu Allison Moriarty MEd moriaram@gmail.com Lauren Martina MEd laurenmartina@gmail.com Molly-Armine Manwaring manwarmx@jmu.edu James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA 22807 Presentation at CEC Conference Boston – April 5, 2008

2. The study • Evaluated the effectiveness of intensive remedial reading tutoring for students with disabilities or high-risk of reading failure in a rural area of Virginia. The study explored focused reading skills instruction on struggling readers to identify instructional practices that might be used in a Response to Instruction (RtI) school model for elementary students with and without emotional and behavioral disorders.

3. Exploring outcomes of focused reading instruction • Pilot study for potential RtI strategy • subjects (individuals) in third and fourth grade in a rural elementary school • Outcomes based on student achievement in reading • Outcomes based on change between pre-test and post-test data

4. Changing the Way We Educate Struggling Students • Catch them before they fall (fail) • The majority of sped students have reading problems • Reading is a basic building block of education • Research suggests all but a few children can be taught reading • Early intervention catalyst for change • NCLB Act stresses funding of successful public education instead of continuing to fund a failing system

5. Research Supports • To be good readers, children must possess: • Phonemic awareness -Chard & Dickson, 1999 • Phonics skills - National Reading Panel, 2000; Vaughn et al., 1998 • Fluency - Chard & Dickson, 1999; National Reading Panel, 2000 • Comprehension - Chard & Dickson, 1999; National Reading Panel, 2000; Vaughn et al., 1998 • Vocabulary - Kueker, 1990; Nagy, 1988; Nagy et al., 1985 • Explicit instruction in decoding with practice on stories that “fit” a child’s reading level as the most effective way to teach all students to read

6. Professional Training is Part of the JMU SPED M.Ed. Program Instruction is an essential components of effective reading instruction • Phonological awareness • Word study / word analysis • Letter-sound correspondence • Phonics • Fluency • Reading speed • Prosody • Comprehension • Vocabulary • Establish Progress Monitoring • In-class training • Modeling • Modeling of specific components of reading program

7. Study • Individualized sessions (10-16) with students with reading difficulty (n=8) • Referred by teacher • Discussion with teacher about students Progress / Problems • IEP and work sample review when available • Control group of students with reading difficulty (n=8) • Referred by teacher • Focused systematic reading instruction based on • Informal assessments • IEP goals • Teacher recommendation

8. Student Characteristics • Gender • 5 males experimental group and 3 males in the control group • 4 females experimental group and 4 in the control group • Ages 8 to 10 • Grades 3 to 4 • All students were eligible for special education services • Exhibited a variety of reading difficulties

9. Student Outcomes • Student academic outcomes were evaluated with four informal reading measures • Phonological awareness – Quick Screener • Phonics - Quick Screener • Fluency – Timed Readings • Comprehension – Commercial Screeners (QRI)

10. Phonics Skill Areas for Focused Instruction PA

11. PA Phonics

12. PA Phonics

13. Net Change Fluency