Sustaining the Use of Evidence-Based Tier 1 Literacy Practices That Benefit Students With Disabilities

Abstract

The adoption and sustainability of evidence-based Tier 1 literacy practices in secondary content-area classes is important to improve the reading success among students with learning disabilities. We conducted an exploratory multiple-case study investigating teachers’ adoption and sustained use of evidence-based Tier 1 literacy practices that benefit students with learning disabilities. The study was conducted within the context of an adolescent literacy model demonstration project funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (i.e., Promoting Adolescents’ Comprehension of Text [PACT] Plus). Interviews were conducted with two administrators and seven teachers who sustained implementation of the PACT practices beyond 1 year of researcher support. Analyses revealed practice and school-level factors that influenced teachers’ sustained use of the practices. We used findings from this study to propose a model of sustainability of Tier 1 evidence-based literacy practices used to improve outcomes for students with learning disabilities. Limitations and implications for future research are provided.

An Exploration of Middle School Literacy Coaching: A Study of Teachers and Instructional Coaches

“…Collaboration among administrators and departments of special education and literacy at the school or district level may be necessary so that coaches and assistant principals are prepared to support teachers’ implementation of evidence-based literacy instruction in content-area classes for students with and without disabilities. Such coaching collaborations should also target co-teaching to maximize the effectiveness of this service delivery model (e.g., Wexler et al, 2022).…”

“…Administrators can take this support a step further by encouraging teachers to work with coaches and providing coaches with time and resources to facilitate coaching (Calo et al, 2015; Gross, 2012). In fact, Wexler et al (2022) found that designated administrators in schools that sustained a schoolwide middle school literacy model (a) clearly set expectations for teachers to use the target set of evidence-based literacy practices, (b) participated in PD efforts, such as reviewing the content of PD, and (c) allowed coaches to become fully embedded in their schools. These findings align with those of Rush (2013), who examined 26 secondary literacy coaches’ perspectives on the impact of sufficient and insufficient administrator support.…”

“…For example, PD and expert coaching targeting elementary and middle school special education and resource room teachers' multicomponent literacy instruction resulted in improved reading, writing, and spelling outcomes for students with learning disabilities (Weiser et al, 2019). In addition, Wexler et al (2022) reported that middle school general and special education co-teachers who received PD with coaching implemented a literacy instructional framework with fidelity, which led to statistically significant gains in reading comprehension for both students with and without disabilities. Although these findings suggest that coaching can ultimately impact literacy outcomes for secondary SWDs, this research is substantially limited.…”

Writing-reading attainments onto underlying gaps and bonds as prone to communication skills follow-up

“…Moreover, for this interest, this does not turn out to be a critical factor in the teacher-student rapport but rather the pertinent strategies deployed to meet a high quality educational output. Notwithstanding student learning differences, educators can deploy from performance evidence a learning student-centred framework relied on the underlying surroundings-linked factors on childhood learning conditions, attaching those learning barriers through practice [65].…”

The WRITE Principles for Developing a Research‐to‐Practice Cycle Professional Development

“…Next, I built rapport with teachers so that they used me as a resource , namely in the role of a mentor or literacy coach (Wexler et al, 2021). Teachers were encouraged to seek help in developing lesson plans, finding materials, and customizing our sessions to meet their needs.…”