Beth Harn

Indexing Response to Intervention A Longitudinal Study of Reading Risk From Kindergarten Through Third Grade

In this study, response to intervention and stability of reading performance of 41 kindergarten children identified as at risk of reading difficulty were evaluated from kindergarten through third grade. All students were assessed in the fall of each academic year to evaluate need for intervention, and students who fell below the 30th percentile on criterion measures received small-group supplemental intervention. Measures included a combination of commercial normative referenced measures and specific skill and construct measures to assess growth or change in reading risk status relative to 30th percentile benchmarks. Results indicated that consistent with the findings of prior research involving students with comparable entry-level performance, the majority of children identified as at risk in the beginning of kindergarten responded early and positively to intervention. On average, absolute performance levels at the end of kindergarten positioned students for trajectories of later reading performance that exceeded the 50th percentile on the majority of measures. Moreover, changes in risk status that occurred early were generally sustained over time. Only oral reading fluency performance failed to exceed the 30th percentile for the majority of students.

Balancing Fidelity with Flexibility and Fit: What Do We Really Know about Fidelity of Implementation in Schools?

Treatment fidelity, or the application of an intervention as it is designed, is a critical issue for the successful implementation of evidence-based practices. Typically it is assumed that evidence-based practices implemented with high fidelity will result in improved outcomes, whereas low fidelity will lead to poorer outcomes. These assumptions presume agreement across researchers and practitioners on what fidelity is, how to measure it, and what level of fidelity optimizes outcomes; however, there is no widespread agreement on any of these issues. This article discusses the dimensions and nuances of treatment fidelity as well as the implications for measuring and analyzing it in relation to student outcomes. The authors review research demonstrating the differential relationship of fidelity across schools, program type, and impact on student outcomes that special educators should consider when designing intervention studies and implementing evidence-based practices. Special educators should prioritize practices and programs with clearly identified components that are empirically validated yet designed flexibly to match various contexts and student populations. Suggestions to support schools in implementing and sustaining evidence-based practices are provided.

Measuring the Dimensions of Alphabetic Principle on the Reading Development of First Graders The Role of Automaticity and Unitization

This article presents critical issues related to word reading development within Ehris theoretical context by focusing primarily on the relation of decoding skill (of nonwords) to word reading and the development of unitization. Within this context, issues and considerations related to research, measurement, and reading development are presented from research and field-based perspectives. Analyses examining the relation between a measure of alphabetic principle, Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF), and fluency with connected text, Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), across first grade demonstrated a linear relation between the measures, which was attenuated for students initially above criterion on the NWF measure. A new scoring approach to the NWF measure is presented to capture initial unitization development and was found to account for unique variance in initial status and growth on ORF and provide instructionally relevant information on the nature of developing alphabetic principle skills. Considerations for future research and school-based applications are provided.

Predicting Reading Success in a Multilevel Schoolwide Reading Model A Retrospective Analysis

Despite recent research findings that implicate a long list of student variables that predict reading success or failure, these predictor variables have not been considered in the context of contemporary models of multitiered schoolwide reading intervention. This longitudinal, retrospective study follows 668 kindergarten and first-grade students identified as at risk for later reading difficulties through third grade. Key predictor variables were examined to determine their validity for predicting initial status and growth on oral reading fluency, third-grade oral reading fluency, and third-grade performance on a standardized test of reading. Results are provided in light of the instructional model provided. Implications for instruction and assessment are discussed.

Intensifying Instruction Does Additional Instructional Time Make a Difference for the Most At-Risk First Graders?

Research is clear on the benefit of early intervention efforts and the importance of intensive instructional supports; however, understanding which features to intensify is less clear. General intervention features of group size, instructional delivery, and time are areas schools can consider manipulating to intensify instruction. Also, each of these features can vary along a continuum making them easier or more challenging for schools to implement. What is unclear is if implementing very intensive interventions early in school (first grade), which require significantly more school resources, provides accordingly accelerated student learning. This article investigates the role of intensifying instructional time for the most at-risk first graders in schools implementing research-based instructional and assessment practices within multitiered instructional support systems. Results indicate that students receiving more intensive intervention made significantly more progress across a range of early reading measures. Intervention features, limitations, recommendations for practice, and implications for treatment resisters are discussed.

Emergence of the neural network for reading in five-year-old beginning readers of different levels of pre-literacy abilities: an fMRI study.

