A Demonstration of a Successful Parent-Conducted Remedial Reading Program

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the use of parent training in behavior management, a systematic curriculum, and a system for maintaining consistent parental involvement to develop a parent conducted remedial reading program. The program utilized short and long-term extrinsic rewards, frequent feedback, and massed practice. Two children, from different families, an eight and one-half-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy, had been labelled as learning disabled and required to repeat a grade because of their extremely low levels of reading achievement The program produced impressive gains in the children's reading abilities as measured by standardized tests. The girl's Gates-MacGinitie grade score increased from a pre-program composite score of 1.1 to 4.2 after five months of intervention whereas the boy's grade score increased from 1.1 to 3.8 after 20 months. Both children have made appropriate grade level academic progress since they have become fluent readers and are reading above grade level. This demonstration suggests that interested and appropriately trained parents can play an important and effective role in remediating their children's reading problems.