Effectiveness of a Spanish Intervention and an English Intervention for English - Language Learners at Risk for Reading Problems Sharon

Two studies of Grade I reading interventionsforEnglish-language (EL) learners at riskfor readingproblems were conducted. Two samples of EL students were randomly assigned to a treatment or untreated comparison group on the basis of their language of instructionfor core reading (i.e., Spanish or English). In all, 91 students completed the English study (43 treatment and 48 comparison), and 80 students completed the Spanish study (35 treatment and 45 comparison). Treatment students received approximately 115 sessions of supplemental reading dailyfor5O minutes in groups of3 to 5. Findingsfrom the English study revealed statistically significant differences in favor of treatment students on English measures of phonological awareness, word attack, word reading, and spelling (effect sizes of 0.35-0.42). Findings from the Spanish study revealed significant differences in favor of treatment students on Spanish measures of phonological awareness, letter-sound and letter-word identification, verbal analogies, word reading fluency, and spelling (effect sizes of 0.33-0.81).