Skill Moderators of the Effects of a Reading Comprehension Intervention

Abstract

This study utilized secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial and investigated the extent to which prestest word identification efficiency, reading fluency, and vocabulary knowledge moderated the effects of an intervention on reading comprehension outcomes for struggling readers in sixth through eighth grades. Given that the experimental intervention included components that targeted word reading, reading fluency, and vocabulary, we hypothesized that students with lower pretest performance in those skill domains would benefit more from the intervention compared to students with relatively stronger pretest performance or students who received school-implemented (business-as-usual) intervention. Results indicated that pretest word identification efficiency and vocabulary did not moderate the effects of the intervention; however, moderation effects were observed for pretest oral reading fluency such that reading comprehension gains of students with lower pretest fluency were greater in the experimental intervention compared to students with higher pretest fluency or in the comparison condition. Reasons for the moderation effect are discussed. Findings underscore the use of moderation analyses when evaluating multicomponent interventions.

Measuring the Quantity and Quality of Explicit Instructional Interactions in an Empirically Validated Tier 2 Kindergarten Mathematics Intervention

“…Coyne et al (2019), for example, found that kindergarten students with higher initial vocabulary knowledge reaped greater benefit from a Tier 2 vocabulary intervention than their peers with lower preintervention vocabulary knowledge. Conversely, results from Clemens et al (2019) suggested that students with lower oral reading fluency at pretest made stronger gains in reading comprehension than students with higher pretest reading fluency. Clemens et al (2019), however, found no evidence that initial word identification efficiency or vocabulary knowledge moderated the treatment effects.…”

“…Conversely, results from Clemens et al (2019) suggested that students with lower oral reading fluency at pretest made stronger gains in reading comprehension than students with higher pretest reading fluency. Clemens et al (2019), however, found no evidence that initial word identification efficiency or vocabulary knowledge moderated the treatment effects. Similarly, L.…”

The influence of student engagement on the effects of an inferential reading comprehension intervention for struggling middle school readers

“…However, not all students will respond adequately to instruction (McMaster et al, 2005 ; Fuchs et al, 2014 ), including inferential reading comprehension interventions. In attempts to understand why students respond differently to reading interventions, researchers have increasingly utilized moderation analysis to statistically identify characteristics associated with differential response to reading interventions (e.g., Clemens et al, 2019 ; Miciak et al, 2014 , Vaughn et al, 2019 ). There are many potential characteristics that could moderate students’ response to intervention.…”

Is “Response/No Response” Too Simple a Notion for RTI Frameworks? Exploring Multiple Response Types With Latent Profile Analysis

“…Coyne et al (2019) and Vaughn et al (2019) determined that stronger initial reading and language skills predicted a more positive response. However, Clemens et al (2019) and D. Fuchs et al (2019) obtained an opposite result: Weaker initial skills predicted more positive responses.…”

“…Several research groups have found domain-specific skills (e.g., decoding) predictive of intervention response (Clemens et al, 2019; Coyne et al, 2019; D. Fuchs et al, 2019; Nelson et al, 2003; Scarborough, 1998; Vaughn et al, 2019).…”