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Running head: RESEARCH-BASED READING INTERVENTIONS

Research-Based Reading Interventions for Students with Dyslexia and Other Reading

Disabilities

Katie Hearl

SPED 637
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RESEARCH-BASED READING INTERVENTIONS
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RESEARCH-BASED READING INTERVENTIONS

Abstract

This is a literature review of ten peer-reviewed journals on interventions in three specific areas in

reading for students who have dyslexia or other learning and/or reading disabilities. Students

who have dyslexia or other learning and/or reading disabilities have difficulty in the areas of

phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and text comprehension. The subtopics of

this review include written expression, reading comprehension strategies and skills, and

vocabulary. In general, researchers found that students respond to interventions that are delivered

with explicit and systematic instruction. It was concluded that many students who have dyslexia

or other learning and/or reading disabilities need interventions in text production skills in order

to improve written expression. Interventions that included use of multiple reading

comprehension strategies yielded better results. Researchers found that students are more

successful in identifying unknown vocabulary words when morphological instruction and

interventions are used. Some of the implications for teachers, literacy specialists, and other

educational professionals include explicitly teaching students to use multiple reading strategies

before, during, and after reading, explicitly teaching students how to break down words into

word parts to determine unknown meanings, and to give enough time to interventions before

determining if the intervention is a success or a failure. When used with fidelity, these

research-based reading interventions may help students with dyslexia or other learning

disabilities make positive gains in deficit areas so that they can become successful readers.
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RESEARCH-BASED READING INTERVENTIONS

Research-Based Reading Interventions for Students with Dyslexia and Other Reading

Disabilities

In today’s modern education system, teachers serve the needs of students from many

different populations. Students with learning disabilities, reading deficits, and/or dyslexia often

are in need of interventions for various areas in reading. According to Gough and Tunmer

(1986), readers can be classified into one of four subtypes: difficulty with code based and

meaning based, difficulty with code based, difficulty with meaning based, and proficient.

Students either have poor decoding and poor comprehension, poor decoding and good

comprehension, good decoding and poor comprehension, or both good decoding and

comprehension.

Students who have dyslexia often fall into the poor decoding and poor comprehension or

poor decoding and good comprehension subtype. Students with dyslexia generally have trouble

with decoding words and phonological awareness, which may lead to problems with vocabulary,

reading comprehension, and writing fluency skills. Students who have other learning disabilities

or reading disabilities can struggle with any area of reading: phonics, vocabulary, fluency,

reading comprehension, etc. According to Costa, Edwards, and Hooper (2016), “It is estimated

that reading disabilities make up approximately 80% of all total learning disabilities” (p. 18).

Students who have dyslexia, learning disabilities, and/or reading disabilities need strategic,

research-based interventions in order to help them overcome some of those deficits.

Statement of Problem

The three areas of exploration include written expression, reading comprehension skills

and strategies, and vocabulary. While students at every grade level utilize knowledge and skills
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RESEARCH-BASED READING INTERVENTIONS

in all three of these areas, these areas tend to be emphasized more in the upper grade levels.

Students who have learning disabilities or reading difficulties may struggle with these abilities,

as these are foundational skills across all content curriculums in grades 4-12. Students should not

be penalized with a limited amount of knowledge or skill because of a learning disability. It is

crucial that teachers, literacy specialists, and professionals know what to do to support students

with learning disabilities and/or reading deficits in order to help the student become the most

successful he or she can be. Research-based practices and interventions in all areas of reading

will help students make up for some of the deficits.

Method

An electronic search was conducted using the EBSCOHost search engine through the

University of Hawaii library. The ERIC, Academic Search Complete, and Professional

Development Collection databases were used. The search terms for these articles included

dyslexia, learning disabilities, reading deficits, reading disabilities, writing interventions, written

expression interventions, reading comprehension strategies, reading comprehension

interventions, vocabulary interventions, and morphological interventions. To be included in this

review, articles must have been peer- reviewed, intervention-based, and conducted within the

past ten years. A total of eight empirical, peer-reviewed studies and two meta-analyses were

included.

Written Expression

Written expression is comprised of different parts of writing. Graham, Collins, and

Rigby-Willis (2017) categorize “students’ text production skills, self-regulation strategies for

carrying out writing processes, knowledge about writing, and motivation to write” (p. 200) as
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important characteristics of written expression. Students who have dyslexia and other learning

and reading disabilities often struggle with written expression because writing is such a complex

process with many intricate moving parts. Students need to be able to execute proper

handwriting, spelling, grammar, sentence fluency, and logical content, as well as plan, draft,

revise, and edit their own writing.

