Jan E. Hasbrouck

Effects of Two Tutoring Programs on the English Reading Development of Spanish-English Bilingual Students

Spanish-dominant bilingual students in grades 2-5 were tutored 3 times per week for 40 minutes over 10 weeks, using 2 English reading interventions. Tutoring took place from February through April of 1 school year. One, Read Well, combined systematic phonics instruction with practice in decodable text, and the other, a revised version of Read Naturally, consisted of repeated reading, with contextualized vocabulary and comprehension instruction. The progress of tutored students (n = 51) was compared to that of nontutored classmates (n = 42) using subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised. Students who received systematic phonics instruction made significant progress in word identification but not in word attack or passage comprehension. There were no significant effects for students in the repeated reading condition.

“Read naturally”: A strategy to increase oral reading fluency

Abstract Reading fluency is a key skill of effective readers. The speed and effortlessness with which readers process text is highly correlated with comprehension. Optimal levels of oral reading fluency and typical rates of improvement in fluency have been determined. Research findings support instructional methods for increasing reading fluency: hearing fluent reading modeled, repeated readings, and progress monitoring. “Read Naturally” (RN) combines these three methods into a four‐step strategy that has been used with remedial and special education students at elementary and middle schools. A description of RN procedures are presented along with data collected from classroom implementations.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS IN SPANISH

In this review, we examined the role of phonological awareness in literacy development for Spanish-speaking students. There appears to be a close relationship between Spanish-language phonological awareness and literacy development. In particular, Spanish phonological awareness appears to develop in stages. Not only is the development of phonemic awareness skills probably supported by reading instruction, but it likely contributes to reading development as well. Sensitivity to syllables in Spanish may be particularly important for later reading success, and the ability to segment words into their phonemes may play a critical role in reading acquisition. Training students in spelling, blending, and segmenting syllables and phonemes may be especially valuable because these skills are closely related to those which students use when actually reading and writing words. Finally, there is evidence of cross-language transfer of phonological awareness skills between Spanish and English. Suggestions for Spanish ph...

MEDIATED PEER COACHING FOR TRAINING PRESERVICE TEACHERS

A form of peer coaching was used with preservice special educators using The Scale for Coaching Instructional Effectiveness (SCIE; Hasbrouck, 1994). Eleven pairs of preservice teachers (PTs) engaged in a preliminary demonstration study of a “mediated” form of peer coaching, facilitated by seven experienced consulting teacher/mediators. The PTs designed and implemented lessons for children enrolled in a 4-week skills-remediation program. The 22 PTs participated in three peer coaching sessions across the 4 weeks of the program. Analysis of data from 132 observations and three case studies indicated that the PTs improved their (a) interrater reliability across the three observations and (b) teaching skills (i.e., planning and organization, instruction, and classroom management) as measured by the SCIE. In questionnaires completed after training, participants also reported that using the SCIE for peer coaching enhanced their teaching skills, self-confidence, and sense of professionalism.

Intensive Intervention in Reading Fluency for At-Risk Beginning Spanish Readers.

Abstract A study was conducted using a single case, multiple baseline (across subjects) design to study an intensive reading intervention among low-achieving at-risk students in first and second grade Spanish/English bilingual classrooms. The intervention, involving three research-supported techniques, was conducted for 45 minutes per day, three days per week, over 12 weeks, with 74 students from four classrooms (analyses included 53 students with complete data). Dependent measures were oral reading fluency scores and comprehension scores from post-reading questions, collected every two weeks from equivalent probes. It was concluded that implementing intensive reading fluency interventions in bilingual classrooms is feasible and valuable if conducted with fidelity, and if students are highly engaged.

The Maze as a Classroom-Based Reading Measure: Construction Methods, Reliability, and Validity

Twenty years of research on the Maze is reviewed to help ascertain the potential usefulness of this classroom-based reading measure for students with learning disabilities. Alternative methods of construction, administration, and scoring are examined. We examined evidence for three types of reliability: test-retest, alternate forms, and internal consistency. In addition, we scrutinized the use of Maze scores for instructional-level text placement. Finally, we summarized evidence on three types of validity criteria: standardized tests, teacher judgment, and reading group placement. The extant research on various Maze formats is supportive; however, the most common version of the Maze (Guthrie, 1973) needs to be revised to obtain minimum construct validity. Additional research is urgently needed on the Mazes alternate forms reliability and its usefulness in making instructional decisions.

