Publications by Deborah K Reed
Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2019
Informal reading inventories (IRI) and curriculum-based measures of reading (CBM-R) have continue... more Informal reading inventories (IRI) and curriculum-based measures of reading (CBM-R) have continued importance in instructional planning, but raters have
exhibited difficulty in accurately identifying students’ miscues. To identify and tabulate scorers’ mismarkings, this study employed examiners and raters who scored
15,051 words from 108 passage readings by students in Grades 5 and 6. Word-byword scoring from these individuals was compared with a consensus score obtained from the first author and two graduate students after repeated replaying of the audio from the passage readings. Microanalysis conducted on all discrepancies identified a cumulative total of 929 mismarkings (range = 1–37 per passage) that we categorized in 37 unique types. Examiners scoring live made significantly more mismarkings than raters scoring audio recordings, t(214) = 4.35, p = .0001, with an effect size of d = 0.59. In 98% of the passages, scorers disagreed on the number of words read correctly—the score used for screening and progress monitoring decisions. Results suggest that IRIs and CBM-Rs may not be accurate as diagnostic tools for determining students’ particular word-level difficulties.
Special Education Research, Policy & Practice, 2018
Note taking strategies may improve the accessibility of authentic science texts to students in sp... more Note taking strategies may improve the accessibility of authentic science texts to students in special education, thereby creating more equitable learning opportunities. This experimental study examined the extent to which secondary students with disabilities could learn to take notes on authentic science texts in a split-page or science-specific graphic organizer format. A repeated measures ANOVA indicated both groups of randomly assigned students significantly improved their note quality over five lessons, F(4, 72) = 2.57, p < 0.05, 2 partial = .125. The interaction of group assignment was not significant. Implications for inclusive science instruction are discussed.
Behavioral Disorders, 2018
Mastery of written expression is essential for academic achievement in all subject areas. Unfortu... more Mastery of written expression is essential for academic achievement in all subject areas. Unfortunately, students with learning disabilities (LD) who are also English learners (EL) often exhibit difficulties in writing mechanics (e.g., spelling, punctuation) and grammar (e.g., sentence structure) as well as the process of writing (e.g., carrying out steps to plan, draft, and revise an essay). Struggling can lead students to avoid writing and, consequently, fall further behind their peers. After explaining the nature of the difficulties experienced by ELs with LD, evidenced-based recommendations for teaching writing skills and strategies are presented.
When students do not respond adequately to core instruction, teachers must provide instruction an... more When students do not respond adequately to core instruction, teachers must provide instruction and intervention that is more intensive and, therefore, more effective. However, for many educators, it is often unclear what it means to intensify instruction and how intensive instruction differs from high-quality core instruction. This article describes eight empirically supported methods for intensifying instruction for struggling learners along with specific suggestions, examples, and a planning guide for intensive instruction.
Both literacy and career technical education are believed to be linked to better outcomes for juv... more Both literacy and career technical education are believed to be linked to better outcomes for juvenile offenders transitioning back to their communities after release. Therefore, this study employed a single group, pretest-posttest design to investigate the extent to which 13 juvenile offenders improved their understanding and completion
of employment-related documents when provided vocabulary instruction embedded within a career readiness unit. The 24 target vocabulary terms were explicitly taught using a concept map and tested with items requiring knowledge of how the terms were applied in documents and related to each other. Students demonstrated significant
improvement on the researcher-developed measure after six lessons, t(12) = 6.35, p < 0.001, d = 2.02. In addition, students learned to use the vocabulary concept maps quickly and were able to maintain a high level of accuracy with them across the lessons with only one exception. It took a couple of sessions for students to learn how to complete the associated documents with a high degree of accuracy, which was then maintained until students had to do more than fill in blanks.
This study explored the relationship between the reading ability and science achievement of stude... more This study explored the relationship between the reading ability and science achievement of students in grades 5, 8, and 9. Reading ability was assessed with four measures: word recognition, vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, and comprehension (23% of all passages were on science topics). Science achievement was assessed with state criterion–referenced measures. Both the reading and the science measures included inference items. Using multiple-group structural equation modeling, a general factor of reading ability (composed of the two specific factors of discourse comprehension and word comprehension) was found to account for 70% of the variance in grades 5 and 8 science performance and 64% of the variance in grade 9 science performance. Quantile regressions revealed that the relationship between reading and science was stable across ability levels at grade 5 and mostly stable at grade 8, with a slightly stronger relation for eighth graders at low levels of science ability. At grade 9, lower reading ability was more strongly associated with lower science performance, which was statistically significantly different from the comparatively weaker associations at higher ends. Taken together, results suggest that literacy is critical to learning and demonstrating knowledge of science concepts, regardless of ability level.
