Jill H. Allor

The Effects of Peer-Assisted Literacy Strategies for First-Grade Readers With and Without Additional Computer-Assisted Instruction in Phonological Awareness

This research examined the efficacy and feasibility of (a) Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies for First-Grade Readers (1st-Grade PALS) conducted for 35-min sessions, three times per week for 16 weeks with first-grade children of varying reading ability, and (b) the impact of adding 8–10 hr of phonological awareness instruction via the computer to the curriculum already including 1st-Grade PALS with low-performing children. Conducted in naturally constituted academically heterogeneous first-grade classrooms, 36 first-grade teachers in eight schools in a southeastern medium-sized school district participated: 12 conducted 1st-Grade PALS, 12 conducted 1st-Grade PALS and computer-assisted instruction (CAI), and 12 continued their typical instruction. Within these classrooms, the impact of the interventions was investigated with 183 first-grade students (118 low-, 33 average-, and 32 high-achieving students). Data collected included (a) time-series phonological awareness and reading fluency data and (b) pre- and post-measures of concepts of print, decoding, fluency, and comprehension. Students and teachers also were asked to rate their satisfaction with various aspects of the interventions. The results indicate that 1st-Grade PALS enhanced reading performance both in terms of statistical significance and in terms of educational relevance, although not equally for all learner types. Results also indicate that CAI in phonological did not impact student performance beyond that achieved with 1st-Grade PALS alone. Both students and teachers implemented 1st-Grade PALS with relative ease, demonstrated high fidelity, and reported high levels of satisfaction.

The Relationships of Phonemic Awareness and Rapid Naming to Reading Development.

This article describes and summarizes research studies that analyze the shared and unique contributions of phonemic awareness and rapid naming to reading development. Three questions were addressed. Does phonemic awareness account for a proportion of the variance in reading development that is not accounted for by rapid naming? Conversely, does rapid naming account for a proportion of the variance not accounted for by phonemic awareness? Finally, do phonemic awareness and rapid naming contribute differentially to various subskills of reading development? Findings of the studies and implications for future research are discussed.

Developing Emergent Literacy Skills Through Storybook Reading

This article describes strategies for using storybooks to facilitate emergent literacy. First, we provide critical background information about three areas of emergent literacy: oral language (vocabulary and narrative development), phonological awareness, and print awareness. Then we describe how teachers can facilitate the development of these three areas through purposeful, yet playful and developmentally appropriate, storybook reading activities.

Do Students With and Without Lexical Retrieval Weaknesses Respond Differently to Instruction

Deficits in phonological processing are theorized to be responsible for at least some reading disabilities. A considerable amount of research demonstrates that many students can be taught one of these phonological processes—phonemic awareness. However, not all students have responded favorably to this instruction. Research has suggested that these nonresponders may be unable to retrieve phonological codes quickly from long-term memory. The purpose of this study was to examine whether such a deficiency, which we refer to as lexical retrieval weakness, blunts the effectiveness of combined phonemic awareness and decoding training. To this end, we compared the effectiveness of phonemic awareness and decoding training for students with and without severe lexical retrieval weaknesses. All students in both groups demonstrated poor phonemic awareness. The results suggested that students with relatively strong lexical retrieval skill responded more favorably to beginning reading instruction than did students with weak lexical retrieval skill. In other words, lexical retrieval weakness may influence reading development independently of the effects of phonemic awareness. Implications for instruction are discussed.

Is Scientifically Based Reading Instruction Effective for Students With Below-Average IQs?

This longitudinal randomized-control trial investigated the effectiveness of scientifically based reading instruction for students with IQs ranging from 40 to 80, including students with intellectual disability (ID). Students were randomly assigned into treatment (n = 76) and contrast (n = 65) groups. Students in the treatment group received intervention instruction daily in small groups of 1 to 4 for approximately 40 to 50 min for 1 to 4 academic years. On average, students in the treatment group made significantly greater progress than students in the contrast condition on nearly all language and literacy measures. Results demonstrate the ability of students with low IQs, including students with mild to moderate ID, to learn basic reading skills when provided appropriate, comprehensive reading instruction for an extended period of time.

The Stop and Go Phonemic Awareness Game: Providing Modeling, Practice, and Feedback.

