The Effects of the Read 180 Program on Oral Reading Fluency, Linguistic Comprehension, and Reading Comprehension with Secondary Special Education Students

There is great concern about secondary special education students reading achievement in decoding, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension. The READ 180 Program is an evidence and scientific based reading program that includes direct instruction, computer aided instruction, and reading materials that are high interest and implement the common core. The purpose of this study was to see the differences in oral reading fluency, linguistic comprehension, and reading comprehension in a pretest posttest model over a fourteen-week testing period. Ten ninth grade secondary students who were reading below the 25th percentile were instructed with the READ 180 Program with fidelity (90 minutes a day, four days a week, for fourteen weeks). The students were pretested and posttested with the Listening Comprehension Adolescent and the Gate MacGinitie Reading Comprehension Test. The students oral reading fluency was progressed monitored weekly with one minuet timed eighth grade reading probes from easyCBM that tracked total words read correctly, and the total number of miscues (words mispronounced, or omitted). The results showed that the students increased in the number or words read correctly and had a statistically significant decrease in miscues. In addition, on the Listening Comprehension pretest and posttest, the students realized a statistically significant increase on their posttest scores. The reading comprehension pretest and posttest scores did not see any change over the fourteen-week testing period. The results of the study conclude that the READ 180 Program had an effect on the student\u27s oral reading fluency and listening comprehension posttest scores

Assessing the word recognition skills of german elementary students in silent reading - Psychometric properties of an item pool to generate curriculum-based measurements

Given the high proportion of struggling readers in school and the long-term negative consequences of underachievement for those affected, the question of prevention options arises. The early identification of central indicators for reading literacy is a noteworthy starting point. In this context, curriculum-based measurements have established themselves as reliable and valid instruments for monitoring the progress of learning processes. This article is dedicated to the assessment of word recognition in silent reading as an indicator of adequate reading fluency. The process of developing an item pool is described, from which instruments for learning process diagnostics can be derived. A sample of 4268 students from grades 1–4 processed a subset of items. Each student template included anchor items, which all students processed. Using Item Response Theory, item statistics were estimated for the entire sample and all items. After eliminating unsuitable items (N = 206), a one-dimensional, homogeneous pool of items remained. In addition, there are high correlations with another established reading test. This provides the first evidence that the recording of word recognition skills for silent reading can be seen as an economic indicator for reading skills. Although the item pool forms an important basis for the extraction of curriculum-based measurements, further investigations to assess the diagnostic suitability (e.g., the measurement invariance over different test times) are still pending

Effects of Content Acquisition Podcasts on Vocabulary Performance of Secondary Students With and Without Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this experimental research study was to investigate effects of using Content Acquisition Podcasts (CAPs) to provide vocabulary instruction to adolescents with and without learning disabilities (LD). A total of 279 urban high school students, including 30 with LD in an area related to reading, were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions with instruction occurring at individual computer terminals over a three-week period. The four experimental conditions contained various combinations of multimedia-instruction and evidence-based practices for vocabulary instruction including: (a) CAPs designed using validated instructional design principles and a combination of explicit instruction and the keyword mnemonic strategy (Group 1); (b) CAPs with validated design principles and only explicit instruction (Group 2); (c) CAPs with validated design principles and only the keyword mnemonic strategy (Group 3); and (d) multimedia instruction without adherence to validated design principles and explicit instruction (Group 4). Results indicated that students with LD who received vocabulary instruction using CAPs with explicit instruction and the keyword mnemonic strategy (Group 1) significantly outperformed all other students with LD on measures of vocabulary knowledge on a posttest of 30 history-specific vocabulary terms, and again on a maintenance probe three weeks later for 10 history terms. In addition, students with LD in Group 1 significantly outperformed students without disabilities who received multimedia instruction that did not adhere to validated design principles at posttest and maintenance (Group 4), and had higher mean scores than students without LD in Groups 2 and 3. Students without disabilities in Group 1 significantly outperformed all other students at both posttest and maintenance. A student satisfaction survey indicated a strong student preference for learning vocabulary using the CAPs

A Formative Evaluation Of Augmentative And Alternative Communication Approaches To Promote Literacy In Young Children With Severe Speech And Physical Impairments

