Improving Adult Literacy Instruction: Options for Practice and Research (2012)
Chapter: Appendix C: Interventions to Develop the Component Literacy Skills of Low-Literate Adults
A. Study Populations and Sample Characteristics
Investigator: | Greenberg | Levy | MacArthur |
Project Title | Research on Reading | Testing Impact of | Building a |
Study Population | Adult literacy | ABE ASE Adult English literacy | ABE |
Sample Characteristics | |||
Size | Descriptive n = 425 Intervention n = 198 | Intervention n = 1,907 Assessment n = 98 | Descriptive n = 486 Intervention n = 349 |
Age | Intervention M = 37 (range 16-78 yrs) | Descriptive M = 35 Intervention M = 37 (range 16-76 years) | |
Gender | Intervention = | Intervention = | Descriptive = Intervention = |
Reading Level | Intervention screened to be 3rd-to-5th- grade level | By NRS reading levels | NRS low- Nelson Reading M = 36.2 (SD = |
Native English speakers | Intervention = 56% | Descriptive = 69% Intervention = 65% | |
Mellard | Sabatini | Wood |
Improving Literacy Instruction for Adults | Relative Effectiveness of Reading Programs for Adults | Young Adult Literacy Problems: Prevalence and Treatment |
ABE ASE | ABE with below 7th grade reading ability and sufficient English language ability | Descriptive 10th grade public high school with English as first language Intervention: Adults with developmental dyslexia |
Descriptive n = 319 | Descriptive n = 579 | Descriptive n = 188 |
Intervention n = 205 | Intervention n = 148 | Intervention n = 19 |
Descriptive M = 32 yrs | Descriptive M = 36 | Descriptive M = 15 yrs Intervention M = 44 yrs |
Intervention M = 28 years | ||
Descriptive = 60% female | Descriptive = 67% female | Descriptive = 44% female |
Intervention = 63% female | Intervention = 26% female | |
Descriptive: WRMT-R Passage | Screened for below | Descriptive: = 50% “poor readers”; 50% “typical readers” |
Intervention: WRMT-R Passage Bridging M = 60.3 (SD = 22.3), Fluency M = 89.0 (SD = 14.3), Prediction M = 79.4 (SD = 16.2), Summarization M = 77.1 (SD = Descriptive = 82% | Intervention Standard scores WRAT read words M = 85.6 WAIS full IQ M = 101.9 | |
B. Intervention Practices, Intensity, Duration, and Attrition Rates
Intervention Descriptors | Greenberg | Levy | MacArthur |
Practices | 4 instructional interventions 1. Decoding and fluency 2. Decoding, comprehension, and fluency 3. Extensive reading 4. Decoding, comprehension, extensive reading, and fluency | Directed health literacy curriculum | Enriched decoding and spelling curriculum |
Intensity and Duration | Planned: 2 hrs/day × 4 days/wk for up to 100 hrs over Minimum for analyses: 60 hrs, with at least 20 hrs after course midpoint | 42 hrs of classroom instruction over 12-16 wks | Duration approximately 8 mos Hrs of reading instruction M = 57 |
Attrition | 50% | 38% | |
Mellard | Sabatini | Wood |
4 learning strategies interventions 1. Bridging (word reading) 2. Fluency (repeated readings) 3. Prediction (comprehension) 4. Summarization (comprehension) | 3 instructional interventions adapted for adults 1. Corrective reading 2. RAVE O 3. Guided repeated readings | Structured multisensory phonological instruction from Lindamood-Bell Learning Corporation |
Whole-group classroom instruction • Bridging–19 hrs • Fluency–13 hrs • Prediction–30 hrs • Summarization–18 hrs • Bridging–48% • Fluency–3% • Prediction–60% • Summarization–42% | Supplemental one-to-one tutoring 1-hr session × 3 days per wk for 15 wks 45 contact hrs Completers’ 12–15 hrs of instruction over 3–5 wks 50% | Tutored 112 hrs over 8 wks |
Measurement Construct | Greenberg | Levy | MacArthur |
Phonological Processing | CTOPP Elision CTOPP blending CTOPP rapid letter naming | – | – |
Decoding and Word Recognition | TOWRE phonemic decoding efficiency TOWRE sight word efficiency WJ-III letter-word identification WJ-III word attack** | TOWRE phonemic decoding efficiency TOWRE sight word efficiency Adams & Huggins irregular word reading task | TOWRE phonemic decoding efficiency* WJ-R word attack WJ-R letter-word identification WJ-R letter-sound survey WRAT3 word reading |
Vocabulary | Boston Naming Test* | Boston Naming Test | Nelson word meaning |
Fluency | WJ-III reading fluency* | WJ-III fluency | Researcher-designed oral passage reading |
Comprehension | WJ-III passage comprehension | TABE-R** | Nelson reading comprehension |
Mellard | Sabatini | Wood | |
CTOPP Elision CTOPP blending CTOPP rapid color naming CTOPP rapid letter naming CTOPP rapid digit naming | CTOPP Elision CTOPP blending CTOPP rapid letter naming CTOPP rapid digit naming CTOPP memory for digits CTOPP nonword repetition WJ-III spelling of sounds | Lindamood Auditory Test of Auditory Analysis Skill** | |
TOWRE phonemic | TOWRE phonemic | DST nonwords DST real words | |
TOWRE sight word | TOWRE sight word | DST Phonemic Transfer | |
WRMT-R word attack | WJ-III letter-word | WJ-R word attack** | |
WRMT-R word identification | WJ-III word attack* | WJ-R letter-word identification | |
NAAL BRS oral word reading, pseudo-word reading | Visual Symbol Imagery** | ||