The present study traced the emergence of the neural circuits for reading in five-year-old children of diverse pre-literacy ability. In the fall and winter of kindergarten, children performed a one-back task with letter versus false font stimuli during fMRI scanning. At the start of kindergarten, children with on-track pre-literacy skills (OT) recruited bilateral temporo-parietal regions for the letter > false font comparison. In contrast, children at-risk for reading difficulty (AR) showed no differential activation in this region. Following 3 months of kindergarten and, for AR children, supplemental reading instruction, OT children showed left-lateralized activation in the temporo-parietal region, whereas AR children showed bilateral activation and recruitment of frontal regions including the anterior cingulate cortex. These data suggest that typical reading development is associated with initial recruitment and subsequent disengagement of right hemisphere homologous regions while atypical reading development may be associated with compensatory recruitment of frontal regions.

Examining the Role of Attention and Instruction in At-Risk Kindergarteners: Electrophysiological Measures of Selective Auditory Attention Before and After an Early Literacy Intervention

Several studies report that adults and adolescents with reading disabilities also experience difficulties with selective attention. In the present study, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were used to examine the neural mechanisms of selective attention in kindergarten children at risk for reading disabilities (AR group, n = 8) or on track in early literacy skills (OT group, n = 6) across the first semester of kindergarten. The AR group also received supplemental instruction with the Early Reading Intervention (ERI). Following ERI, the AR group demonstrated improved skills on standardized early literacy measures such that there were no significant differences between the AR and OT groups at posttest or winter follow-up. Analysis of the ERP data revealed that at the start of kindergarten, the AR group displayed reduced effects of attention on sensorineural processing compared to the OT group. Following intervention, this difference between groups disappeared, with the AR group only showing improvements in the effect of attention on sensorineural processing. These data indicate that the neural mechanisms of selective attention are atypical in kindergarten children at risk for reading failure but can be improved by effective reading interventions.

Coordinating Instructional Supports to Accelerate At-Risk First-Grade Readers' Performance

The most common approach to implementing Response to Intervention (RTI) is the use of the 3-tier model. Many districts claim to be implementing this approach, but others question the quality and actuality of this in practice. This study examined implementation of multitiered models in 2 school districts that had multiple years of experience. Specifically, we examined the nature of general education instruction, use of screening and progress-monitoring methods, and implementation of supplemental instructional supports. Many differences were identified in instructional delivery (e.g., programs, content, specificity) within and across schools as well as across tiers of support, which may negatively affect learning. In the second year of the project, we examined the effect of coordinating instructional supports across tiers of support for at-risk first graders. Results provide support for coordinating instruction (i.e., programs, delivery, scheduling) across tiers of support to accelerate reading development, which has implications for effective RTI implementation.

Changes in Structural Connectivity Following a Cognitive Intervention in Children With Traumatic Brain Injury: A Pilot Study.

Objective. Structural connectivity analysis based on graph theory and diffusion tensor imaging tractography is a novel method that quantifies the topological characteristics in the brain network. This study aimed to examine structural connectivity changes following the Attention Intervention and Management (AIM) program designed to improve attention and executive function (EF) in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods. Seventeen children with complicated mild to severe TBI (13.66 ± 2.68 years; >12 months postinjury) completed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neurobehavioral measures at time 1, 10 of whom completed AIM and assessment at time 2. Eleven matched healthy comparison (HC) children (13.37 ± 2.08 years) completed MRI and neurobehavioral assessment at both time points, but did not complete AIM. Network characteristics were analyzed to quantify the structural connectivity before and after the intervention. Results. Mixed model analyses showed that small-worldness was significantly higher in the TBI group than the HC group at time 1, and both small-worldness and normalized clustering coefficient decreased significantly at time 2 in the TBI group whereas the HC group remained relatively unchanged. Reductions in mean local efficiency were significantly correlated with improvements in verbal inhibition and both parent- and child-reported EF. Increased normalized characteristic path length was significantly correlated with improved sustained attention. Conclusion. The results provide preliminary evidence suggesting that graph theoretical analysis may be a sensitive tool in pediatric TBI for detecting (a) abnormalities of structural connectivity in brain network and (b) structural neuroplasticity associated with neurobehavioral improvement following a short-term intervention for attention and EF.

Examining the variation of fidelity across an intervention: Implications for measuring and evaluating student learning

ABSTRACT Fidelity of implementation is a commonly used term that is not well understood yet frequently assessed in schools today. This paper will discuss the different approaches commonly used in schools (e.g., structural, procedural, etc.) and then present them in relation to student outcomes within a seven-month intervention study with at-risk kindergarteners. Variation across different types of fidelity measures (e.g., time, quality of delivery, student engagement, etc.) will be examined over intervention time as well as in relation to student academic achievement. Implications will be provided on how practitioners should consider measuring and monitoring fidelity of implementation within their schools with a focus on doing it to improve outcomes for students.