Laurice M. Joseph

A Review of the Effects of Self-Monitoring on Reading Performance of Students With Disabilities

The purpose of this review was to synthesize the effects of self-monitoring methods on reading achievement for students with disabilities. Studies examining the self-monitoring of reading behaviors that were published in peer-reviewed journals from 1987 to 2008 were synthesized with regard to types of participants, settings, research designs, independent variables, dependent variables, and intervention effects. Effect sizes and percentages of nonoverlapping data were calculated to provide overall estimates of the magnitude of using self-monitoring methods to improve reading performance. Findings suggested that reading performance improved when self-monitoring methods were used. Among the many findings derived from this review, more studies explored the use of self-monitoring on comprehension skills than on other reading skills, and more studies included participants with learning disabilities (followed by students with emotional and behavioral disorders) than students with other types of disabilities. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for practice are discussed.

Teaching students with intellectual or developmental disabilities to write: A review of the literature

The purpose of this review was to identify effective methods for teaching writing to students with intellectual disabilities. After criteria were established, database searches and hand searches of selected peer-reviewed journals were conducted. Findings revealed a relatively small number of studies that met the criteria for inclusion. Participants, settings, research designs, independent variables, dependent variables, and results are synthesized across studies. Writing instruction effects on various written expression outcomes were aggregated by averaging percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) across studies. Findings revealed that strategy instruction was investigated more frequently than other types of approaches. Strategy instruction was consistently found to be very effective for teaching writing skills to students with intellectual disabilities. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for practice are discussed.

A Meta-Analytic Review of Guided Notes

Research indicates that student achievement improves when teachers provide opportunities for active engagement. Guided notes have been suggested as a way to increase active student responding during teacher-directed lectures. The purpose of this review was to summarize research on the effectiveness of guided notes. Specifically, we sought to synthesize the research examining (a) the effectiveness of guided notes on various outcome variables and across different ages, (b) procedural variations in guided notes implementation, and (c) the social validity of guided notes. Results indicated that guided notes are an effective and socially valid method for increasing note-taking accuracy and improving academic performance, particularly for school-age students. Recommendations are made for everyday classroom practice and for future research.

PASS cognitive processes, phonological processes, and basic reading performance for a sample of referred primary-grade children

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among cognitive processing, phonological processing and basic reading skill performance. Cognitive theorists propose that Planning, Attention, Simultaneous and Successive (PASS) processes are related to various phonological skills. A sample of 62 Primary Grade children referred for reading problems were administered measures of cognitive processes (Cognitive Assessment System), phonological processes (Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing) and basic reading achievement (Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Academic Achievement-III). Findings indicated that some cognitive processes were significantly related to phonological processes as well as basic reading skills. The strongest relationships were found between phonological memory and successive processes and between phonological awareness and basic reading performance.

Developing first graders' phonemic awareness, word identification and spelling: A comparison of two contemporary phonic instructional approaches

Abstract This exploratory study compared the effectiveness of two contemporary phonic approaches (word box instruction and word sort instruction) on childrens phonemic awareness, word identification, and spelling performance. Forty‐two first‐grade children who were randomly selected to participate in three conditions: word box instruction, word sort instruction, and traditional instruction. The experimental conditions lasted approximately three months and consisted of daily 20 minute phonics instruction sessions. Children were administered five posttest measures: phonemic blending, phonemic segmentation, pseudo‐word naming, word identification, and spelling. MANO VA and univariate analyses revealed that type of phonic instruction significantly discriminated among the groups on posttest measures. Post hoc analyses indicated that there were significant differences favoring (1) word box instruction group over the traditional group on performance on all posttest measures except spelling, and (2) word sort gr...

Repeated Readings Combined with Word Boxes Phonics Technique Increases Fluency Levels of High School Students with Severe Reading Delays.

The purpose of this article is to present the use of repeated readings with word boxes instruction with a sample of high school students who were classified with severe reading delays. Repeated readings and word boxes are designed to help children increase fluency and acquire word identification skills, respectively. These approaches were also found to be helpful in improving reading levels of 3 high school students who were severely delayed readers.

Nondiscriminatory Assessment: Considerations for Gifted Education

Nondiscriminatory assessment practices have been proposed as a model of assessment for individuals of diverse cultures who are suspected as having a disability. This paper presents the use of nondiscrimina-tory assessment practices in evaluating students of diverse cultures who may be identified as gifted. Principles and guidelines for nondiscriminatory ways of assessing students of diverse cultures who may be gifted are presented. Implications for putting nondiscriminatory assessment procedures into practice are provided.

Using Guided Notes to Enhance Instruction for All Students

Taking notes from lectures or reading material can be challenging, especially for those who have learning disabilities. An alternative to traditional note-taking is a method called guided notes, which has been found to improve the accuracy of students’ notes, increase the frequency of student responses, and improve students’ quiz and test performance. Additionally, research has revealed that students prefer to use guided notes over taking their own notes or using preprinted notes. The purpose of this article is to provide teachers with several suggestions for creating and using guided notes to enhance other effective teaching methods, support students’ studying, and promote higher order thinking.

Getting the “Most Bang for Your Buck”

Abstract The purpose of this investigation was to compare instructional effectiveness and efficiency among the use of phonic analysis, incremental rehearsal, and traditional drill and practice word reading techniques during repeated reading lessons. Sixty primary grade children who had difficulty acquiring basic oral reading fluency skills were randomly selected to participate in one of the three word reading techniques + repeated reading conditions. Cumulative oral reading fluency and cumulative words learned from initial to repeated reading of passages as a function of type of word reading technique served as measures of instructional effectiveness. Instructional efficiency was measured by cumulative oral reading fluency and cumulative words learned per total instructional time (rate-based measure). Results showed that there were no significant differences between children in the phonic analysis + repeated reading group and children in the two whole word + repeated reading groups. However, there were differences between the two whole word + repeated reading groups favoring the traditional drill and practice over the incremental rehearsal group. Additionally, the group that received the traditional drill and practice + repeated reading lessons was the most efficient in learning to read words in passages than the groups that received either phonic analysis + repeated reading or incremental rehearsal + repeated reading. Implications for school psychologists are discussed.

Comparison of the Efficiency of Two Flashcard Drill Methods on Children's Reading Performance

The purpose of this study was to extend prior flashcard drill and practice research by holding instructional time constant and allowing learning trials to vary. Specifically, the authors aimed to determine whether an incremental rehearsal method or a traditional drill and practice method was most efficient in helping 5 first-grade children read, maintain, and generalize words when time allocated for each instructional method was controlled. Findings revealed that all 5 participants learned more words per session with the traditional drill and practice method. However, a higher percentage of words that were taught under the incremental rehearsal condition were generalized when they were presented in the context of sentences. These findings have implications for school psychologists and educators who play a role in deciding what academic interventions will be used to maximize student learning in the classroom.