Deborah C. Simmons

The Importance and Decision-Making Utility of a Continuum of Fluency-Based Indicators of Foundational Reading Skills for Third-Grade High-Stakes Outcomes

Educational accountability and its counterpart, high-stakes assessment, are at the forefront of the educational agenda in this era of standards-based reform. In this article, we examine assessment and accountability in the context of a prevention-oriented assessment and intervention system designed to assess early reading progress formatively. Specifically, we explore the utility of a continuum of fluency-based indicators of foundational early literacy skills to predict reading outcomes, to inform educational decisions, and to change reading outcomes for students at risk of reading difficulty. First, we address the accountability era, discuss the promise of prevention-oriented assessment, and outline a continuum of fluency-based indicators of foundational reading skills using Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills and Curriculum-Based Measurement Oral Reading Fluency. Next, we describe a series of linked, short-term, longitudinal studies of 4 cohorts examining the utility and predictive validity of the measures from kindergarten through 3rd grade with the Oregon Statewide Assessment-Reading/Literature as a high-stakes reading outcome. Using direct measures of key foundational skills, predictive validities ranged from. 34 to. 82. The utility of the fluency-based benchmark goals was supported with the finding that 96% of children who met the 3rd-grade oral reading fluency benchmark goal met or exceeded expectations on the Oregon Statewide Assessment, a high-stakes outcome measure. We illustrate the utility of the measures for evaluating instruction, modifying the instructional system, and targeting children who need additional instructional support to achieve benchmark goals. Finally, we discuss the instructional and policy implications of our findings and their utility in an active educational accountability environment.

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies: Making Classrooms More Responsive to Diversity

The primary focus of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a classwide peer tutoring program in reading for three learner types: low achievers with and without disabilities and average achievers. Twelve schools, stratified on student achievement and family income, were assigned randomly to experimental and control groups. Twenty teachers implemented the peer tutoring program for 15 weeks; 20 did not implement it. In each of the 40 classrooms, data were collected systematically on three students representing the three learner types. Pre- and posttreatment reading achievement data were collected on three measures of the Comprehensive Reading Assessment Battery. Findings indicated that, irrespective of type of measure and type of learner, students in peer tutoring classrooms demonstrated greater reading progress. Implications for policymaking are discussed.

Teaching Vocabulary During Shared Storybook Readings: An Examination of Differential Effects.

A storybook intervention for kindergarten children that integrates principles of explicit vocabulary instruction within the shared storybook reading experience is described with findings from an experimental study demonstrating the effects of this intervention on the vocabulary development of kindergarten students at risk of reading difficulty. Results indicated that in comparison to students in the control group, students in the intervention with lower receptive vocabulary skills demonstrated greater gains in explicitly taught vocabulary than did students with higher receptive vocabulary. Findings suggest that the explicit teaching of word meanings within storybook readings may help to narrow, or at least halt, the widening vocabulary gap among students.

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.

Prevention and Intervention in Beginning Reading: Two Complex Systems

This paper addresses two sets of organizing principles to guide prevention and intervention in beginning reading: (a) the complexity in our alphabetic writing system, and (b) the complexity in our schools. The first set is related to instructional design, while the second set is related to a schoolwide model. Prevention and intervention efforts in beginning reading for students with learning disabilities must attend to 2 systems, our complex alphabetic writing system and our equally complex schools. In this article, we present 2 sets of organizing principles to guide prevention and intervention in beginning reading drawn from the substantial body of converging research evidence accumulated over the past 40 years. The first set consists of 6 instructional design principles focused on teaching reading in our alphabetic writing system. These principles include big ideas, mediated scaffolding, conspicuous strategies, strategic integration, primed background knowledge, and judicious review. The second set includes organizational principles designed to anchor effective reading practices at the school-building level. These principles are structured around 3 interrelated areas: (1) the schoolwide establishment of long-term reading goals and intermediate performance benchmarks, (2) the early identification and frequent monitoring of students experiencing reading difficulties, and (3) the development of coordinated and differentiated instructional interventions for the full range of learners.

