The authors report findings from a systematic observational study of middle school educators (Grades 6–8) in two states who provided reading interventions within Tier 2 and Tier 3 of a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. Intervention sessions were coded and analyzed to understand (a) the frequency and type of evidence-based strategies implemented for students with learning disabilities and reading difficulties, and (b) whether observed practices within secondary and tertiary intervention settings align with researcher recommendations regarding middle school reading instruction based on extant research. The findings indicated that more than 12% of time was devoted to logistical and non-academic activities, and evidence-based interventions including explicit instruction, cognitive strategy instruction, content enhancements, and independent practice opportunities were reported infrequently, although instructional differences across sites were demonstrated. Encouraging findings include evidence of peer-mediated reading and explicit performance feedback. Implications for teacher preparation, professional development, and future research for RTI are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using a content acquisition podcast (CAP) to teach phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics (PA) to preservice special education teachers. Fifty undergraduate preservice special education teachers over 2 years were randomly assigned to either the CAP group or a comparison group during a semester-long course on language development. The CAP group watched a 10-min CAP on PA, and the comparison group read a practitioner-friendly article. As part of the course, both groups were instructed to complete a required textbook chapter reading before class and received an expert guest lecture on these topics following the experimental conditions. There were no pretest differences between groups, years, or between students who completed the required textbook reading and those who did not. Results indicated that the CAP group significantly outperformed the comparison group on declarative knowledge and application items in PA and grew in their learning at a faster rate. CAPs offer an effective and efficient method for teaching PA and, in this study, were more effective at teaching PA and at helping students apply that knowledge than reading alone.

The purpose of this study was to determine if teaching young students how to identify and manipulate prefixes and suffixes helped them become better at spelling and writing sentences. Twenty seven students in second and third grade were identified as being "at risk" for writing difficulty, meaning they scored below the 25th percentile on a series of written language tests. Half of these students received the intervention, which taught prefixes and suffxies, also known as morphological awareness, while the other half did not receive the intervention. Students received the intervention in 25-minute sessions everyday for five weeks. Results showed that students in the intervention improved their spelling skills significantly compared to students who did not receive the intervention. There was no significant growth in sentence writing.

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This study presents findings from an investigation of student response systems (SRS) in an undergraduate preservice teacher education classroom to investigate the impact of SRS use during lecture on the topic of learning disabilities (LDs). Participants were randomly assigned to the SRS group, a written response group, or a no response group, and evaluated at pre-and posttest for content knowledge, during lecture for reading accountability and engagement, at posttest regarding satisfaction with the learning experience, and following lecture, participants were asked to respond to a case study of a student with LD. Findings indicated that all participants performed significantly better at posttest on the measure of content knowledge, with no significant differences between groups. On the during lecture measure of engagement, students in the written response group outperformed peers in the SRS group on reading accountability items, but students in the SRS group demonstrated significantly better understanding of content and reported higher efficacy for their learning in comparison with peers. Participants were satisfied with the learning experience created by SRS use and reported that it improved their accountability for reading, increased their engagement with content, and that given a choice, they would prefer to use SRS in future classes. However, in response to the case study, relatively low percentages of participants were able to generate viable suggestions for evidence-based practices that could improve academic and social outcomes for students with LD like the case student. Future research should further investigate the impact of SRS on learning and transfer.