Research designed to identify the instructional and ecological conditions that foster the development of literacy skills in children with reading disabilities reflects a complex, multivariate enterprise. In essence, such research must be able to ultimately identify the teacher characteristics and instructional components that are critical for individual children and the interrelationships among these components. The intensity and duration of instruction will differ according to the severity of deficits in either single- or multiple-component reading processes. Moreover, training in any one component may not be sufficient to produce automatic improvements in other reading skills. This article identifies a number of conceptual and methodological issues that should be considered when conducting and interpreting reading intervention research.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Achenbach, T. M. (1987). Research in developmental psychology: Concepts, strategies, methods.New York: Free Press.
2.
Ackerman, P. T., Dykman, R. A., & Gardner, M. Y. (1990). Counting rate, naming rate, phonological sensitivity, and memory span: Major factors in severe dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 23, 325–328.
3.
Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
4.
Appelbaum, M. I., & McCall, R. B. (1983). Design and analysis in developmental psychology. In P. Mussen (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 415–476). New York: Wiley.
5.
Beck, I. L., & Juel, C. (1995). The role of decoding in learning to read. American Educator, 19, 8–12.
6.
Bergeron, B. S. (1990). What does the term whole language mean? Constructing a definition from the literature. Journal of Reading Behavior, 22, 301–329.
7.
Berninger, V. W. (1994). Reading and writing acquisition: A developmental neuropsychological perspective.Madison, WI: Brown and Benchmark.
8.
Berninger, V. (1996). Learning disabilities: Links to school and biology.Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
9.
Blachman, B. A. (1991). Getting ready to read. In J. F. Kavanagh (Ed.), The language continuum: From infancy to literacy (pp. 41–62). Parkton, MD: York Press.
10.
Blachman, B. A. (1997). Phonological reading intervention and brain organization.Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
11.
Blachman, B. A. (in press). Early intervention and phonological awareness: A cautionary tale. In B. A. Blachman (Ed.), Foundations of reading acquisition and dyslexia: Implications for early intervention.Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
12.
Bowers, P., Golden, J., Kennedy, A., & Young, A. (1994). Limits upon orthographic knowledge due to processes indexed by naming speed. In V. W. Berninger (Ed.), The varieties of orthographic knowledge I: Theoretical and developmental issues (pp. 120–146). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
13.
Brown, I. S., & Felton, R. H. (1990). Effects of instruction on beginning reading skills in children at risk for reading disability. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2, 223–241.
14.
Bruck, M. (1990). Word-recognition skills of adults with childhood diagnoses of dyslexia. Developmental Psychology, 26, 439–454.
15.
Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1987). Application of hierarchical models to assessing change. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 147–158.
16.
Burchinal, M., & Appelbaum, M. I. (1991). Estimating individual developmental functions: Methods and their assumptions. Child Development, 62, 23–43.
17.
Castles, A., & Colheart, M. (1993). Varieties of developmental dyslexia. Cognition, 47, 149–180.
18.
Chall, J. S., (1983). Learning to read: The great debate.New York: McGraw-Hill.
19.
Cramer, S. C, & Ellis, W. (1996). Learning disabilities: Lifelong issues.Baltimore: Brookes.
20.
Dunst, C. J., & Trivette, C. M. (1994). Methodological considerations and strategies for studying the long-term effects of early intervention. In S. L. Friedman & H. Carl Haywood (Eds.), Developmental follow-up: Concepts, domains, and methods (pp. 277–313). New York: Academic Press.
21.
Ehri, L. C. (1994). Development of the ability to read words: Update. In R. Ruddell, M. Ruddell, & H. Singer (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (pp. 323–358). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
22.
Foorman, B. R., Francis, D. J., Beeler, T., Winikates, D., & Fletcher, J. M. (1997). Early interventions for children with reading problems: Study designs and preliminary findings. Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 8, 63–72.
23.
Foorman, B. R., Francis, D. J., Winikates, D., Mehta, P., Schatschneider, C., & Fletcher, J. M. (1997). Early interventions for children with reading disabilities. Scientific Studies in Reading, 1, 255–276.
24.