Greater Validity for Oral Reading Fluency: Can Miscues Help?:

Oral reading fluency (ORF), or number of words read correctly per minute, is well researched as a reliable and valid reading index for use in remedial and special education. However, widespread use has been limited, apparently by its lack of face validity as a measure of reading comprehension. The purpose of this study was to examine the criterion-related validity of traditional ORF and two miscue-based assessment types: (a) modified ORF, based on only meaning change miscues (ORF-M), severe meaning change miscues (ORF-S), and uncorrected miscues (ORF-U); and (b) modified oral reading accuracy (ORA), based on the same miscue types, to produce ORA-M, ORA-S, and ORA-U. Four external criteria were used to judge criterion-related validity: (a) teacher judgments of student reading ability, (b) the Analytical Reading Inventory (ARI) (Woods & Moe, 1985), (c) a maze procedure (multiple choice cloze), and (d) reading group placement (special education/Chapter 1 pull-out groups vs. lowest regular classroom reading group). Results did not favor any modifications of traditional ORF. A modified ORA (ORA-S) demonstrated predictive power comparable to traditional ORF, but with reduced interscorer accuracy. The study confirmed the strength of traditional ORF, but pointed out the potential for the practical use of selected miscue types as accuracy indices, if reliability problems can be overcome.

Cross-Linguistic Transfer of Phonological Processing: Development of a Measure of Phonological Processing in Spanish

Abstract Recent research suggests that phonological processing deficits, including the awareness of sounds in words or phonemic awareness, are predictive of difficulties in learning to read and reading fluency in English. As research in this area has increased, so has the number of measures with which to measure phonological processing in English. Increasing numbers of children in schools today speak Spanish as their first or only language, and the teaching and assessment of literacy and pre-literacy skills is of concern with these children. The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of phonological processing in Spanish (Conciencia Fonológica en Español or CFE). The measure was developed based on research that is available in English and then piloted with children in a bilingual program to examine the reliability and validity of the scores obtained on this measure. Results support the utility of the test in measuring a developmental process; internal reliability and test-retest reliability are adequate. Correlations with a comparable measure in English are in the moderate range supporting construct validity of the CFE. Regression analyses suggest that phonological processing in Spanish as measured by the subtests of the CFE is predictive of reading fluency in Spanish as well as reading fluency in English. Implications and future areas of research are discussed.

The Consulting Teacher: A Descriptive Case Study in Responsive Systems Consultation

This case study illustrates the role of the consulting teacher in an implementation of Responsive Systems Consultation (RSC), a collaborative consultation model. The behavioral consultation model is extended in RSC to include the implications of relationships within the contexts, or systems, in which the client is developing. The purpose of this case study is to illustrate processes, relationships, and outcomes involved in the implementation of RSC by consulting teachers within an authentic school context. This descriptive case study describes a consultation case conducted by 2 consulting teachers with a novice 2nd-grade teacher, addressing concerns for a student with academic and behavioral difficulties.

Responsive Systems Consultation: A Preliminary Evaluation of Implementation and Outcomes

This study provides preliminary evaluation data on Responsive Systems Consultation (RSC), a model of home-school consultation based on social-ecological and contextual systems theories of childrens adjustment to school. Evaluation data are provided for 64 cases seen by a total of 44 consultants enrolled in a doctoral training sequence in school consultation over the course of 5 years. Descriptive data on these 64 cases and data on the implementation of the RSC model are presented. Teachers and parents rated RSC as an acceptable and helpful intervention. Participants reported improved attitudes toward home-school collaboration and more effective communication between home and school. Identified goals showed a moderate level of attainment, based on goal-attainment scaling. The Consultant Evaluation Rating Form (CERF), a measure of consultant mastery of RSC skills, was found to have good Interrater and internal consistency reliabilities, and predicted both implementation of RSC and goal-attainment level in actual consultation cases. These findings support the validity of the CERF as a measure of consultant competence in RSC. Overall, study results warrant further evaluation of RSC. We suggest that RSC may be most appropriately evaluated as part of a broader school reform effort to improve home-school relationships.