Effects of Educational Technology Applications on Reading Outcomes for Struggling Readers: A Best‐Evidence Synthesis

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThis review examines the effectiveness of educational technology applications in improving the reading achievement of struggling readers in elementary schools. The review applies consistent inclusion standards to focus on studies that met high methodological standards. A total of 20 studies based on about 7,000 students in grades 1-6 were included in the final analysis. Findings indicate that educational technology applications produced a positive but small effect on the reading skills of struggling readers (ES = .14) in comparison with "business as usual" methods. Among four types of educational technology applications, small-group integrated applications such as Read, Write & Type and the Lindamood Phoneme Sequence Program produced the largest effect sizes (ES = .32). These are tutorial educational technology applications that use small-group interaction tightly integrated with reading curriculum. Supplementary models, such as Jostens and Lexia, had a larger number of studies (N = 12) and a more modest effect size (ES = .18). Comprehensive models, such as READ 180 and ReadAbout (ES = .04) and Fast ForWord (ES = .06), did not produce meaningful positive effect sizes. However, the results of these two categories of programs should be interpreted with extreme caution due to the small number of studies involved. More studies are required to validate the effectiveness of all technology applications. Policy implications are discussed.

Psychotherapy, (Il)Literacy, Information Communication and Technologies: Building Bridges to Literacy Excellence

“…Learning to read is, however, a complex task (Cheung and Slavin, 2013). The National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000) identified five elements that should be at the heart of any early reading approach: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and reading comprehension.…”

“…The National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000) identified five elements that should be at the heart of any early reading approach: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and reading comprehension. All students need the five components of the reading skill, and successful readers are likely to develop them quite rapidly in the primary grades (Cheung and Slavin, 2013). For struggling readers however, the story is quite different.…”

“…They may have problems with spoken language and find it difficult to express themselves clearly, or to fully comprehend what others mean when they speak. Such language problems are often difficult to recognize, but they can lead to major problems in school, in the workplace, and in relating to other people (Cheung and Slavin, 2013).…”

“…After experiencing a great deal of stress due to academic problems, a student may become discouraged about continuing in school. Cheung and Slavin (2013) and Lesnick, George, Smithgall and Gwynne (2010) state that students who cannot read well in the early grades tend to be at higher risk of performing poorly in later grades and other subjects, have emotional and behavioral problems and at a higher risk of dropping out of school. Internationally, concerted efforts have been made over the past 20 years among practitioners, researchers and policy makers to develop policy and identify effective interventions to help struggling readers succeed in reading (Cheung and Slavin, 2013).…”

“…Cheung and Slavin (2013) and Lesnick, George, Smithgall and Gwynne (2010) state that students who cannot read well in the early grades tend to be at higher risk of performing poorly in later grades and other subjects, have emotional and behavioral problems and at a higher risk of dropping out of school. Internationally, concerted efforts have been made over the past 20 years among practitioners, researchers and policy makers to develop policy and identify effective interventions to help struggling readers succeed in reading (Cheung and Slavin, 2013). Approaches such as improved initial teaching of reading, one-onone tutoring, small-group tutorials, comprehensive school reform and technology applications have been used for struggling readers in many schools.…”