Francis, D. J. (1996, February). An introduction to growth curve analysis. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society, Chicago.
25.
Francis, D. J., Fletcher, J. M., Steubing, K., Davidson, K., & Thompson, N. (1991). Analysis of change: Modeling individual growth. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 27–37.
26.
Francis, D. J., Shaywitz, S. E., Steubing, K., Shaywitz, B. A., & Fletcher, J. M. (1994). Measurement of change: Assessing behavior over time and within a developmental framework. In G. R. Lyon (Ed.), Frames of reference for the assessment of learning disabilities: New views on measurement issues (pp. 29–58). Baltimore: Brookes.
27.
Francis, D. J., Shaywitz, S. E., Steubing, K., Shaywitz, B. A., & Fletcher, J. M. (1996). Developmental lag vs. deficit models of reading: A longitudinal, individual growth curve analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 3–17.
28.
Johnson, D.J. (1981). Factors to consider in programming for children with language disorders. Topics in Language Disorders, 2, 13–27.
29.
Johnson, D. J. (1987). Assessment issues in learning disabilities research. In S. Vaughn & C. Bos (Eds.), Research in learning disabilities: Issues and future directions (pp. 141–151). San Diego: College-Hill.
30.
Johnson, D. J. (1994). Measurement of listening and speaking. In G. R. Lyon (Ed.), Frames of reference for the assessment of learning disabilities: New views on measurement issues (pp. 201–227). Baltimore: Brookes.
31.
Keogh, B. K. (1993). Linking purpose and practice: Social-political and developmental perspectives on classification. In G. R. Lyon, D. Gray, J. Kavanagh, & N. Krasnegor (Eds.), Better understanding learning disabilities: New views from research and their implications for education and public policies (pp. 311–323). Baltimore: Brookes.
32.
Keogh, B. K., & MacMillan, D. L. (1983). The logic of sample selection: Who represents what? Exceptional Education Quarterly, 4, 84–96.
33.
Lovett, M. W. (1991). Reading, writing, and remediation: Perspectives on the dyslexic learning disability from remedial outcome data. Learning and Individual differences, 3, 295–305.
34.
Lovett, M. (1997). Treatment of developmental reading disabilities. Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
35.
Lovett, M. W., Borden, S. L., DeLuca, T., Lacerenza, L., Benson, N. J., & Brackstone, D. (1994). Treating the core deficits of developmental dyslexia: Evidence of transfer-of-learning following phonologically-and-strategy based reading training programs. Developmental Psychology, 30, 805–822.
36.
Lovett, M. W., Ransby, M. J., & Barron, R. W. (1988). Treatment, subtype, and word type effects in dyslexic children's response to remediation. Brain and Language, 34, 328–349.
37.
Lovett, M. W., Ransby, M. J., Hardwick, N., & Johns, M. S. (1989). Can dyslexia be treated? Treatment-specific and generalized treatment effects in dyslexic children's response to remediation. Brain and Language, 37, 90–121.
38.
Lyon, G. R. (1985). Identification and remediation of learning disability subtypes. Learning Disability Focus, 1, 21–35.
39.
Lyon, G. R. (1987). Learning disabilities research: False starts and broken promises. In S. Vaughn & C. Bos (Eds.), Research in learning disabilities: Issues and future directions (pp. 69–85). San Diego: College-Hill.
40.
Lyon, G. R. (1993). Treatment effectiveness for the learning disabled.Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
41.
Lyon, G. R. (1995a). Research initiatives in learning disabilities: Contributions from scientists supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Journal of Child Neurology, 10, 120–126.
42.
Lyon, G. R. (1995b). Toward a definition of dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 45, 3–27.
43.
Lyon, G. R. (1996). Learning disabilities. In E. Marsh & R. Barkley (Eds.), Childhood psychopathology (390–435). New York: Guilford Press.
44.
Lyon, G. R., & Flynn, J. M. (1989). Educational validation studies with subtypes of learning disabled readers. In B. P. Rourke (Ed.), Neuropsychological validation of learning disability subtypes (pp. 203–242). New York: Guilford Press.
45.
