The efficacy of computer‐based supplementary phonics programs for advancing reading skills in at‐risk elementary students

In this study we examined the benefits of computer programs designed to supplement regular reading instruction in an urban public school system. The programs provide systematic exercises for mastering word-attack strategies. Our findings indicate that first graders who participated in the programs made significant reading gains over the school year. Their post-test scores were slightly (but not significantly) greater than the post-test scores of control children who received regular reading instruction without the programs. When analyses were restricted to low-performing children eligible for Title I services, significantly higher post-test scores were obtained by the treatment group compared to the control group. At post-test Title I children in the treatment group performed at levels similar to non-Title I students. The process of reading involves two separate but interrelated abilities: word recognition and comprehension. Word recognition includes not only mastery of sound-symbol correspondences and phonic word-attack strategies, but also the ability to apply these skills quickly and effortlessly so that recognizing words becomes automatic. Difficulties in automatic word recognition negatively affect reading fluency and comprehension (Perfetti & Lesgold, 1979; Stanovich, 1980). Educators, reading specialists and psycholinguists have emphasized the importance of mastering word-attack strategies to advance automatic word recognition for decades. The National Research Council’s report, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children (Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998) has concluded that explicit phonics instruction promotes reading development (see also Adams, 1990; Chall, 1983; Leong, 1991; McGuinness, 1997). More specifically, it has been recognized that the development of phonological awareness is crucial for learning phonic word-attack strategies (Adams, 1990; Liberman & Shankweiler, 1985; Share & Stanovich, 1995; Wagner & Torgesen, 1987). Phonological awareness requires the ability to analyze the sound structure of spoken language. It includes the ability to segment words into sounds (phonemic analysis) and to blend these sounds back into words (phonemic synthesis). Current research suggests that instructional reading approaches that incorporate phonological awareness training in conjunction with explicit phonics instruction should be encouraged (e.g., Ehri, 2004; Hatcher, Hulme & Ellis, 1994). The Report of the National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000) included phonemic awareness and phonics instruction as two of the five components necessary for balanced reading instruction, equally important to vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. Although children typically begin to develop phonological awareness skills by the time they enter school, some fail to master these skills even after years of basic reading instruction. These children often experience significant difficulties learning to read. For them phonological awareness and phonics skills must be taught in a structured, systematic way (Bus & van Ijzendoorn, 1999; McGuinness, 1997). In this report we discuss the findings of an intervention study aimed to facilitate the acquisition of word recognition skills in young * Published in the Journal of Research in Reading, Volume 29(2), 2006, pp. 162-172 2 readers. The intervention programs called Phonics Based Reading (PBR) and Strategies for Older Students (S.O.S.) (Lexia Learning Systems, 2001) are forms of computer assisted instruction (CAI) designed to supplement classroom instruction. The programs contain numerous activities that support learning and application of phonic word-attack strategies at the letter, word, sentence and paragraph levels to enhance automaticity in word recognition. There have been a number of studies investigating the use of CAI to aid reading instruction (for reviews, see Blok, Oostdam, Otter & Overmaat, 2002; MacArthur, Ferretti, Okolo & Cavalier, 2001). In general, CAI is particularly well suited for providing supplementary instruction in reading. Computers are capable of presenting activities that are interesting and motivational -using lively graphics, feedback and positive reinforcement. Students may work at their own pace and receive extensive practice to help build automaticity. A common approach employed in early CAI was for the computer program to provide (synthetic) speech feedback when students encountered difficult words in reading text. The most extensive work in this area has been conducted by Wise and colleagues (e.g., Olson & Wise, 1992; Wise, Olson, Ring & Johnson, 1998). They found some gains in word identification skills for children exposed to speech feedback; however, they indicated that for children with significant reading problems, explicit training in phonological awareness (coupled with speech feedback) is more beneficial than providing speech feedback alone (Wise et al., 1998). A number of CAI programs have explicitly targeted phonological awareness skills. For instance, Foster, Erickson, Forster, Brinkman and Torgesen (1994) discuss the programs Daisy Quest and Daisy’s Castle, which provide activities in which children practice identifying phonemes and segmenting words into phonemes. Foster et al. reported significant gains in phonological awareness skills in preschool children and kindergarteners following use of these programs. In a subsequent study by Torgesen and Barker (1995), practice with the Daisy Quest and Daisy’s Castle programs were shown to lead to significant improvements in word reading skills in first graders. Results similar to Torgesen and Barker’s were obtained in an earlier study by Roth and Beck (1987) using the Hint and Hunt and Construct a Word programs. These programs include both phonological awareness activities and practice learning sound-symbol correspondences. More recently, Mitchell and Fox (2001) reported significant gains in a variety of phonological processing skills (reading was not tested) in kindergarten and first grade children who participated in the Daisy Quest and Daisy’s Castle programs. One of the most comprehensive studies of CAI for reading was conducted by Wise, Ring and Olson (2000). They contrasted the benefits of two types of CAI programs in enhancing reading skills in 200 elementary grade students. Their “phonological-analysis” condition included practice manipulating sound/letter patterns, matching sounds to nonwords, and identifying articulatory gestures for speech sounds; various spelling exercises using words and nonwords were also provided. The second condition called “accurate-reading-in-context” mainly focused on providing strategies for reading comprehension. Children in both conditions received corrective speech feedback in the context of reading stories aloud. Wise et al. (2000) found that “phonological-analysis” was more beneficial than “accurate-reading-in-context,” particularly when examining untimed reading of words and nonwords. They also found gains in reading to be a function of initial reading levels, with lower readers showing the most benefit from “phonological-analysis” training. The present study examines the efficacy of CAI programs designed by Lexia Learning Systems to supplement reading instruction in an urban public school system. The PBR and S.O.S. programs were designed to provide intensive, structured and systematic practice in learning and applying word-attack strategies to improve word recognition skills. Phonological awareness was taught in conjunction with these phonic word attack strategies. The programs incorporate many