A Comparison of Two Direct Instruction Reading Programs for Urban Middle School Students

This study investigated the differential effects of two direct instruction (DI) reading programs, one with overt decoding strategies and one with more covert decoding strategies, on the reading achievement of struggling seventh graders in an urban middle school. The students participating in this study (N = 55) were 2 to 4 years behind in reading achievement according to standardized pretests. Results indicate that after a 6-week reading intervention, all students, regardless of overt or covert DI programs, made significant gains in reading, with the only differential effect demonstrated in the area of reading rate. These findings are significant considering that the participants were struggling readers. Implications for increasing the performance of struggling middle school readers are discussed. THE ABILITY TO READ EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECtively has clear implications for a student’s overall academic performance. Some students acquire the necessary prerequisite skills and become proficient readers, whereas others do not. These students are commonly referred to as “poor readers” (Spear-Swerling & Sternberg, 1994). According to some estimates, reading problems affect as many as 10 million children in the United States alone (Simos et al., 2002). For those children who encounter difficulties in acquiring reading skills, the long-term consequences of reading failure are tremendous (Cunningham & Stanovich, 2001; Torgesen, 2000). Although most students acquire language in a natural, developmental manner, the ability to acquire basic reading skills is not a natural process (Lyon, 1999; Moats, 1999). Teachers encounter students who come to school with environmental, experiential, and individual differences (Lyon, 1999; Moats, 1999). Students at risk for learning difficulties tend to differ from their average-achieving peers in the areas of language processing, memory, learning strategies, and vocabulary (Kame’enui & Carnine, 1998). One of the most prevailing problems in today’s schools is teaching students to read (Atkinson, Wilhite, Frey, & Williams, 2002). Moreover, the total act of reading is affected when students are weak in just one reading skill (Chall, Jacobs, & Baldwin, 1991). For example, weak word recognition skills negatively affect a student’s ability to read in an effortless manner. Lack of fluent reading tends to lower a student’s motivation to continue to read. Limited reading practice restricts a student’s vocabulary knowledge and comprehension, which results in poor academic achievement and underdeveloped literacy skills (Shippen, Houchins, & Steventon, 2003). As the developmental process continues, young struggling readers become older struggling readers, and the achievement gap widens (Stanovich, 1986). MIDDLE SCHOOL CHALLENGES As the achievement gap in reading widens, a large number of middle school students struggle in all areas of academics—