Lyon, G. R., & Moats, L. C. (1988). Critical issues in the instruction of the learning disabled. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 830–835.
46.
Lyon, G. R., & Moats, L. C. (1993). An examination of research in learning disabilities: Past practices and future directions. In G. R. Lyon, D. Gray, J. Kavanagh, & N. Krasnegor (Eds.), Better understanding learning disabilities: New views from research and their implications for education and public policies (pp. 1–13). Baltimore: Brookes.
47.
McCall, R. B. (1977). Challenges to a science of developmental psychology. Child Development, 48, 333–334.
48.
Moats, L. C. (1994). Honing the concepts of listening and speaking: A prerequisite to the valid measurement of language behavior in children. In G. R. Lyon (Ed.), Frames of reference for the assessment of learning disabilities: New views on measurement issues (pp. 229–241). Baltimore: Brookes.
49.
Moats, L. C, & Lyon, G. R. (1993). Learning disabilities in the United States: Advocacy, science, and the future of the field. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 26, 282–294.
50.
Moats, L. C., & Lyon, G. R. (1996). Wanted: Teachers with knowledge of language. Topics in Language Disorders, 16, 73–86.
51.
Morris, R. (1997). Treatment of developmental reading disorders.Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
52.
Morris, R., Lyon, G. R., Alexander, D., Gray, D., Kavanagh, J., Rourke, B., & Swanson, H. (1994). Proposed guidelines and criteria for describing samples of persons with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 17, 106–109.
53.
Olson, R. K., Forsberg, H., Wise, B., & Rack, J. (1994). Measurement of word recognition, orthographic and phonological skills. In G. R. Lyon (Ed.), Frames of reference for the assessment of learning disabilities: New views on measurement issues (pp. 229–242). Baltimore: Brookes.
54.
Olson, R. K., Wise, B., Johnson, M., & Ring, J. (in press). The etiology and remediation of phonologically based word recognition and spelling disabilities: Are phonological deficits the "hole" story? In B. A. Blachman (Ed.), Foundation of reading acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
55.
Olson, R. K., Wise, B., Ring, J., & Johnson, M. (1997). Computer-based remedial training in phoneme awareness and phonological decoding: Effects on the posttraining development of word recognition. Scientific Studies of Reading.
56.
Perfetti, C. (1985). Reading Ability.New York: Oxford Press.
57.
Pressley, M., & Rankin, J. (1994). More about whole language methods of reading instruction for students at risk for early reading failure. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 9, 157–168.
58.
Rack, J. P., Snowling, M. J., & Olson, R. K. (1992). The nonword reading deficit in developmental dyslexia: A review. Reading Research Quarterly, 27, 29–53.
59.
Rogosa, D. R., & Willett, J. B. (1985). Understanding correlates of change by modeling individual differences in growth. Psychometrica, 50, 203–228.
60.
Scanlon, D. M., & Vellutino, F. R. (1996). Prerequisite skills, early instruction, and success in first-grade reading: Selected results from a longitudinal study. Mental Retardation and Developmental Research Reviews, 2, 54–63.
61.
Shanahan, T., & Barr, R. (1995). Reading Recovery: An independent evaluation of the effects of an early instructional intervention for at-risk learners. Reading Research Quarterly30, 958–996.
62.
Share, D. L., & Stanovich, K. E. (1995). Cognitive processes in early reading development: A model of acquisition and individual differences. Education: Contributions From Educational Psychology, 1, 1–57.
63.
Shaywitz, S. E., Escobar, M. D., Shaywitz, B. A., Fletcher, J. M., & Makuch, R. (1992). Evidence that dyslexia may represent the lower tail of the normal distribution of reading ability. New England Journal of Medicine, 326, 145–150.
64.
Shaywitz, S. E., Fletcher, J. M., & Shaywitz, B. A. (1994). A conceptual framework for learning disabilities and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Canadian Journal of Special Education, 9, 1–32.
65.
Shaywitz, B. A., & Shaywitz, S. E. (1994). Measuring and analyzing change. In G. R. Lyon (Ed.), Frames of reference for the assessment of learning disabilities: New views on measurement issues (pp. 59–68). Baltimore: Brookes.
