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This article describes the implementation of small-group reading instruction as secondary- and tertiary-level components of a three-tier model of prevention and intervention. The study consisted of 83 students who were targeted in the winter of kindergarten as being at high risk for reading failure. Intervention consisted of evidence-based curriculum delivered in groups of one to six students during 30- to 40-min sessions a minimum of three times per week over a 2-year period. Outcome data were collected for early literacy skills, using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills and Woodcock Reading Mastery Test, with comparisons across the different curricula. Results indicated that students in the more directed, explicit intervention groups generally out-performed students in the comparison group. Implications for future research and practice implementing schoolwide three-tier prevention models are discussed.
Keywords: reading intervention; reading curriculum; direct instruction
Poor readers are a diverse group of individuals who differ in background knowledge, language ability, how they respond to instruction, and subsequent levels of achievement (Al Otaiba & Fuchs, 2006; Kamps & Greenwood, 2005). This diversity makes achieving common goals for all students in a classroom difficult (Allington, 1991; Baker, Simmons, Kame'enui, 1995; Vaughn & Schumm, 1995). Fortunately, a synthesis of literacy research indicates the specific skills that students need to learn to read and a range of evidence-based practices that can be used (Denton, Fletcher, Anthony, & Francis, 2006; Foorman, Francis, Winikates, Mehta, Schatschneider, & Fletcher, 1998; National Reading Panel, 2000; Swanson, Hoskyn, & Lee, 1999). In addition, several large-scale intervention studies over the past decade suggest that highly intensive systematic instruction can reduce the rate of severe reading failure to about 4% to 6% of the school population (Torgesen, 2002). A summary of the research indicates environmental and skill deficits that contribute to reading failure, which in turn provides a blueprint for designing effective interventions. Areas for addressing the contributing factor to reading challenges include, first, that the intervention knowledge that teachers have affects their practice. To solve reading problems, teachers must be able to identify the problem, know how to implement various potential solutions, and have available resources to implement solutions. One explanation of why so many students lag in reading, especially in at-risk schools, is that general education teachers may lack...