The Effects of Reading Interventions on Social Outcomes for Elementary Students with Reading Difficulties: A Synthesis

Reading Interventions With Behavioral and Social Skill Outcomes

“…The findings of single-case design studies utilizing Horner and colleagues (2012) criteria for visual analysis indicated little evidence in support of reading interventions positively affecting behavior or social skill outcomes with the exception of two studies (see Table 4; Kamps et al, 1994; Lane et al, 2002). This finding was contrary to findings from Wanzek et al (2006), which, based on single-case and single-group studies of reading interventions, indicated the possibility of improving behavior and social skill outcomes.…”

“…Specifically, we isolated the independent variable to reading-only interventions for studies that investigated dependent measures of reading and behavior and social skills outcomes. We extended the findings of previously conducted syntheses (Nelson et al, 2011; Wanzek et al, 2006) by (a) including all students in Grades K-12, (b) broadening the criteria for type of literacy instruction, (c) including and systematically evaluating single-case design studies, (d) broadening the dependent measure requirement, and (e) not requiring a calculable effect size. The findings from group design studies reconfirmed the findings from the previous syntheses, suggesting that outcomes for students participating in reading interventions have positive effect sizes for reading outcomes and small or negative effect sizes for behavior and social skill outcomes.…”

“…Second, a hand search was conducted from 2011 to 2013 of the following journals that published the articles that met the criteria in the first step: Annals of Dyslexia, Behavior Disorders, Education and Treatment of Children, Exceptional Children, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Journal of Learning Disabilities, Learning Disability Quarterly, Preventing School Failure, Psychological Reports, Psychology in the Schools , and Remedial and Special Education . Third, reference sections of 11 relevant literature reviews were searched (Al Otaiba & Fuchs, 2002; Bruhn, Lane, & Hirsch, 2014; Cook et al, 2008; Joseph & Eveleigh, 2011; Mooney, Ryan, Uhing, Reid, & Epstein, 2005; Ryan, Reid, & Epstein, 2004; Simonsen, Fairbanks, Briesch, Myers, & Sugai, 2008; Spencer, 2006; Vannest, Temple-Harvey, & Mason, 2009; Wanzek et al, 2006; Wanzek, Wexler, Vaughn, & Ciullo, 2010). Finally, the reference sections of all the studies meeting the inclusion criteria were examined.…”

“…The rationale for this investigation is to expand findings from previous related syntheses (Nelson et al, 2011; Wanzek et al, 2006) based on research suggesting that there is a (a) high co-occurrence rate of behavior problems and reading problems; (b) need to improve reading outcomes, especially for students who fail to respond to adequate and intensive interventions; and (c) need to further investigate the theoretical explanations that posit the idea that reading difficulties lead to problem behaviors by exploring the relationship between reading and behavioral outcomes in the context of reading interventions aimed to improve reading skills.…”

“…While this synthesis shares common features with Wanzek et al (2006) and Nelson et al (2011), our purpose differs from Wanzek et al (2006) in that we expand their inclusion criteria to include all students in Grades K-12 and isolate the reading component by including only reading interventions without behavioral or social skill independent variables (e.g., token economy). In addition, we present a more comprehensive review than Nelson et al (2011) by expanding the inclusion criteria in the following areas: (a) participant selection; (b) type of reading instruction provided is not restricted to phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary; (c) research design (i.e., single-case research designs); (d) broadening the dependent measure requirement; and (e) not requiring a calculable effect size.…”