Project III — Remediation

Principal Investigator

Dr. Sharon Vaughn, The University of Texas at Austin

Additional Investigators

Dr. Jack M. Fletcher, University of Houston

Dr. Carolyn Denton, Children’s Learning Instutute, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Description of the Project

Project III involves a study of multitiered instruction and intensive intervention with students in Austin-area and Houston middle schools who do not respond to enhanced reading instruction (moderate intervention). One cohort of students will be followed for three years (2006–2009).

  1. Year 1: Beginning in the fall of 2006, at-risk sixth-grade students were identified by examining the previous year’s scores from the state-mandated assessment. These students were provided with either (a) intervention (in groups of approximately 10-15 students) provided by research staff or (b) typical instruction provided by the school. In addition, content area teachers with students identified as at risk in their classrooms received professional development.
  2. Year 2: Students who were low responders after one year of intervention then received more intensive intervention — either (a) low-inference instructional intervention or (b) individualized, high-inference intervention — in seventh grade. Intervention groups were also intensified by decreasing group sizes from Year 1 to approximately 5 students per group.
  3. Year 3: The first cohort of students will be followed through the end of eighth grade. Students who made minimal progress in Years 1 and 2 will participate in another year of high inference intervention in even smaller groups (approximately 3-5 students).

Population/Participants

Follows one cohort of students with reading difficulties from sixth to eighth grade.

Sites

Middle schools in Round Rock, Manor, and Houston, Texas.

Fidelity

Measures

Click here for detailed descriptions of all measures used in this study, with references.

Timeline

2006–2010

Findings/Publications


2008

Denton, C. A., & Vaughn, S. (2008). Reading and writing intervention for older students with disabilities: Possibilities and challenges. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 23(2), 61–62.

Denton, C. A., Wexler, J., Vaughn, S., & Bryan, D. (2008). Intervention provided to linguistically diverse middle school students with severe reading difficulties. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 23(2), 79–89.

Vaughn, S., Fletcher, J. M., Francis, D. J., Denton, C. A., Wanzek, J., Wexler, J., . . . Romain, M. A. (2008). Response to intervention with older students with reading difficulties. Learning and Individual Differences, 18(3), 338–345.

Wanzek, J., & Vaughn, S. (2008). Response to varying amounts of time in reading intervention for students with low response to intervention. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 41(2), 126–142.

2009

Fletcher, J. M., & Vaughn, S. (2009). Response to intervention: Preventing and remediating academic difficulties. Child Development Perspectives, 3(1), 30–37.

Fletcher, J. M., & Vaughn, S. (2009). RTI models as alternatives to traditional views of learning disabilities: Response to the commentaries. Child Development Perspectives, 3(1), 48–50.

2010

Vaughn, S., Cirino, P. T., Wanzek, J., Wexler, J., Fletcher, J. M., Denton, C. A., . . . Francis, D. J. (2010). Response to intervention for middle school students with reading difficulties: Effects of a primary and secondary intervention. School Psychology Review, 39(1), 3–21.

Vaughn, S., Denton, C. A., & Fletcher, J. M. (2010). Why intensive interventions are necessary for students with severe reading difficulties. Psychology in the Schools, 47(5), 432–444.

Vaughn, S., & Fletcher, J. M. (2010). Thoughts on rethinking response to intervention with secondary students. School Psychology Review, 39(2), 296–299.

Vaughn, S., Wanzek, J., Wexler, J., Barth, A., Cirino, P. T., Fletcher, J. M., . . . Francis, D. J. (2010). The relative effects of group size on reading progress of older students with reading difficulties. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 23(8), 931–956.

Wanzek, J., Roberts, G., Linan-Thompson, S., Vaughn, S., Woodruff, A. L., & Murray, C. S. (2010). Differences in relationship of oral reading fluency and high-stakes measures of reading comprehension. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 35(2), 67–77.

Wanzek, J., Wexler, J., Vaughn, S., & Ciullo, S. P. (2010). Reading interventions for struggling readers in the upper elementary grades: A synthesis of 20 years of research. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 23(8), 889–912.

Wexler, J., Vaughn, S., Roberts, G., & Denton, C. A. (2010). The efficacy of repeated reading and wide reading practice for high school students with severe reading disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice 25(1), 2–10.

2011

Rezaie, R., Simos, P., Fletcher, J., Cirino, P., Vaughn, S., & Papanicolaou, A. C. (2011). Temporo-parietal brain activity as a longitudinal predictor of response to educational interventions among middle school struggling readers. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 17, 875–885.