High school social studies teachers face unique challenges in helping their students learn indepe... more High school social studies teachers face unique challenges in helping their students learn independently from text in their discipline. In this article, a set of research-based practices that couple independent student reading with high-quality instruction proven to improve content learning for high school nonnative English speakers is provided. Specific examples of each practice within a social studies unit are used to illustrate how to promote independent student reading and understanding that is integrated with the content.
Using a multiple baseline across participants design, this study examines the functional relation... more Using a multiple baseline across participants design, this study examines the functional relationship between instruction in note-taking skills and the ability of young adults with autism spectrum disorder to take notes on college lectures. The three participants were enrolled in a program aligned with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (Public Law 110-315) to support students with significant cognitive disabilities in attending community college classes. All had graduated high school on a special diploma status and had mild cognitive disabilities. Despite some variability in performance during baseline (when only the note-taking template was introduced), all three students demonstrated increased performance during intervention when they were taught skills such as distinguishing between subtopics and details, paraphrasing, and using abbreviations and symbols. Participants’ improvements were maintained after the intervention instruction stopped. Participant Tau-U effect sizes ranged from 0.67 to 1.00, and the weighted average Tau-U effect size was 0.88 (CI95 = 0.53 to 1.24). The discussion addresses implications for the postsecondary participation of students with autism spectrum disorder as well as possible changes needed in their secondary education.
This research synthesis was conducted to understand the effectiveness of interventions designed t... more This research synthesis was conducted to understand the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve learning from informational text for students with learning disabilities in elementary school (K–5). The authors identified 18 studies through a comprehensive search. The interventions were evaluated to determine treatment effects and to understand implementation and methodological variables that influenced outcomes. Moderate to large effect sizes on researcher-developed measures for cognitive strategy interventions were reported. Interventions that utilized graphic organizers as study guides to support social studies learning were also associated with improved outcomes. The findings are considered within the context of limited implementation of standardized measures. The authors extend findings from previous research by reporting a paucity of interventions to enhance higher-level cognitive and comprehension skills. The majority of reviewed studies targeted fact acquisition and main idea identification, and overall encouraging findings were noted for these skills. Implications for future research are discussed.
This study employed an adapted alternating treatments single-case design to explore students’ lea... more This study employed an adapted alternating treatments single-case design to explore students’ learning of biology content when using a general notetaking (GNT) strategy and a content-specific graphic organizer (CGO) to support reading high school biology texts. The 4 focal participants were 15–18-year-olds committed to a moderate risk juvenile justice facility. Lessons were delivered once a week for 7 weeks with CGO delivered first in odd weeks and GNT first in even weeks. When students were unfamiliar with the strategies or experiencing emotional or health problems, their weekly quiz scores tended to be higher on whichever lesson was delivered first. After stabilizing, an average ability reader did better on CGO lessons, and a student with below-average reading ability did better on GNT lessons. CGO took more time to prepare but an average of 11 minutes less than each GNT lesson to implement. CGO also was associated with more student-initiated responses and more self-reported student preferences.
This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of a strategy for making text-dependent infere... more This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of a strategy for making text-dependent inferences—with and without embedded self-regulation skills—on the reading comprehension of 24 middle-grade students with disabilities. Classes were randomly assigned to receive the inference intervention only (IO), inference + individual goal setting (IIG), or inference + group goal setting (IGG). The Kruskal–Wallis one-way analysis of variance revealed no significant differences between groups on overall reading comprehension performance, but students in the IGG group significantly outperformed the IO and IIG groups on evaluation items, χ2(2, N = 24) = 13.18, p = .001. Paired samples t tests indicated all groups significantly improved their comprehension performance from pre- to posttest, IO: t(8) = 2.76, p < .05; IIG: t(6) = 3.97, p < .01; IGG: t(7) = 4.35, p < .01. The IGG group wrote significantly more valid inferences in Lessons 3 to 7 than the IO or IIG groups; χ2(2) ranged
from 7.26, p < .05, to 16.16, p < .001.
