Reading Instruction for Students With High-Incidence Disabilities in Juvenile Corrections

Using Multisensory Phonics to Foster Reading Skills of Adolescent Delinquents

“…Spelling and Reading With Riggs (McCulloch, 1995) appeared to provide a low-cost, easily implemented, fast-paced program with immediate feedback to students, making it motivating and effective for this population. The multisensory phonics format directly addresses phonic skills, which are deficits typically occurring in this population (Wilkerson et al, 2012). These results add to a body of evidence supporting multisensory phonics programs as effective means of instruction in general.…”

“…Although prior studies have shown the positive effects of programs using systematic instruction in phonics with juvenile delinquents (Allen-DeBoer, Malmgren, & Glass, 2006;Coulter, 2004;Drakeford, 2002;Malmgren & Leone, 2000;Scarlato & Asahara, 2004;Wilkerson et al, 2012), only a few have focused specifically on multisensory phonics. These include a study conducted by the Juvenile Justice Literacy Project (Simpson, Swanson, & Kunkel, 1992) that attempted to remediate reading disabilities in juvenile delinquents using the Orton-Gillingham multisensory phonics approach.…”

“…Effective reading interventions should be selected to address the unique instructional needs of youth in these alternative settings, though this can be a challenge. Reading materials and teacher training are cost prohibitive for many alternative facilities, and many teachers lack necessary knowledge and resources (Coulter, 2004;Wilkerson et al, 2012). Many youth in these circumstances resist traditional educational programming because of earlier failure and frustrations but may be motivated by more intense, nontraditional, high-interest instruction (Coulter, 2004).…”

“…Reading interventions for juvenile delinquents should address a common challenge of poor adolescent readers: deficits in phonological coding or phonics (Wilkerson et al, 2012). Wilkerson and colleagues (2012) noted that although comprehension and vocabulary are often the focus of programs for struggling readers, many adolescents also need assistance in basic word decoding (phonics) skills.…”

“…A more recent study of male high school students with a history of delinquency reported that 44% were reading at an elementary grade level (Zamora, 2005). Wilkerson, Gagnon, Mason-Williams, and Lane (2012) reported that at least 50% of youth with disabilities in juvenile correction had poor reading skills, though for many it was unclear whether these skill deficits were due to a learning disability or related to other issues such as poor attendance in school. Low academic achievement, especially in reading, predicts recidivism and poor postschool outcomes in juvenile delinquents (Drakeford, 2002;Katsiyannis, Ryan, Zhang, & Spann, 2008).…”