Implementing Comprehensive Literacy Instruction for Students With Severe Disabilities in General Education Classrooms

Abstract

The purpose of this conceptual replication study was to investigate the efficacy of an early literacy intervention when it was implemented by special educators in general education classrooms with students in the class participating in the lessons. The study was conducted in 16 schools in three states. Eighty students with severe disabilities participated in the study. Students in the intervention group received Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB) instruction, and students in the “business-as-usual” control group received literacy instruction planned by special education teachers to address the students’ individualized education program literacy goals. Literacy assessments were conducted in five waves scheduled across the school year. Results showed that students receiving ELSB instruction made greater gains in assessed literacy skills than students in the control group. These findings provide evidence that students with severe disabilities can benefit from comprehensive emergent literacy instruction when it is implemented in general education settings.

What Peers, Educators, and Principals Say: The Social Validity of Inclusive, Comprehensive Literacy Instruction

“…Teachers, principals, paraeducators, and children interviewed in the current study were participants in a randomized controlled trial (RCT; Hunt et al, 2020) to examine the efficacy of Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB) for students with severe disabilities. The ELSB RCT was a conceptual replication (Coyne et al, 2016).…”

Literacy Instruction for All Students Within General Education Settings

“…This necessitates instructional models that are a good contextual fit with general education learning environments. Hunt et al (2019) describes one example of how to design and implement rigorous research that involves educators in socially valid ways. She and her colleagues designed and implemented a randomized control trial study to examine systematic, comprehensive literacy instruction delivered in a small group format within general education classroom literacy blocks.…”

“…Although Hunt et al (2019) designed a model of instruction that accounts for many of the potential pitfalls that might occur in implementing literacy instruction in general education classrooms and included a qualitative study to examine the social validity of the model from the perspective of the educators, school administrators, and reading buddies, they acknowledged that only 4% of their participants actually received the majority of their education within general education classrooms. This underscores the need for Toews and Kurth’s (2019) call to action: Most children with extensive needs for support are not currently authentic members of general education classrooms (e.g., Ryndak et al, 2014) and, based on current research findings, are therefore not receiving the rigorous, appropriate literacy education that can lead to positive outcomes and meaningful participation in the literate community (e.g., Ruppar, 2015).…”

Implementing Comprehensive Early Literacy Instruction in General Education Classrooms: A Response to Toews and Kurth’s Call to Action

“…During the 2016-2017 school year, Elizabeth Kozleski and I, with members of our research teams, conducted such an investigation. Our study, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, was designed to replicate a comprehensive emergent literacy program developed for students with extensive support needs and to extend that research to small, integrated group contexts in general education settings (Hunt et al, 2019). We chose Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB; Browder, Ahlgrim-Delzell, Courtade, Gibbs, & Flowers, 2008; Browder et al, 2012) as our literacy intervention.…”

“…needs and to extend that research to small, integrated group contexts in general education settings (Hunt et al, 2019). We chose Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB; Browder, Ahlgrim-Delzell, Courtade, Gibbs, & Flowers, 2008;Browder et al, 2012) as our literacy intervention.…”