Efficacy of a Two-Year Intensive Reading Intervention for Middle School English Learners With Reading Difficulties

NCT03695068 | Unknown

• 2 other identifiers: FWA00005994P50HD052117
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 840
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

This study investigates the efficacy of a reading comprehension intervention for English learners in Grades 6 and 7 with reading difficulties. Building on previous intervention studies conducted with students in Grades 4 through 8 over the past 10 years, the investigators utilize a longitudinal, double-cohort design utilizing a randomized control trial assigning students to supplemental reading intervention (RISE) or a no intervention "business as usual" (BAU) comparison condition (i.e., Cohort 1 - Years 1 and 2; 205 students in treatment and 205 in control condition; Cohort 2 - Years 3 and 4; 205 students in treatment and 205 in control condition; total 410 in each condition). Students in each cohort will be treated for 2 years (i.e., 6th and 7th grades or 7th and 8th grades). The primary outcome is reading comprehension. The investigators hypothesize that participants receiving the RISE intervention will outperform those receiving BAU instruction across reading-related elements, including word reading, fluency, and comprehension at end of year two of treatment.

Conditions

Learning Disorders; Dyslexia

Keywords

Learning Disabilities; Dyslexia; Reading

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in Reading Comprehension after two years of treatment (Gates MacGinitie Passage Comprehension)

  The Gates MacGinitie Passage Comprehension subtest is a group-administered, untimed test of reading comprehension. It consists of 11 passages with 48 multiple choice questions that target the following areas: inference making, summarization, main idea, literal questions about text, and vocabulary. Internal consistency exceeds 0.90 for students of this age range.

  Measured May of year 2 (end of year 2 of treatment)

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Change in word reading after two years of treatment (Kaufman Test of Education Achievement, Third Edition, Letter Word Recognition).

  Measured May of year 2 (end of year 2 of treatment)

• Change in word reading after one year of treatment (Kaufman Test of Education Achievement, Third Edition, Letter Word Recognition).

  Measured May of year 1 (end of year 1 of treatment)

• Change in reading fluency after two years of treatment (Kaufman Test of Education Achievement, Third Edition, Word Recognition Fluency).

  Measured May of year 2 (end of year 2 of treatment)

• Change in reading fluency after one year of treatment (Kaufman Test of Education Achievement, Third Edition, Word Recognition Fluency).

  Measured May of year 1 (end of year 1 of treatment)

• Change in Reading Comprehension after one year of treatment (Gates MacGinitie Passage Comprehension)

  Measured May of year 1 (end of year 1 of treatment)

Study Arms (2)

RISE Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Reading Instruction for Students who are English Learners (El) with Reading Difficulties (RISE): The RISE intervention is a multi-phase treatment that first accelerates basic skills through an emphasis on word reading (e.g., multi-syllable words, morphology, high-frequency words commonly misread; Phase 1), and then provides a longer-term emphasis on fluency and comprehension through systematically varying text difficulty and genre (Phase 2). To assure that students have minimal loss during the summer, RISE adds a summer Book Club that includes provision of books with comprehension activities for students in the RISE intervention arm (Phase 3). This entire approach takes two full academic years and two summers to be replicated across two cohorts.

Behavioral: RISE Intervention

Business as Usual Comparison Condition

NO INTERVENTION

Participants assigned to the Business as Usual (BAU)or comparison condition will participate in an elective class that includes such options as music, cooking, film, study time, or high stakes test preparation.

Interventions

RISE Intervention BEHAVIORAL

Described in Arms description.

RISE Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Participants are enrolled in 6th or 7th grade at a participating school.
• Participants are currently identified as English Learners (designated by school as limited English proficient) or were previously identified as limited English proficient and were redesignated as English proficient within the last 3 years by their school.
• A parent reported that Spanish was spoken at home at initial school entry.
• The participant failed the state level reading comprehension test the previous school year

You may not qualify if:

• The potential participant has a sensory disorder that precludes participation int he assessment and intervention protocols.
• The potential participant participates in an alternative curriculum (i.e., life skills course) due to moderate to severe learning disorders.
• The potential participant received a score of Beginner (Level 1) on the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) listening and speaking subtest, indicating limited opportunity to learn English.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Houston: lead
• University of Texas at Austin: collaborator
• The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston: collaborator
• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): collaborator

Study Sites (2)

University of Texas at Austin

Austin, Texas, 78712, United States

RECRUITING

University of Houston

Houston, Texas, 77024, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Learning Disabilities; Dyslexia

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Communication Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders; Language Disorders; Specific Learning Disorder

Study Officials

• Jack M Fletcher, Ph.D.

  University of Houston

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D.

  University of Texas at Austin

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Jack M Fletcher, Ph.D.

CONTACT

832-842-2004; jmfletch@central.uh.edu

Jeremy R Miciak, Ph.D.

CONTACT

832-842-2044; jeremy.miciak@times.uh.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Assessors are not aware of intervention assignment.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor

Model Details: Participants are randomly assigned to one of two arms: (1) the reading instruction for students who are English learners with reading difficulties (RISE) intervention or (2) a business as usual comparison condition.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 30, 2018
• First Posted: October 3, 2018
• Study Start: September 1, 2018
• Primary Completion: June 15, 2022
• Study Completion: June 15, 2022
• Last Updated: May 23, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (2)