The authors demonstrate the use of curriculum-based measurement, specifically Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), to identify and evaluate the progress of 6 kindergarten students who are experiencing difficulty with phonemic awareness. The Stop and Go Game, a blending and segmenting intervention, is individually implemented by a paraprofessional for an average of approximately 26 mins per day per student. A multiple-baseline design is used to evaluate the effects of the intervention on phoneme segmentation fluency over the course of the study. With minimal training, the paraprofessional provides individual phonemic awareness instruction using the specified intervention with integrity. All students made gains in phoneme segmentation fluency, with most reaching and exceeding benchmark. The author discusses implications of the study for practice, limitations of the study, and directions for future research.

An Investigation of the Academic Processing Speed of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Served in Public School Settings.

Little is known about the academic processing speed (i.e., rapid automatic naming and academic fluency) of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) served in public school settings. A cross-sectional design was used to investigate the (a) percentage of K-12 students with EBD served in public school settings with academic processing speed deficits; (b) mean level and stability of academic processing speed exhibited by K-12 students with EBD served in public school settings; (c) differences in the academic skills, IQ, social adjustment, and language skills of students with and without processing speed deficits; and (d) the relative contribution of academic processing speed, academic skills, and language to the prediction of the social adjustment problems (i.e., total, externalizing, internalizing, and attention). Results indicated that: (a) a majority of the sample (57%) of students with EBD exhibited academic processing speed deficits; (b) the overall academic fluency standard score was more than three-fourths of a standard deviation below the mean for the norm group; (c) statistically significant differences were found between students with and without processing speed deficits across IQ, language, academic achievement, and social adjustment measures; and (d) with one exception (i.e., internalizing problems), academic fluency predicted all social adjustment domains and predicted total and attention problems above and beyond language or academic skills. Limitations, implications, and areas of future research are discussed.

Teaching Students With Intellectual Disability to Integrate Reading Skills: Effects of Text and Text-Based Lessons

This multiple baseline study investigated the effectiveness of text-based reading lessons for students with intellectual disability (ID). Three students were selected who had not responded well to explicit and systematic reading instruction. They were provided with individual instruction in daily 45-min sessions for 14 weeks (approximately 70 sessions). All three students increased the number of words read from baseline (ranging from 5 to 20 words correct) to the final intervention session (ranging from 40 to 75 words correct), though one student’s data were less conclusive due to growth during the baseline phase. Regression discontinuity revealed the intervention caused statistically significant growth. The intervention is promising given that students with ID who initially did not respond to systematic instruction improved their ability to sound out and unitize (i.e., read with automaticity) words.

Using Storybooks With Preschool Chirdren: Enhancing Language and Emergent Literacy

~~ 1991). These are all critical elements of emergent literacy. ~~ Using storybooks in the preschool classroom has long been rec~N~ ~ ognized as important and is generally a common practice. ~~M~~t Research demonstrates that interactive storybook reading produces ~~~Nt~N substantial gains in the oral language development of preschoolers, jt~~~~N particularly those who have language delays (Bus, van Ijzendoorn, Sj~~~~t & Pelligrini, 1995; Dale, Crain-Thoreson, Notari-Syverson, & 3~~~N Cole, 1996; Karweit, 1989; Mautte, 1990; Valdez-Menchaca & ~~~~~~N Whitehurst, 1992). In addition to fostering language development, ~~~~~M storybook reading with preschool children has been correlated to ~~~~~~M a variety of reading factors, including children’s eagerness to read, ~~~~~~N becoming literate before formal schooling, and success in begin~~~~~~ ning reading programs in elementary school (see Sulzby & Teale, ~~~~~~ 1991). Currently, researchers are learning more about how to use ~~~~~~~ storybooks as an effective means of fostering language and literacy ~~~~~~~ development in young children (see Bus, Ijzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995; Scarborough & Dobrich, 1994 for reviews). In general, rather than reading the book word for word adults should use interactive

Tier 3 Primary Grade Reading Interventions: Can We Distinguish Necessary from Sufficient?

The purpose of this chapter is to describe tier 3 reading interventions used for primary grade students (in kindergarten through third grade). Within multi-tier response-to-intervention systems, tier 3 is reserved for the very few students with the most persistent reading difficulties, having demonstrated significant difficulties in learning to read even with tier 1 and tier 2 supports. As explained in greater detail, tier 3 may be a last layer of intervention in general education that serves as part of a prereferral process or it may be special education. Following the description of the conceptual framework for the chapter, and the discussion of variability in tier 3 implementation, the literature is reviewed to learn whether it is known what is necessary and sufficient to help students who are struggling to read, including students with reading or mild-to-moderate intellectual disabilities. Implications for research are discussed and directions for future research are identified.