In the meta-analysis by Graham et al. (2017), researchers analyzed 53 studies focusing on

how written expression compares between students with learning and reading disabilities and

their typically achieving peers. Researchers established that students with learning and reading

disabilities do not reach the same level of mastery in regards to the areas of written expression as

their typically achieving peers. The study conducted by Viel-Ruma, Houchins, Jolivette,

Fredrick, and Gama (2010) sought to determine if direct instruction used as a form of

intervention in written expression was beneficial to secondary students with learning disabilities.

Researchers included students with learning and reading disabilities who were both native and

non-native English speakers to see if the direct instruction intervention strategy was transferable

to multiple populations. In conclusion, results were varied, but showed positive gains.

Effectiveness of interventions

Both the meta-analysis and the article discussed the effectiveness of the interventions

used. While students did make positive gains and seemed to respond well to the interventions,

researchers felt like they were unable to definitively conclude that it was due to the type of

intervention, rather than students just receiving any type of intervention. Viel-Ruma et al. (2010)

concluded that while all participants in their study showed positive gains, “because both the rate

of the immediacy and the strength of the magnitude of the effect are indicators of the
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effectiveness of an intervention, the effects of this intervention on this population must be

viewed with caution” (p. 105). Likewise, Graham et al. (2017) made similar claims:

Although the overall quality of studies was not so strong that we can make absolute

statements about our findings, we do not think that the limitations of the studies reviewed

invalidate the basic findings that students with LD experience greater challenges with

writing than their typical peers. (p. 211)

One potential solution to determine the effectiveness of the interventions would be to

increase the time students received the interventions. In some studies, “Instruction lasted for 5

weeks” (Viel-Ruma et al., 2010, p.98), some less than that. In order to determine definitively if it

was the specific intervention that was successful rather than simply students receiving any type

intervention, more time should have been given, especially to accommodate students with

learning disabilities and/or reading disabilities.

Text production skills

Both the article and meta-analysis looked at students’ text production skills. According to

Graham et al. (2017), text production skills include “sentence fluency, handwriting, spelling, and

grammar” (p. 200). These conventions of writing are important for students to understand and

utilize. Viel-Ruma et al. (2010) also looked at text production skills in so much that “The

program comprises components that address mechanics (including capitalization, use of commas

and quotation marks), sentence writing (including punctuation and use of introductory

phrases)…” (p. 100). By looking at this area of writing, researchers were able to draw

conclusions about students with learning disabilities and some of the interventions used to

strengthen text production skills. Graham et al. (2017) found that “…students with LD
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demonstrated great difficulty applying standard writing conventions as compared to NA peers”

(p. 210). Overall, students with dyslexia, and learning and/or reading disabilities need

interventions that increase text production skills in order to be successful in other areas of written

expression.

Reading Comprehension Skills and Strategies

Reading comprehension is the ability for a student to understand and make logical sense

of what he or she reads. Students who have learning disabilities or reading difficulties can have

problems with reading comprehension, especially if they have deficits in other areas of reading.

Boardman et al. (2016) focused on teaching specific reading strategies for students with

learning disabilities, particularly those with reading disabilities. The research supported

explicitly teaching struggling readers a specific reading strategy, how to use it, when to use it

appropriately, and why it is important. Students used these strategies before, during, and after

reading in order to access and comprehend the text. Boon, Hintz, and Cornelius-Freyre (2015)

focused on the effectiveness of one specific intervention (story mapping) to help improve

reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities, including dyslexia, in grades 6-12.

The research supported that story mapping is a beneficial reading strategy to improve reading

comprehension. Finally, Snowling and Hulme (2012) looked at several intervention strategies for

students with dyslexia and other reading comprehension impairments. Students who received

interventions made gains in phonological awareness, fluency, and reading comprehension.  

​Setting 

All three articles included where the interventions took place, which was inside the

classroom. Some of the studies reported using inclusion classrooms, while others used
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self-contained special education classroom settings. This is important to note because in order for

teachers to actually utilize the intervention strategies, they need to be able to replicate the

findings of the studies in their own classrooms. Because these studies were actually conducted in

classrooms, it makes the findings and results much more transferable and easier to duplicate for

teachers.

Emphasis on multiple reading strategies

The research found the importance of teaching students multiple text comprehension

strategies. In the findings, researchers concluded that students needed to be exposed to and have

direct practice with multiple reading comprehension strategies. Strategies should be used at

various points while reading text. According to Boardman et al. (2016), “Students use before,

during, and after reading strategies during CSR to access challenging text” (p. 411). Stopping at

different points throughout the text allowed students to utilize different reading strategies for

comprehension.

