The Impact of Comprehensive Reading Instruction on the Academic and Social Behavior of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

The reading difficulties of children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have been well documented. In addition, it has been noted that reading difficulties are frequently correlated with antisocial behavior. Unfortunately, there is little empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of comprehensive reading interventions with this population of children.This study examined the effectiveness of a modified version of the Open Court Reading curriculum (Adams etal.,2000) combined with Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) with 2 groups of children with EBD. Results show moderate gains in reading achievement for individuals in each group in the areas of nonsense word fluency, sound naming, blending, and segmenting. However, improvement in standardized scores was not observed. In addition, an impact on observed problem behavior was not observed. Findings suggest that this combined approach may be promising in improving the reading achievement of students with EBD. Limitations and direction for future research are discussed.

Outcomes of a Teacher-Led Reading Intervention for Elementary Students at Risk for Behavioral Disorders

“…Studies have examined both engagement and disruption with students receiving special education services for E/BD. The studies suggest limited improvement (Wehby et al, 2003) to no improvement (Barton-Arwood et al, 2005) in engagement. Reading studies with at-risk populations have not explored effects on engagement.…”

“…Wehby, Falk, Barton-Arwood, Lane, and Cooley (2003) examined the effects of an intensive reading program that combined a modified version of Open Court Reading (OC; Adams et al, 2000) and Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS; Fuchs, Fuchs, Mathes, & Simmons, 1997) with eight students receiving special education services for behavior and learning problems. The intervention occurred in two self-contained classrooms; research assistants (RAs) conducted the OC instruction, and the classroom teachers conducted the PALS instruction.…”

Reading and School Completion: Critical Connections and Matthew Effects

“…It is estimated that 80% of students with learning disabilities (LD) receive services for reading disabilities (Lerner, 1989); however, it is not uncommon for students in other high-incidence disability categories to also have difficulties with reading (Wehby, Falk, Barton-Arwood, Lane, & Cooley, 2003;. Historically, a significant number of students later placed in LD programs were previously retained.…”

Pupils making a difference: enhancing the power of the student peer group to promote positive social, emotional and behavioural outcomes

“…Practice in summarising key ideas in a paragraph enhances reading comprehension (Baumann 1984), and practice in formulating predictions is also associated with reading comprehension (Palincsar and Brown 1984). The PALS scheme has been shown to be an effective reading intervention (US Department of Education Program Effectiveness Panel) across learning disabled, low-achieving and average-achieving children in elementary schools, and with children with SEBD (Wehby et al 2003) and its recommended use is for three 35-minute sessions each week. In these sessions, peers correct each other's reading, shrink paragraphs in turn into 10 words, and then in turn predict what the next half page will say.…”