WAIS-III vocabulary | Boston Naming Test | Boston Naming Test | |
PPVT | WJ-III picture vocabulary | ||
TOSWRF | WJ-III reading fluency* | RAN digits, letters | |
Reading fluency passages from QRI | NAAL BRS oral passage reading | ||
GORT-4 fluency | |||
CASAS reading | WJ-III passage comprehension | WJ-R passage comprehension | |
WRMT-R passage | WJ-III oral comprehension | Gates-MacGinite reading | |
GORT-4 comprehension | WRAT3 reading achievement | ||
Measurement Construct | Greenberg | Levy | MacArthur |
Other Cognitive Ability or Skills | PIAT-R spelling subtest TOLD I Word ordering subtest | Orally administered, | WRAT3 spelling test Researcher-designed spelling test Self-efficacy scales |
NOTES:
ABE/ASE = Adult basic education and adult secondary education
BEST Literacy = Basic English Skills Test (Center for Applied Linguistics, 1987 for Levy)
BEST Plus = Basic English Skills Test (Center for Applied Linguistics)
BNT = Boston Naming Test (Kaplan, Goodglass, and Weintraub, 1983, 2001)
CASAS = Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS, 2001)
CELF = Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (Semel, Wiig, and Secord, 1987)
CELSA = Combined English Language Skills Assessment (Thompson, 1994)
CTOPP = Comprehensive Test of Phonemic Processing (Wagner, Torgesen, and Rashotte, 1999)
DST = Decoding Skills Test (Richardson and DiBenedetto, 1985)
fMRI = Functional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
GORT = Gray Oral Reading Tests-3 and 4 (Wiederholt and Bryant, 1994, 2001)
K-SADS-E = Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizoprenia for School-age Children—Epidemiologic Version, 5th ed. (Orvaschel and Puig-Antich, 1994)
LAC = Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test (Lindamood and Lindamood, 1971)
LSS = Letter Sound Survey (Venezky, 2003)
NAAL = National Assessment of Adult Literacy (Basic Reading Skills and Passage Reading) (Baer, Kutner, and Sabatini, 2009)
Nelson Reading Test (Hanna, Schell, and Schreiner, 1977)
NRS = National Reporting System for Adult Education
PIAT-R = Peabody Individual Achievement Test-Revised, spelling subtest (Frederick and Markwardt, 1997)
Mellard | Sabatini | Wood | |
WAIS-III block design WAIS-III information CELF WJ-III story recall WJ-III auditory working memory | WJ-III story recall WJ-III understanding directions BEST Plus | K-SADS-E (psychiatric disorders and suicidal behaviors) Dropout–first time left school for any reason WASI** fMRI | |
PPVT = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–III (Dunn and Dunn, 1997, 1998)
QRI = Qualitative Reading Inventory-3 (Leslie and Caldwell, 2000)
RAN = Rapid Automatized Naming (Denckla and Rudel, 1976)
RAVE O = Retrieval Rate, Automaticity, Vocabulary Elaboration, Engagement with Language, and Orthography (Wolf, Miller, and Donnelly, 2000)
TAAS = Test of Auditory Analysis Skill (Rosner and Simon, 1971; Rosner, 1979)
TABE-R = Test of Adult Basic Education-Revised (CTB/McGraw-Hill, 1996)
TOLD I:3 = Test of Language Development, Intermediate, 3rd Edition (Hammil and Newcomer, 1997)
TOSWRF = Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency (Mather et al., 2004)
TOWRE = Test of Word Reading Efficiency (Torgesen, Wagner, and Rashotte, 1999)
VSI = Visual Symbol Imagery (Bell, 1997)
WAIS-III = Wechsler Adult Intelligences Scale III (Wechsler, 1997)
WASI = Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence (Wechsler, 1999)
WJ-III = Woodcock-Johnson III, Tests of Achievement (Woodcock, McGrew, and Mather, 2001)
WJ-R = Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-educational Battery, Tests of Achievement, Revised (Woodcock and Johnson, 1989, 1990)
WRAT3 = Wide Range Achievement Test-Revision 3 (Wilkinson, 1993)
WRMT-R = Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised (Woodcock, 1998)
Alamprese, J., MacArthur, C., Price, C., and Knight, D. (2011). Effects of a structured decoding curriculum on adult literacy learners’ reading development. Journal of Research on Education Effectiveness, 4(2), 154-172.
Eden, G.F., Jones, K.M., Cappell, K., Gareau, L., Wood, F.B., Zeffrio, T.A., Dietz, N.A.E., Agnew, J.A., and Flowers, D.L. (2004). Neural changes following remediation of adult developmental dyslexia. Neuron, 44, 411-422.
Greenberg, D., Wise, J., Morris, R., Fredrick, L., Rodrigo, V., Nanda, A., and Pae, H. (2011). A randomized-control study of instructional approaches for struggling adult readers. Journal of Research on Education Effectiveness, 42(2), 101-117.
Hock, M., and Mellard, D. (2011). Efficacy of learning strategies instruction in adult education. Journal of Research on Education Effectiveness, 4(2), 134-153.
Levy, S., Rasher, S., Carter, S., Harris, L., Berbaum, M., Mandernach, J., Bercovitz, L., and Martin, L. (2008). Health literacy curriculum works for adult basic education students. Focus on Basics, 9(B), 33-39.
Sabatini, J., Shore, J., Holtzman, and Scarborough, H. (2011). Relative effectiveness of reading intervention programs for adults with low literacy. Journal of Research on Education Effectiveness, 4(2), 118-133.