To provide timely and effective supports for students reading below grade level, schools require ... more To provide timely and effective supports for students reading below grade level, schools require methods for quickly and accurately identifying those students in need. One method for identifying those students is through universal screening. Assessments such as oral reading fluency (ORF) and Maze reading comprehension are commonly used as screening assessments in middle grades. The current study examined ORF and Maze for evidence of bias across two subgroups known to
be at increased risk for failure in reading: (a) students with learning disabilities and (b) students from low-income households. Data from 4,215 students in the sixth (n = 1,126), seventh (n = 1,361), and eighth grades (n = 1,728) were analyzed. Results indicate no significant differences in predictive validity for students from low-income households compared to students from middle
and upper income households. For students with learning disabilities only 8th grade scores showed any evidence of bias compared to students without diagnosed disabilities. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Although note taking is frequently described as an important skill to post-secondary success, th... more Although note taking is frequently described as an important skill to post-secondary success, there have been few note-taking intervention studies involving multiple sessions spanning more than one week. In a systematic search, we identified seven peer-reviewed articles reporting 10 intervention studies published from 1990–2;014. The only single case design study addressed taking notes from texts, but four treatment-comparison studies that taught note taking during lectures assessed students' abilities when taking notes from texts. The remaining four treatment-comparison and one single group design studies focused solely on note taking during lectures. Three types of notes were represented in the corpus: guided (seven studies), split-page (two studies), and self-restructured (one study). In comparing students who did and did not receive note-taking instruction, Hedge's g effect sizes on outcome measures of content learning and note quality ranged from -0.35 to 2.11. Across nine group design studies, the weighted average effect was 0.54 (CI95 = 0.47 to 0.62). The weighted average Tau-U of the single case design was 1.00 (CI95 = 0.60 to 1.40).
This study examined the contributions of vocabulary and spelling to the reading comprehension of ... more This study examined the contributions of vocabulary and spelling to the reading comprehension of students in grades 6–10 who were and were not classified as English language learners. Results indicate that vocabulary accounted for greater between-grade differences and unique variance (DR2 = .11–.31) in comprehension
as compared to spelling (DR2 = .01–.09). However, the contribution of spelling to
comprehension was higher in the upper grade levels included in this cross-sectional
analysis and functioned as a mediator of the impact of vocabulary knowledge at all
levels. The direct effect of vocabulary was strong but lower in magnitude at each
successive grade level from .58 in grade 6 to .41 in grade 10 while the indirect effect
through spelling increased in magnitude at each successive grade level from .09 in
grade 6 to .16 in grade 10. There were no significant differences between the
language groups in the magnitude of the indirect impact, suggesting both groups of students relied more on both sources of lexical information in higher grades as compared to students in lower grades.
Remedial and Special Education, Sep 2013
A synthesis of the extant research on peer-mediated reading and math interventions for students i... more A synthesis of the extant research on peer-mediated reading and math interventions for students in regular or alternative education settings with academic difficulties and disabilities in Grades 6 to 12 (ages 11–18) is presented. Interventions conducted between 2001 and 2012 targeting reading and math were included if they measured effects on at least one academic
outcome measure. A total of 13 intervention studies were synthesized in which 10 studies employed an experimental or quasi-experimental design and three studies used a single-case design. Findings from the 13 studies revealed mostly moderate to high effects favoring peer mediation, particularly when implementing a peer-mediated feedback component. In addition, findings suggest such interventions have social validity among adolescents and teachers. More rigorous research on secondary peer-mediated math interventions, peer-mediated interventions in alternative settings, and effective ways to pair dyads to incorporate a structured feedback component is warranted. Implications for peer-mediated instruction for academically struggling adolescents are discussed.
Most evaluations of the effectiveness of correctional education use the distal outcomes of recidi... more Most evaluations of the effectiveness of correctional education use the distal outcomes of recidivism and post-release employment as the dependent variables (e.g., Aos et al., 2006; Davis et al., 2013). This synthesis sought to determine the effectiveness of correctional education at improving proximal academic outcomes among incarcerated adult participants. A search of the peer-reviewed literature yielded only six studies meeting selection criteria published from January 2003 through June 2014. Participants in all studies made educational progress as defined by academic and vocational test scores and course credits. Effect sizes in four studies of adult basic education and one study of vocational education were medium to strong (g = 0.52 to 2.04). One treatment-comparison study of college education demonstrated small negative effects, favoring the typical college program (g = -0.13 to -0.19). However, students in both conditions improved standardized test performance and credit accrual. There were no studies examining GED test preparation. The discussion contextualizes the concerns with methodological rigor and addresses the remaining gaps in the literature.
