Effectiveness of Increasing Decoding Skills through the Read Well Curriculum For Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Read Well Curriculum within the special education setting for students who have a learning disability within the area of reading through a quantitative research design. Six students ranging from third through fifth grade with specific learning disabilities in the area of reading participated in this study. Before and after the intervention process, students participated in a screener using FastBridge CBMEnglish reading probes. Students were given 3-one minute reading passages to assess their average number of words read correctly in one minute, before and after the six-week intervention phase. During the intervention phase, students participated in small reading groups using the Read Well Curriculum for six weeks. Students learned various decoding strategies to implement into their reading. Throughout the intervention phase, students were given a one-minute fluency probe, once a week, to monitor their progress. Only students whose parents signed an informed consent form, Appendix B, participated in the study. Screening and progress monitoring scores were stored in an individual student folder within a locked filing cabinet in the special education room during the study. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools were required to follow a Distance Learning Model during this research study. Results of the Read Well Curriculum study were inconclusive, and the focus of the research study shifted to focus on experiences of being an educator during COVID-19