This thesis describes an educational intervention with three children with severe speech and physical impairments. The intervention focused on storybook reading experiences for early literacy development through the use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication technologies and methods. The review of literature focused on the main aspects relating to children with SSPI, and in particular on the difficulties they experience in developing emergent literacy skills. This review suggests the hypothesis that the use of AAC Techniques in storytelling achievement can provide emergent literacy experiences, which can promote the development of literacy in children with SSPI. In particular the study set out to enquire whether AAC techniques can be used to enhance participation with SSPI in storytelling activities, and whether such activities improve a pupil’s opportunities to become emergent readers. A six-month intervention was designed which included strategies proposed for increasing the children’s participation during storybook reading sessions, like repeated readings of the same story, abundant use of graphic symbols and access to AAC techniques. Qualitative data were gathered from the professionals at the Centre, and from the mothers. Storybook reading sessions with the teacher at school and with the mothers or significant other at home were videotaped, at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. Quantitative data were collected by videotape analysis. Communicative acts of children and adults were divided into communication categories, and their meaning was discussed as to form, use and content. One of the main conclusions of the study was that the use of stories promoting communication and language learning in storybook reading sessions can develop literacy skills if carried out in conjunction with AAC techniques, including graphic symbols and the technology to generate them. A second conclusion is that there is no automatic transfer of the improvement of communicative skills in the classroom to the interaction with the mothers

TECHNOLOGY AIDED INSTRUCTION AND INTERVENTION TO TEACH GRADE LEVEL SCIENCE TERM DEFINITIONS TO MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

The purpose of this study was to teach middle school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) academic, grade level science term definitions. Three students with ASD who were served in a self-contained classroom for students with moderate and severe disabilities participated in the study. A multiple probe (days) across behaviors research design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a model-lead-test procedure delivered using a computer software program to teach three sets of five science term definitions from the general education academic standards. Generalization probes were conducted in the general education setting by giving each student terms that they learned during intervention in the context of the classroom lesson and asking them to respond by giving the definition to the term. The results indicate that students were able to learn and maintain science term definitions when using teacher created e-books with an embedded model-lead-test procedure

Reading rate and comprehension as a function of presentation mode (computerized vs. traditional) and processing speed

In a counterbalanced treatment design, 12 elementary school aged children read under two conditions: a) independent, silent, and with mentor help as necessary; and b) computer assisted, with visual and auditory delivery of text (via Kurzweil 3000). A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed no significant difference in the composite mean for their comprehension and reading rate scores based on presentation strategy (F (2,9) = 1. 10, p = .3 7). Results from this MANOV A also revealed no significant difference in the composite mean of comprehension and reading rate scores based on students\u27 processing speed (F (2,9) = .20, p = .82). The presentation mode x processing speed interaction effect was not statistically significant (F (2,9) = .34, p = . 72). Results from a 2 x 2 analysis of variance (ANOV A) show that comprehension did not vary as a function of manipulating the speed of computerized reading rate (F (1,10) = .01, p = .94), nor were there significant differences between fast and slow processors\u27 comprehension scores (F ( 1, 10) = .33, p = .58). Similarly, the presentation speed x processing speed interaction effect was not statistically significant (F ( 1, 10) = 1.27, p = .29). Computerized presentation proved no more effective than traditional remedial reading instruction for teacher-nominated weak readers. Perhaps the choice of whether to use traditional or computerized remedial support should be determined by considerations such as cost, accessibility of person power for mentoring vs. technology, readers\u27 personal preferences, etc. rather than effectiveness

The Effect of Constant Time Delay and Sentence Frames on Correct Word Selection for Sentences Constructed Using Technology-Aided Instruction During a Story-Based Lesson

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of an intervention package that included constant time delay (CTD) and sentence frames on correct word selection for sentences constructed using technology-aided instruction (TAI) during and following a story-based lesson (SBL) for participants ages 6-8 who have intellectual disability, developmental delays, and autism (IDD). A multiple probe across participants design was used to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention. Probes were conducted during baseline, intervention, generalization, and maintenance phases to determine the effectiveness of the intervention on correct word selection for sentence construction. Results indicate a functional relation between the intervention package on correct word selection for sentence construction during a shared story. Additionally, the Percent of Nonoverlapping Data (PND) indicate overall strong effects. Finally, students were able to demonstrate both generalization and maintenance of skills

Effectiveness of assistive computer technology (act) for enhancing basic language skills among students with hearing disabilities

It is well-documented that deaf children are often delayed in language development compared to their hearing peers. However, invention of assistive computer technology (ACT) gives deaf students the opportunity to enhance their language skills and immerse on new and more interactive virtual learning environment. The purpose of this paper is to review the potential and effectiveness of ACT for improving language skills and learning outcomes among deaf students. The review is organized into two major sections which reflect the theoretical framework to date, as well as dialogic reading interventions and technology interventions on the deaf’s written language. Many researchers conclude that dialogic reading interventions have yielded significant improvement on deaf students’ language development and ACT has demonstrated efficacy in enhancing language skills among students with hearing disabilities. Educational considerations in planning computer-based dialogic reading intervention for students with deafness in Malaysia are deliberately discussed for future practitioners and educators