This volume focuses on our understanding of the reading comprehension of adolescents in a high st... more This volume focuses on our understanding of the reading comprehension of adolescents in a high stakes academic environment. Leading researchers share their most current research on each issue, covering theory and empirical research from a range of specializations, including various content areas, English language learners, students with disabilities, and reading assessment. Topics discussed include: cognitive models of reading comprehension and how they relate to typical or atypical development of reading comprehension, reading in history classes, comprehension of densely worded and symbolic mathematical texts, understanding causality in science texts, the more rigorous comprehension standards in English language arts classes, balancing the practical and measurement constraints of the assessment of reading comprehension, understanding the needs and challenges of English language learners and students in special education with respect to the various content areas discussed in this book. This book is of interest to researchers in literacy and educational psychology as well as curriculum developers.
This study explored the data-based decision making of 12 teachers in grades 6–8 who were asked ab... more This study explored the data-based decision making of 12 teachers in grades 6–8 who were asked about their perceptions and use of three required interim measures of reading performance: oral reading fluency (ORF), retell, and a benchmark composed of released state test items. Focus group participants reported they did not believe the benchmark or ORF tests accurately reflected students’ comprehension abilities. Teachers held more favorable opinions of retell but admitted improvising their use of
the measure rather than following mandated implementation procedures. Participants reported that only summative state assessment scores were used to plan appropriate instruction and only for large groups. Results suggest the need for improved support for data-based decision making and the development of technically adequate interim measures with relevance to the teachers expected to use them.
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Publications by Deborah K Reed
exhibited difficulty in accurately identifying students’ miscues. To identify and tabulate scorers’ mismarkings, this study employed examiners and raters who scored
15,051 words from 108 passage readings by students in Grades 5 and 6. Word-byword scoring from these individuals was compared with a consensus score obtained from the first author and two graduate students after repeated replaying of the audio from the passage readings. Microanalysis conducted on all discrepancies identified a cumulative total of 929 mismarkings (range = 1–37 per passage) that we categorized in 37 unique types. Examiners scoring live made significantly more mismarkings than raters scoring audio recordings, t(214) = 4.35, p = .0001, with an effect size of d = 0.59. In 98% of the passages, scorers disagreed on the number of words read correctly—the score used for screening and progress monitoring decisions. Results suggest that IRIs and CBM-Rs may not be accurate as diagnostic tools for determining students’ particular word-level difficulties.
of employment-related documents when provided vocabulary instruction embedded within a career readiness unit. The 24 target vocabulary terms were explicitly taught using a concept map and tested with items requiring knowledge of how the terms were applied in documents and related to each other. Students demonstrated significant
improvement on the researcher-developed measure after six lessons, t(12) = 6.35, p < 0.001, d = 2.02. In addition, students learned to use the vocabulary concept maps quickly and were able to maintain a high level of accuracy with them across the lessons with only one exception. It took a couple of sessions for students to learn how to complete the associated documents with a high degree of accuracy, which was then maintained until students had to do more than fill in blanks.
from 7.26, p < .05, to 16.16, p < .001.
be at increased risk for failure in reading: (a) students with learning disabilities and (b) students from low-income households. Data from 4,215 students in the sixth (n = 1,126), seventh (n = 1,361), and eighth grades (n = 1,728) were analyzed. Results indicate no significant differences in predictive validity for students from low-income households compared to students from middle
and upper income households. For students with learning disabilities only 8th grade scores showed any evidence of bias compared to students without diagnosed disabilities. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.
as compared to spelling (DR2 = .01–.09). However, the contribution of spelling to
comprehension was higher in the upper grade levels included in this cross-sectional
analysis and functioned as a mediator of the impact of vocabulary knowledge at all
levels. The direct effect of vocabulary was strong but lower in magnitude at each
successive grade level from .58 in grade 6 to .41 in grade 10 while the indirect effect
through spelling increased in magnitude at each successive grade level from .09 in
grade 6 to .16 in grade 10. There were no significant differences between the
language groups in the magnitude of the indirect impact, suggesting both groups of students relied more on both sources of lexical information in higher grades as compared to students in lower grades.
