This study tested the effectiveness of a writing planning strategy (STOP & LIST) with four struggling students from fourth grade. A multiple-baseline design (AB) was used with baselines consisting of between five and seven daily probes. The duration of the intervention was between five and seven 25-minute sessions. A randomization procedure was implemented within the constraint that the baseline had to comprise at least five measurements and the treatment had to comprise at least three. The data were analyzed using visual inspection, different effect sizes, randomization tests, and piecewise regression analyses. Results revealed distinct improvements in both the length and quality of stories that the participants produced from baseline to the end of the training. This indicates that the ability of young struggling writers to plan narratives can be fostered considerably through rather simple means. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effects of a simultaneous prompting procedure on the writing performance of three upper-elementary-level students diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD). Interventionists gave task directions followed by model prompts with a 0-s time delay to teach students composition. Non-targeted information related to the writing process was embedded in the form of progress monitoring. A multiple-baseline design across participants (AB) was used to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. Results indicate that the simultaneous prompting procedure positively affected the overall quality of writing of students with LD. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

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The number of students with reading difficulties is increasing and reading motivation is decreasing. Although serious reading problems can still persist during secondary education, most reading instruction happens in primary schools. In particular, students with learning disabilities and externalising behavioural problems are confronted with hurdles in reading literacy that need to be overcome. For this reason, this study focused on a simple reading intervention to promote sight vocabulary in 10th grade readers with learning disabilities and behavioural problems. A peer-tutored motivational reading racetrack intervention was implemented three times a week over a five-week period through a multiple baseline design across participants in three small groups. The results indicate that the combined intervention is an appropriate method to help students, even those in a graduating class, to improve their sight words in a short period of time, and thus provide them with important reading skills.

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