Vaughn, M. G., Beaver, K. M., Wexler, J., DeLisi, M., & Roberts, G. J. (2011). The effect of school dropout on verbal ability in adulthood: A propensity score matching approach. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40, 197–206.

Vaughn, S., Wexler, J., Roberts, G., Barth, A. A., Cirino, P. T., Romain, M. A., . . . Denton, C. A. (2011). Effects of individualized and standardized interventions on middle school students with reading disabilities. Exceptional Children, 77(4), 391–409.

Wanzek, J., Vaughn, S., Roberts, G., & Fletcher, J. (2011). Efficacy of a reading intervention for middle school students identified with learning disabilities. Exceptional Children, 78, 73–87.

In Press

Barth, A., Stuebing, K. K., Fletcher, J. M., Cirino, P. T., Francis, D. J., & Vaughn, S. (in press). Reliability and validity of the median score when assessing the oral reading fluency of middle grade readers. Reading Psychology.

Pyle, N., & Vaughn, S. (in press). Remediating reading difficulties in a response to intervention model with secondary students. Journal of School Psychology.

Reed, D. K., Vaughn, S., & Petscher, Y. (in press). The validation of a holistically scored retell protocol for determining the reading comprehension of middle school students. Learning Disability Quarterly.

Rezaie, R., Simos, P., Fletcher, J., Cirino, P., Vaughn, S., & Papanicolaou, A. C. (in press). Engagement of temporal lobe regions predicts response to educational interventions in adolescent struggling readers. Developmental Neuropsychology.

Tolar, T. D., Barth, A. E., Francis, D. J., Fletcher, J. M., Stuebing, K. K., & Vaughn, S. (in press). Psychometric properties of maze tasks in middle school students. Assessment for Effective Instruction.

Vaughn, S., & Fletcher, J. M. (in press). Response to intervention with secondary school students. Journal of Learning Disabilities.

Vaughn, S., Wexler, J., Leroux, A. J., Roberts, G., Denton, C. A., Barth, A. E., & Fletcher, J. M. (in press). Effects of intensive reading intervention for eighth grade students with persistently inadequate response to intervention. Journal of Learning Disabilities.

Under Review

Barth, A. E., Stuebing, K. K., Romain, M. Cirino, P., Vaughn, S., Denton, C., . . . Francis, D. J. (in review). Reliability and validity of one-minute and full passage oral reading fluency for middle grade readers. School Psychology Review.

Barth, A. E., Tolar, T. D., Fletcher, J. M., & Francis, D. J. (in review). Text effects on reading fluency among adolescents. Journal of Educational Psychology.

Beaver, K. M., Wright, J. P., DeLisi, M., & Vaughn, M. G. (in review). Dopaminergic polymorphisms and educational attainment: Results from a longitudinal sample of Americans. Developmental Psychology.

Cirino, P. C., Romain, M., Barth, A. E., Tolar, T., Fletcher, J. M., & Vaughn, S. (in review). Reading skill components and impairments in middle school struggling readers. Reading and Writing.
Roberts, G., & Fall, A. M. (in review). High school dropouts: A social-cognitive perspective on school disengagement. Journal of School Psychology.

Roberts, G., Fletcher, J. M., Stuebing, K. K., Barth, A. E., Vaughn, S., & Leroux, A. (in review). Treatment effects for older struggling readers: An application of moderated mediation. Reading and Writing.

Roberts, G., Vaughn, S., Fletcher, J. M., Stuebing, K. K., & Barth, A. E. (in review). Effects of a multi-year reading intervention with struggling readers in middle school. Journal of Educational Psychology.

Spinks, A., Stuebing, K. K., Wexler, J., & Fletcher, J. M. (in review). Ethnic identity of students with reading disabilities. Journal of Early Adolescence.

Tolar, T. D., Barth, A. E., Francis, D. J., Fletcher, J. M., & Vaughn, S. (in review). Slopes vs. intercepts as predictors of reading outcomes among adolescents when using the same versus alternate forms over time. Assessment for Effective Intervention.

Vaughn, M. G., Beaver, K. M., DeLisi, M., Wexler, J., & Roberts, G. (in review). Is there sufficient environmental variance to prevent school disengagement among adolescents: A behavior genetic analysis. Journal of Research on Adolescence.

Witko, C. M., & Vaughn, M. G. (in review). School choice and engagement: Does type of choice matter? Policy Studies Journal.

Findings are also described in some of the presentations posted on this site.