outcome measure. A total of 13 intervention studies were synthesized in which 10 studies employed an experimental or quasi-experimental design and three studies used a single-case design. Findings from the 13 studies revealed mostly moderate to high effects favoring peer mediation, particularly when implementing a peer-mediated feedback component. In addition, findings suggest such interventions have social validity among adolescents and teachers. More rigorous research on secondary peer-mediated math interventions, peer-mediated interventions in alternative settings, and effective ways to pair dyads to incorporate a structured feedback component is warranted. Implications for peer-mediated instruction for academically struggling adolescents are discussed.
the measure rather than following mandated implementation procedures. Participants reported that only summative state assessment scores were used to plan appropriate instruction and only for large groups. Results suggest the need for improved support for data-based decision making and the development of technically adequate interim measures with relevance to the teachers expected to use them.
exhibited difficulty in accurately identifying students’ miscues. To identify and tabulate scorers’ mismarkings, this study employed examiners and raters who scored
15,051 words from 108 passage readings by students in Grades 5 and 6. Word-byword scoring from these individuals was compared with a consensus score obtained from the first author and two graduate students after repeated replaying of the audio from the passage readings. Microanalysis conducted on all discrepancies identified a cumulative total of 929 mismarkings (range = 1–37 per passage) that we categorized in 37 unique types. Examiners scoring live made significantly more mismarkings than raters scoring audio recordings, t(214) = 4.35, p = .0001, with an effect size of d = 0.59. In 98% of the passages, scorers disagreed on the number of words read correctly—the score used for screening and progress monitoring decisions. Results suggest that IRIs and CBM-Rs may not be accurate as diagnostic tools for determining students’ particular word-level difficulties.
of employment-related documents when provided vocabulary instruction embedded within a career readiness unit. The 24 target vocabulary terms were explicitly taught using a concept map and tested with items requiring knowledge of how the terms were applied in documents and related to each other. Students demonstrated significant
improvement on the researcher-developed measure after six lessons, t(12) = 6.35, p < 0.001, d = 2.02. In addition, students learned to use the vocabulary concept maps quickly and were able to maintain a high level of accuracy with them across the lessons with only one exception. It took a couple of sessions for students to learn how to complete the associated documents with a high degree of accuracy, which was then maintained until students had to do more than fill in blanks.
from 7.26, p < .05, to 16.16, p < .001.
be at increased risk for failure in reading: (a) students with learning disabilities and (b) students from low-income households. Data from 4,215 students in the sixth (n = 1,126), seventh (n = 1,361), and eighth grades (n = 1,728) were analyzed. Results indicate no significant differences in predictive validity for students from low-income households compared to students from middle
and upper income households. For students with learning disabilities only 8th grade scores showed any evidence of bias compared to students without diagnosed disabilities. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.
as compared to spelling (DR2 = .01–.09). However, the contribution of spelling to
comprehension was higher in the upper grade levels included in this cross-sectional
analysis and functioned as a mediator of the impact of vocabulary knowledge at all
levels. The direct effect of vocabulary was strong but lower in magnitude at each
successive grade level from .58 in grade 6 to .41 in grade 10 while the indirect effect
through spelling increased in magnitude at each successive grade level from .09 in
grade 6 to .16 in grade 10. There were no significant differences between the
language groups in the magnitude of the indirect impact, suggesting both groups of students relied more on both sources of lexical information in higher grades as compared to students in lower grades.
outcome measure. A total of 13 intervention studies were synthesized in which 10 studies employed an experimental or quasi-experimental design and three studies used a single-case design. Findings from the 13 studies revealed mostly moderate to high effects favoring peer mediation, particularly when implementing a peer-mediated feedback component. In addition, findings suggest such interventions have social validity among adolescents and teachers. More rigorous research on secondary peer-mediated math interventions, peer-mediated interventions in alternative settings, and effective ways to pair dyads to incorporate a structured feedback component is warranted. Implications for peer-mediated instruction for academically struggling adolescents are discussed.
the measure rather than following mandated implementation procedures. Participants reported that only summative state assessment scores were used to plan appropriate instruction and only for large groups. Results suggest the need for improved support for data-based decision making and the development of technically adequate interim measures with relevance to the teachers expected to use them.