The Effects of an Intensive Shared Book-Reading Intervention for Preschool Children at Risk for Vocabulary Delay

This study examined the effects of an intensive shared book-reading intervention on the vocabulary development of preschool children who were at risk for vocabulary delay. The participants were 125 children, who the researchers stratified by classroom and randomly assigned to one of two shared book-reading conditions (i.e., the experimental, Words of Oral Reading and Language Development [WORLD] intervention; or typical practice). Results on researcher-developed measures showed statistically and practically significant effects for the WORLD intervention with no differential effects for children with higher versus lower entry-level vocabulary knowledge. The researchers detected no statistically significant differences on standardized measures. Results suggest that a combination of instructional factors may be necessary to enhance the efficacy of shared book reading for children with early vocabulary difficulties.

The Effects of Computer-Assisted Versus Teacher-Directed Instruction on the Multiplication Performance of Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities

The acquisition of multiplication facts by 4 elementary students with learning disabilities was compared under two instructional delivery formats—teacher directed and computer assisted. The two interventions were compared in terms of opportunities to respond and success rate. All students mastered more facts in the teacher-directed condition. In addition, teachers provided many more opportunities to respond and showed a higher success rate than did the software program. Implications of teacher-directed and computer-assisted instruction are discussed in terms of efficacy and feasibility.

Effects of Teacher-Constructed Pre- and Post-Graphic Organizer Instruction on Sixth-Grade Science Students’ Comprehension and Recall

AbstractThis investigation compares the effectiveness of three instructional procedures for facilitating sixth graders’ comprehension and retention of science content: (a) use of teacher-constructed graphic organizers (GO) before text reading (pre-GO), (b) use of teacher-constructed graphic organizers after text reading (post-GO), and (c) use of a traditional form of instruction consisting of frequent questions and text-oriented discussion interjected before, during, and after text reading. The results indicate that all three groups were comparable on daily probe measures and an immediate posttest; however, the pre-GO group outperformed the post-GO group on a delayed posttest measure. The overall results suggest that teacher-constructed graphic organizers, whether presented prior to or following textual reading, appear no more effective than traditional instruction in increasing sixth-grade children’s comprehension and retention of science content-area information. The present findings fail to corroborate...

INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GRAPHIC ORGANIZER INSTRUCTION ON THE COMPREHENSION AND RECALL OF SCIENCE CONTENT BY STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

This study examined the effect of graphic organizers on learning‐disabled students’ acquisition and recall of science content. Twenty‐eight fifth‐ and sixth‐grade students with identified learning disabilities from three special education resource classrooms were taught content on fossil fuels. Students were randomly assigned to either a graphic organizer condition (GO) or a no‐graphic organizer condition (NoGO) and taught identical content from the basal science text for a 4‐day period. Three measures were administered the day after treatment completion to assess the effects of graphic organizers on immediate recall and comprehension: (1) oral‐free retell, (2) production tasks, and (3) choice‐response tasks. Two weeks later, students were given production and choice‐response tasks only. Results of multivariate analyses of variance indicated no statistically significant differences between the mean performance of students in the GO and NoGO conditions on either the immediate posttests, F (4, 20) ‐.75, p ....

Developing Low-Income Preschoolers’ Social Studies and Science Vocabulary Knowledge Through Content-Focused Shared Book Reading

Abstract This study evaluated the effects of integrating science and social studies vocabulary instruction into shared book reading with low-income preschool children. Twenty-one preschool teachers and 148 children from their classrooms were randomly assigned at the class level to either the Words of Oral Reading and Language Development (WORLD) intervention or a practice-as-usual condition. Children were screened and selected to approximate three vocabulary levels (15th, 30th, and 50th). WORLD teachers implemented the intervention in small groups of 5 to 6 students, 5 days per week, 20 minutes per session, for 18 weeks. Findings from multilevel models indicated statistically and practically significant effects of the WORLD intervention on standardized measures of receptive vocabulary (δT = 0.93) and on researcher-developed measures of expressive (δT = 1.01) and receptive vocabulary (δT = 1.41). The WORLD intervention had an overall main effect, regardless of entry-level vocabulary, a finding that speaks to its potential applicability in preschool classrooms.