Responding to Nonresponders: An Experimental Field Trial of Identification and Intervention Methods

Abstract

First graders (N = 323) participated in an evidence-based classwide reading program (Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies; PALS). Adual-discrepancy approach was used to identify 56 children whose reading performance and growth rates were substantially below those of average readers, indicating they were not responding sufficiently to PALS. This approach reliably distinguished among unresponsive at-risk, responsive at-risk, and average-performing readers. Nonresponders were assigned randomly to one of three increasingly individualized treatments: PALS, Modified PALS, or tutoring by an adult. No statistically significant between-group differences on reading-related measures were found. Effect sizes (between .30 and .50) comparing groups and proportions of nonresponders following treatment suggest that tutoring was most promising for reducing unresponsiveness.

Individual variance in responsiveness to early computerized mathematics intervention

“…Given this individual variance in responsiveness to intervention (cf. Torgesen, 2000), the dual-discrepancy approach for identifying responders and non-responders to intervention could be relevant (poor performance-level and intervention growth rate compared to age-peers; Fuchs & Fuchs, 1998;McMaster et al, 2005). Based on the previous recommendations, the importance of continuous progress monitoring of skills development , and the study results of sub-study II, a triple-discrepancy approach could also be suggested for identifying non-responders (suggested in sub-study II).…”

“…A dual-discrepancy approach has been suggested for discriminating between responders and non-responders to intervention (poor performance level and intervention growth rate as compared to age-peers; Fuchs & Fuchs, 1998;McMaster, Fuchs, Fuchs, & Compton, 2005). Nonetheless, children with (or at-risk for) MD are not homogeneous in terms of the deficits associated with MD and responsiveness to intervention (e.g., Jordan et al, 2003;).…”

“…Proficiency-levels in critical early number skills distinguish the poorest-performing children from low-performing ones (Geary, 20 2011b; Kaufmann et al, 2013). Additionally, the children with (or at risk for) MD are likely to form a heterogeneous group in terms of their neurocognitive deficits (e.g., Ansari, Holloway, Price, & van Eimeren, 2008;Fletcher, Lyons, Fuchs, & Barnes, 2007;von Aster & Shalev, 2007), domain-general and domainspecific deficits (e.g., Kaufmann et al, 2013;von Aster, 2000), potential comorbidity problems (e.g., Jordan et al, 2003;Kleemans, Segers, & Verhoeven, 2011;Landerl & Moll, 2010;Moll, Kunze, Neuhoff, Bruder, & Schulte-Körne, 2014;Pennington, 2006), and responsiveness to intervention (Fuchs et al, 2015;McMaster, Fuchs, Fuchs, & Compton, 2005). Due to the variation in these factors underlying deficits and the diverse nature of MD themselves, identification should be multifaceted to uncover the specificity of the child's difficulty (see Fig.…”

“…Determination of risk should be based on the three following criteria: 1) children have identified deficits in early number skills (e.g., , 2) their performance-level remain stable throughout repeated assessments as compared to age-peers , and 3) they show poor or nonexisting intervention-related growth rate (Fletcher et al, 2007;Fuchs & Fuchs, 1998;McMaster et al, 2005). At an early stage, it should also pay attention to spontaneous focusing on numerosities (Batchelor, Inglis, & Gilmore, 2015;Hannula-Sormunen et al, 2015) and the home numeracy environment (Kleemans et al, 2012;Skwarchuk et al, 2014), both of which have been found to influence number skills development.…”

“…However, doing so created difficulty evaluating validity and reliability with the small, heterogeneous sub-samples of children in the present studies (cf. Kaufmann et al, 2013;McMaster et al, 2005;). These limitations could easily bias the effect size estimations (cf.…”