Two Studies of Tier II Literacy Development: Throwing Sixth Graders a Lifeline

Abstract

Two experimental studies at one urban middle school investigated the effects of the combination of Tier I and Tier II evidence-based reading instruction compared to Tier I alone on struggling sixth-grade readers (N ϭ 109). All participants received free or reduced-price lunch, and 95% were considered English learners at some point in their school history. In both studies, Tier II intervention consisted of intensive instruction in word analysis, fluency building, comprehension, and vocabulary for 30 hours across 10 weeks. Results of both studies taken individually and combined indicated significant differences in favor of the intervention groups on oral reading fluency. The second study indicated significantly stronger performances for the intervention group on the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised (WRMT-R/ NU) passage comprehension subtest. Tier II interventions and Response to Intervention (RTI) for older struggling readers are discussed related to educational implications and future research.

Effects of an Informational Text Reading Comprehension Intervention for Fifth-Grade Students

“…It may be that effects may be found only after extended implementation of these interventions. This intervention was relatively short, but within the same time frame as the studies by Graves et al (2011) and Faggella-Luby and Wardwell (2011). It may take more instructional time for students to consolidate knowledge and use strategies effectively and that reading comprehension problems are difficult to ameliorate.…”

“…Finally, Graves, Duesbery, Pyle, Brandon, and McIntosh (2011) developed a supplemental intervention program that was reported in two studies for sixth-grade students, many of whom were English learners and were reading approximately 3 years below grade level. Students in the intervention group received 30 hr of intervention in word analysis, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.…”

A Comparison of Lower‐ and Higher‐Resourced Tier 2 Reading Interventions for High School Sophomores

“…Two other studies addressed Tier 2 intervention provided to middle school students in smaller groups (three to seven students) for approximately 20–30 hours (Faggella‐Luby & Wardwell, ; Graves, Brandon, Duesbery, McIntosh, & Pyle, ). The researchers reported significant results for fluency and comprehension interventions, favoring direct instruction strategies over typical reading instruction or silent reading.…”

Effects Of Explicit Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction For English Learners With Specific Learning Disabilities

“…It contains three studies with enough methodological rigor to merit knowledge claims (Helman, Calhoon, & Kern, 2014;Klingner & Vaughn, 1996;Sáenz et al, 2005); however none of these studies has been replicated in other settings with other participants. Moreover, the majority of reading comprehension intervention experimental studies that included culturally and linguistically diverse participants used a culture-free approach, or one that did not consider the fundamental aspects of culture and linguistic diversity that participants, interventionists, and researchers brought to the study (Albers & Hoffman, 2012;Bos & Anders, 1992;Denton, Anthony, et al, 2004;Denton, Wexler, et al, 2008;Graves et al, 2011;Gunn et al, 2000;Gunn et al, 2002;Halterman, 2013;Helman et al, 2014;Klingner & Vaughn, 1996;Landa, 2009;Linan-Thompson et al, 2003;Montoya, 2008;Santoro et al, 2006;Solari & Gerber, 2000;Tam et al, 2008;Wanzek & Roberts, 2012). In each of the aforelisted studies, researchers mainly focused on analyzing measureable effects of the interventions, rather than analyzing the effects of the intervention in consideration of the interconnected nature of race, language, and disability.…”

“…The research base to guide practitioners in improving reading comprehension for ELs with SLD is limited to twelve studies (i.e., Bos & Anders, 1992;Denton, Wexler, Vaughn, & Bryan, 2008;Graves, Duesbery, Pyle, McIntosh, & McIntosh, 2011;Gunn, Smolkowski, Biglan, & Black, 2002;Jiménez, 1997;Klingner &Vaughn, 1996;Linan-Thompson, Vaughn, Hickman-Davis, & Kouzekanani, 2003;McElvain, 2010;Sáenz, Fuchs, & Fuchs, 2005;Santoro, Jitendra, Starosta, & Sacks, 2006;Wanzek & Roberts, 2012).…”