66.
Shaywitz, S. E., & Shaywitz, B. A., Fletcher, J. M., & Escobar, M. D. (1990). Prevalence of reading disability in boys and girls: Results of the Connecticut Longitudinal Study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 264, 998–1002.
67.
Siegel, L. S. (1993). The development of reading. In H. Reese (Ed.), Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 24, pp. 63–79). San Diego: Academic Press.
68.
Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21, 360–407.
69.
Stanovich, K. E. (1993). The construct validity of discrepancy definitions of reading disability. In G. R. Lyon, D. Gray, J. Kavanagh, & N. Krasnegor (Eds.), Better understanding learning disabilities: New views on research and their implications for education and public policies (pp. 273–308). Baltimore: Brookes.
70.
Stanovich, K. E., & Siegel, L. S. (1994). The phenotypic performance profile of reading-disabled children: A regression-based test of the phonological-core variable difference model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 24–53.
71.
Torgesen, J. K. (1996). A model of working memory from an information processing perspective: The special case of phonological memory. In G. R. Lyon & N. A. Krasnegor (Eds.), Attention, memory, and executive function (pp. 157–184). Baltimore: Brookes.
72.
Torgesen, J. K., Burgess, S., & Rashotte, C. (1996, April). Predicting phonologically based reading disabilities: What is gained by waiting a year? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, New York.
73.
Torgesen, J. K., & Morgan, S. (1992). The effects of two types of phonological awareness training on word learning in kindergarten children. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 84, 364–370.
74.
Torgesen, J. K., Wagner, R. K., Rashotte, C. A., Alexander, A. W., & Conway, T. (in press). Preventive and remedial interventions for children with severe reading disabilities. Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal.
75.
Tunmer, W. E., & Hoover, W. (1992). Cognitive and linguistic factors in learning to read. In P. B. Gough, L. C. Ehri, & R. Treiman (Eds.), Reading acquisition (pp. 175–214). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
76.
Vellutino, F. R., & Scanlon, D. M. (1991). The preeminence of phonologically based skills in learning to read. In S. Brady & D. Shankweiler (Eds.), Phonological processes in early literacy: A tribute to Isabelle Liberman (pp. 237–252). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
77.
Vellutino, F. R., & Scanlon, D. M., Sipay, E. R., Small, S. G., Pratt, A., Chen, R., & Denckla, M. B. (1996). Cognitive profiles of difficult to remediate and readily remediated poor readers: Toward distinguishing between constitutionally and experimentally based causes of reading disability. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 601–638.
78.
Vellutino, F. R., & Scanlon, D. M., & Tanzman, M. S. (1994). Components of reading ability: Problems in operationalizing word identification, phonological coding, and orthographic coding. In G. R. Lyon (Ed.), Frames of reference for the assessment of learning disabilities: New views on measurement issues (pp. 279–332). Baltimore: Brookes.
79.
Wagner, R. K., & Torgesen, J. K. (1987). The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 192–212.
80.
Wagner, R. K., Torgesen, J. K., & Rashotte, C. A. (1994). The development of word-related phonological processing abilities: New evidence of bi-directional causality from a latent variable longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 30, 73–87.
81.
Williams, J. P. (1991). The meaning of a phonics base for reading instruction. In W. Ellis (Ed.), All language and the creation of literacy (pp. 9–14). Baltimore: Orton Dyslexia Society.
82.
Wise, B.W., & Olson, R. K. (1995). Computer-based phonological awareness and reading instruction. Annals of Dyslexia, 45, 99–122.
83.
Wise, B. W., Olson, R. K., & Ring, J. (1997). Teaching phonological awareness with and without the computer. In M. Snow-ling & C. Hulme (Eds.), Dyslexia: Biological bases, identification, and intervention (pp. 254–273). London: Whur.
84.
Wolf, M. (1991). Naming speed and reading: The contribution of the cognitive neurosciences. Reading Research Quarterly, 26, 123–141.
85.
Wolf, M. (1997). Treatment of developmental reading disabilities.Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
