Steven J. Amendum

The Effectiveness of a Technologically Facilitated Classroom-Based Early Reading Intervention

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a classroom-teacher-delivered reading intervention for struggling readers called the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), designed particularly for kindergarten and first-grade teachers and their struggling students in rural, low-wealth communities. The TRI was delivered via an innovative Web-conferencing system using laptop computers and webcam technology. Seven schools from the southwestern United States were randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions in a cluster randomized design. All children in the study (n = 364) were administered a battery of standardized reading skill tests in the fall and spring of the school year. Intent-to-treat analyses were conducted to estimate mixed models of children’s 1-year growth in Word Attack, Letter/Word Identification, Passage Comprehension, and Spelling of Sounds. Results showed that struggling readers from experimental schools outperformed those from control schools on all spring reading outcomes, controlling for fall scores.

First‐grade latino students' english‐reading growth in all‐english classrooms

Abstract Two main questions were addressed in this study: (1) How does first‐grade Latino English‐language learners’ growth in English instructional reading level and selected word‐level reading subprocesses (ability to read words in isolation, phonemic awareness, and phonics) compare to their monolingual native‐English‐speaking peers’ growth?; and (2) Does first‐grade Latino English‐language learners’ English reading growth (instructional reading level and selected word‐level reading subprocesses) vary according to their oral English language abilities? Participants were 47 students in two first‐grade classrooms—28 were Latino English‐language learners, and 19 were monolingual native‐English speakers. At each of two points in time—mid‐year and end‐of‐year—three reading measures were administered to all participants and an additional four oral‐English measures were administered to the Latino participants. To address the first research question, repeated measures analyses of variance were performed, first using Instructional Reading Level as the dependent variable, then with follow‐up analyses to examine growth in word‐level sub‐processes of reading. The second research question was addressed using repeated measures analyses of covariance. Main findings were that language status (Latino English learners versus monolingual native‐English speakers) was not related to Instructional Reading growth or growth in word‐level subprocesses of reading, and Overall English Oral Ability was not related to Instructional Reading Level growth, but was related to word‐level reading sub‐processes.

Does Structure of Content Delivery or Degree of Professional Development Support Matter for Student Reading Growth in High Poverty Settings

We addressed whether the degree of structure of reading content delivery to the children or degree of professional development support for the teachers was related to kindergarten through second-grade students’ 2-year reading growth in high-poverty, low-performing schools. There were four categories of data sources: (a) classroom, curriculum-based, reading assessments; (b) principal questionnaires; (c) information about staff development and implementation of reading-instruction reform; and (d) demographic information. Six reading variables were created from the classroom reading assessments. Two variables were created from staff development logs and school-based reading-instruction implementation plans—“degree to which content delivery to children was structured” and “degree to which teachers were supported in learning the instructional structure and content.” Control variables such as student poverty status and percentage of African American students in the school were created from the principal questionnaire and demographic data. Hierarchical linear models were used. Main conclusions were as follows: (a) Less structured content delivery overshadowed more structured delivery for student growth, but there was added value of being in schools with more characteristics associated with effectiveness. (b) Students who made the greatest growth were in schools with higher support for teachers. But in low-support settings, students made more growth if they were in schools with more characteristics associated with school effectiveness. (c) The degree of structure of content delivery and degree of professional development support were significantly related to growth in phonics knowledge, but not to growth in other reading subprocesses.

The Promise of a Literacy Reform Effort in the Upper Elementary Grades

We compared year-long gains in fluency and comprehension in grades 3–5 in 3 treatment and 4 comparison schools. Treatment schools implemented a comprehensive school reform (CSR) program called Bookworms. The program employed challenging text and emphasized high text volume, aggressive vocabulary and knowledge building, and contextualized strategy instruction. Comparison schools used a traditional guided reading approach that matched children to instructional-level texts. We established feasibility of the CSR treatment through document review. Achievement levels were initially comparable in fluency and comprehension. Repeated-measures MANOVAs revealed that for reading fluency, the treatment group grew significantly more than the control group in grades 3 and 5 but not in grade 4. For comprehension, the treatment group exhibited significantly more growth at all 3 grades. Implications of the study are discussed.

The Push for More Challenging Texts: An Analysis of Early Readers’ Rate, Accuracy, and Comprehension

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between the challenge level of text and early readers’ reading comprehension. This relationship was also examined with consideration to students’ word recognition accuracy and reading rate. Participants included 636 students, in Grades 1–3, in a southeastern state. Results suggest that students reading texts well above their actual grade levels, even with sufficient accuracy scores, scored significantly lower on comprehension than students reading texts at their actual grade level. This result also held regardless of students’ reading rates. Findings signal the importance of considering text level during instruction and suggest some caution is warranted when pushing students into texts well above their grade levels.

Explaining Variance in Comprehension for Students in a High-Poverty Setting

This study examined the contributions of decoding, language, spelling, and motivation to the reading comprehension of elementary school readers in a high-poverty setting. Specifically, the research questions addressed whether and how the influences of word reading efficiency, semantic knowledge, reading self-concept, and spelling on reading comprehension varied based on 2 different measures of comprehension. The sample included 52 elementary-age participants from 1 high-poverty school. Multiple regression analyses revealed that factors were related differently to comprehension depending on the measures used. Specifically, fluency accounted for most of the variance in silent reading comprehension but a smaller proportion of the variance in oral reading comprehension. For the oral reading comprehension measure, semantic knowledge was the most influential predictor.

Improving Young English Learners' Language and Literacy Skills through Teacher Professional Development: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Using a randomized controlled trial, we tested a new teacher professional development program for increasing the language and literacy skills of young Latino English learners with 45 teachers and 105 students in 12 elementary schools. School-based teams randomly assigned to the intervention received professional development focused on cultural wealth, high-impact instructional strategies, and a framework for collaboration. We observed each teacher three times during the school year and assessed students individually at the beginning and end of the school year using the Woodcock Muñoz Language Survey (WMLS). Using an intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis, we found effects for the intervention on teachers’ implementation of high-impact instructional strategies and students’ language and literacy skills.

Interpreting Reading Assessment Data Moving From Parts to Whole in a Testing Era

This article is designed to help teachers interpret reading assessment data from DIBELS beyond individual subtests to better support their students’ needs. While it is important to understand the individual subtest measures, it is more vital to understand how each fits into the larger picture of reading development. The underlying construct of each DIBELS subtest is unpacked, followed by a demonstration of how teachers can (a) interpret results and (b) design high-quality interventions around the reading constructs, rather than teaching to individual subtests. Two classroom examples are presented that were designed to illustrate realigned interpretation of assessment results.