Alison G. Boardman

Efficacy of Collaborative Strategic Reading With Middle School Students

The authors conducted an experimental study to examine the effects of collaborative strategic reading and metacognitive strategic learning on the reading comprehension of students in seventh- and eighth-grade English/language arts classes in two sites (Texas, Colorado) and in three school districts. Students were randomly assigned to classes and then classes were randomly assigned to treatment or business-as-usual comparison groups. If a teacher had an uneven number of classes, we assigned extra classes to treatment. The total number of classes randomized was 61, with 34 treatment and 27 comparison. Treatment students received a multicomponent reading comprehension instruction (collaborative strategic reading) from their English/language arts/reading teachers that included teaching students to apply comprehension strategies in collaborative groups for 18 weeks, with approximately two sessions per week. Findings indicated significant differences in favor of the treatment students on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Comprehension Test but not on reading fluency.

The Social Functioning of Students With Learning Disabilities: Implications for Inclusion

This article presents a selected review of research on the social functioning of students with learning disabilities (LD) and draws implications for the inclusion of students with LD in regular education classrooms. Four areas of social functioning are addressed: social skills, self-concept, friendships, and social networks. Research in these areas indicates that some, though not all, students with LD demonstrate problems in the social domain that may have consequences for their inclusion in regular classrooms. In light of the trend toward inclusion of students with LD, we argue that the social dimensions of placement decisions for these students should be considered.

What Does it Take to Scale up and Sustain Evidence-Based Practices?:

This article discusses the strategic scaling up of evidence-based practices. The authors draw from the scholarly work of fellow special education researchers and from the field of learning sciences. The article defines scaling up as the process by which researchers or educators initially implement interventions on a small scale, validate them, and then implement them more widely in real-world conditions. Examples of scale-up research are included. The authors discuss challenges to scaling up and sustaining evidence-based practices, followed by factors that can potentially support scaling up, including professional development and district leadership. A case example describes how these issues can play out by highlighting experiences with a Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) scale-up research project in a large urban school district. The article concludes by offering recommendations for research, policy, and practice.

Addressing the “Research Gap” in Special Education Through Mixed Methods

At least some of the challenges faced in special education, such as the disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students, the gap between research and practice, and inequitable educational opportunities, can be explained in part by a research gap, or, in other words, a failure to conduct the different types of research best suited for addressing the complicated issues faced in schools. In this article we discuss the benefits of being more open to and welcoming of mixed methods when conducting special education research. We provide an overview of mixed-methods research and explain different philosophical concepts associated with mixed methods. We emphasize why it is important to foreground culture when conducting educational research. We also compare educational research with research in the medical field and challenge the notion of randomized controlled trials as the “gold standard.” We finish by sharing an example of our own mixed-methods research.

Collaborative Strategic Reading: Findings From Experienced Implementers

Abstract This study examined the effects and fidelity of collaborative strategic reading (CSR) implemented by experienced CSR teachers (participated in previous study; Vaughn et al., 2011) on the reading comprehension outcomes of students in English/Language Arts (ELA) or Reading classes. Eligible teachers (12 of 17; others reassigned to teach grades/subjects not eligible for inclusion) in middle schools in Texas and Colorado who participated in the previous year in a study examining the effects of CSR on the reading comprehension outcomes of their students participated in a 2nd-year, new cohort of students. Teachers taught multiple sections of ELA or reading; sections were randomly assigned to a treatment or comparison condition, and any extra classes were assigned to the treatment condition. There were 26 CSR and 22 comparison classes. Teachers were asked to implement CSR in their treatment classes only for approximately two 50-min sessions per week for 18 weeks. Examining the role of fidelity revealed that CSR was more prevalent in treatment classes than the comparison classes and that ELA teachers had significantly less treatment spillover than the Reading teachers. Findings indicate that CSR was associated with a greater effect when implemented in ELA classrooms compared to Reading classrooms.

