Response to varying amounts of time in reading intervention for students demonstrating insufficient response to intervention

Two studies examined response to varying amounts of time in reading intervention for first-grade students demonstrating low levels of reading after previous intervention. Each study utilized a separate sample of first-grade students who (a) were identified as at risk in the fall of first grade, (b) were randomly assigned to either a research intervention or no research intervention in the fall of first grade, and (c) did not meet exit criteria after the fall intervention period. Study 1 used an extant database representing a cohort of first-grade students during the 2003–2004 school year. The students who participated in the research intervention in Fall 2003 and demonstrated insufficient response continued to receive the research intervention (one 30-minute session per day) in Spring 2004. Students who were randomly assigned to no research intervention in Fall 2003 and demonstrated insufficient response continued in this group in Spring 2004. Thus, extant data from the spring intervention for two groups of students were used for viii Study 1: (a) research intervention (one 30-minute session daily) and (b) no research intervention. The first-grade participants for Study 2 represented a cohort of students during the 2004–2005 school year. Students participating in the research intervention in Fall 2004 were assigned to receive two 30-minute sessions of research intervention per day in Spring 2005. Students who were randomly assigned in Fall 2004 to no research intervention continued in this group in Spring 2005. Thus, two groups of students were examined in Study 2: (a) research intervention (two 30- minute sessions daily) and (b) no research intervention. The results of the studies suggest a research intervention may improve student response. That is, more students in the research intervention demonstrated accelerated learning over time than in the no research intervention. However, student response to one 30-minute session of daily intervention was similar over time to response after two 30-minute sessions of daily intervention for these students. Increased time in intervention might not have been enough to improve student response for these students who demonstrated insufficient response to previous interventions