Individual and Contextual Factors Influencing Special Education Teacher Learning in Literacy Learning Cohorts

In this study, researchers operated from cognitive and situated perspectives to understand how individual qualities and contextual factors influenced elementary special education teachers’ learning in a multifaceted professional development (PD) project, Literacy Learning Cohort, focused on word study and fluency instruction. Grounded theory methodology was used to analyze qualitative interviews, cohort meetings, and classroom observations. Participants included five special educators who taught reading to students with disabilities in Grades 3 to 5. Results highlighted the central role of teachers’ ability to analyze their current instructional practice in developing integrated knowledge of word study and fluency instruction and crafting more integrated instruction. Teachers’ individual qualities, contextual factors, and PD components also worked in concert with teachers’ propensity to analyze instruction and ultimately influenced teacher learning (i.e., degree of integrated knowledge and practice demonstrated). Implications of these findings for designing effective PD efforts are discussed.

Collaborative Strategic Reading for Students With Learning Disabilities in Upper Elementary Classrooms

Sixty fourth- and fifth-grade general education teachers were randomly assigned to teach Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR; Klingner, Vaughn, Boardman, & Swanson, 2012), a set of reading comprehension strategies, or to a business-as-usual comparison group. Results demonstrate that students with learning disabilities (LD) who received CSR instruction in their general education classrooms—approximately 2 times each week over a 14-week period—made significantly greater gains in reading comprehension than students with LD in comparison classrooms (g = .52). Teachers in CSR classrooms were also more likely to provide feedback to students and to use collaborative grouping structures.

Relationship Between Implementation of Collaborative Strategic Reading and Student Outcomes for Adolescents With Disabilities

This study examines the interaction between the fidelity of implementation of a set of research-based strategies—Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR)—and outcomes for students with mild to moderate disabilities using data from two nonoverlapping studies in middle school language arts and reading classrooms (Study 1) and middle school social studies and science classrooms (Study 2). The authors use a definition of fidelity that includes both the amount of CSR instruction delivered by teachers and the quality of implementation. Although there were no main effects for quality or amount of CSR instruction, in both studies there was an interaction effect between quality of implementation and special education status. The study used a within-groups design and multilevel analyses, and the results demonstrate that higher quality CSR instruction was associated with higher reading outcomes for students with disabilities. This finding was consistent across Study 1 and Study 2. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Understanding teacher resistance to instructional coaching

ABSTRACT Research provides strong support for the promise of coaching, or job embedded professional development, particularly on improving teachers’ classroom instruction. As part of a comprehensive professional development model, 71 middle school (grades 6–8) science, social studies, and language arts teachers were assigned to an instructional coach to support their required use of a multicomponent reading comprehension approach, Collaborative Strategic Reading. In this study, we sought to better understand the factors that influence responsiveness to coaching, focusing in particular on teachers who appeared the least receptive to collaborating with a coach to support the implementation of a new practice. Results highlight the patterns and complexities of the coaching process for 20% of the teachers in our sample who were categorized as resistant to coaching, suggesting that the one-on-one model of coaching offered in this study may not be the best fit for all teachers.

Literacy Learning Cohorts: Content-Focused Approach to Improving Special Education Teachers' Reading Instruction.

Two professional development (PD) models for teachers were compared on teacher and student outcomes. Special education teachers participated in Literacy Learning Cohorts (LLC), a PD innovation designed to improve content and pedagogical knowledge for providing reading instruction to upper elementary students with learning disabilities. The LLC, based on Desimone’s (2009) framework, included 2 days of initial PD with follow-up meetings, coaching, and video self-analysis. A comparison group received only 2 days of PD. Results of independent t tests and analyses of covariance indicated that LLC teachers demonstrated significant change in instructional time allotted to, and quality of, word study and fluency instruction. LLC teachers also made significantly greater gains on the fluency knowledge measure as compared with the comparison group, but they did not differ in word study knowledge. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses showed that students of LLC teachers made significantly greater gains on word attack skills and decoding efficiency than did students of teachers in the comparison group.