The data from Snowling and Hulme (2012) also supported the claim that multiple

strategies should be used. In their study, students were placed into three groups. One received

only intervention in reading, the second group only received intervention in phonological

awareness, and the third received interventions for both reading and phonological awareness.

Snowling and Hulme (2012) found that “At the end of the 20 weeks of intervention the children

who received the combined programme (R+P) were significantly ahead of the other three groups

in reading accuracy, spelling, and reading comprehension” (pg. 29). Students who are taught

multiple strategies to use when reading were able to make more significant gains than those

utilizing only one.

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Vocabulary

Vocabulary is an area that is crucial for reading comprehension, especially in the upper

grade levels. Students need to know, understand, and be able to determine meaning of unknown

words in order to comprehend what they are reading. Specific interventions can lead to gains in

vocabulary knowledge.

Brown, Lignugaris, and Forbush (2016) researched the effects of morphemic vocabulary

intervention in middle school students with learning disabilities. The two studies were comprised

of explicit instruction as an intervention strategy where students were taught to identify roots and

prefixes and how to use those word parts in sentences. Overall, the interventions helped increase

both vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. In their meta-analysis, Goodwin and

Ahn (2010) looked at the data behind 17 independent studies to determine the effect of

morphological interventions for students with literacy difficulties, including those with dyslexia.

Studies showed that some students with dyslexia use morphology as a strategy to compensate for

reading deficits and therefore, strategic morphological interventions would be beneficial to those

students. Harris, Schumaker, and Deshler (2011) researched the effectiveness of the Word

Mapping condition and the Vocabulary (LINCS) Strategy as interventions for students both with

and without learning disabilities. They found that the students who received both intervention

strategies scored higher than those in other test groups. Overall, the studies showed that there are

greater gains and improvements in vocabulary development and reading in general when

morphological instruction and interventions are included for students.

Participants in studies
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RESEARCH-BASED READING INTERVENTIONS

In all three journal articles, the age group researchers were working with was similar.

Students who participated in the studies were in the upper grade level band (4​th​-12​th​). There are

several reasons for this. Students who are in the 4​th​-12​th​ grade range are no longer in reading

programs that teach them to read and are not explicitly learning to read. Rather, students in these

grades are reading to learn; content across the curriculum is presented largely through text and

reading. Students in the upper grade band also tended to respond better to morphological

interventions. Harris et al. (2011) found that “Additionally, the researchers showed that student

knowledge of morphology was greater in students enrolled in grade four than in younger grades

and continued to improve across the grades” (p. 19). Reading instruction in these grades tends to

focus more on vocabulary and text comprehension strategies.

Morphological instruction and interventions

One of the main themes in all three studies was the focus placed on morphological

instruction and interventions. Students who are in the upper grade level band often come across

unknown vocabulary words that are made up of word parts. Goodwin and Ahn (2010) found that

“breaking down complex words into morpheme components allows the reader to decode and

access the meaning of larger words” (p. 186). All three articles argue that by explicitly teaching

the meanings of the word parts and how to use the words in context, students are then able to

determine the meaning of the whole word. The explicit teaching of word parts include instruction

with prefixes, suffixes, and common root words.

Morphological interventions were deemed effective in the studies, as illustrated by

Goodwin and Ahn (2010): “This meta-analysis of 17 independent studies examining

morphological interventions shows that morphological interventions are successful, with the
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level of success differing depending on the literacy outcome (p. 203). Brown et al. (2016)

achieved similar results in their studies: “All participants clearly increased their word knowledge

skills to derive the meaning of untaught prefixed words” (p. 328). Harris et al. (2011) used a

multiple strategies approach with morphemic intervention and found that “the interventions were

effective in teaching the strategies…” (p. 29). Overall, students with learning disabilities and

reading deficits benefited and made from strategic morphological interventions, thus making it

an effective intervention.

Implications for Practice

Through the research, it is clear that there are many implications for teachers and

practitioners to help students with dyslexia, learning disabilities, and/or reading disabilities. One

takeaway for teachers is that direct and explicit morphological instruction and interventions are

effective. When designing vocabulary instruction, teachers should keep in mind that teaching

prefixes, suffixes, and root words help students break down whole words into word parts and

determine the meaning based on those parts. Another takeaway for teachers and practitioners is

that teaching students multiple reading comprehension strategies improves their comprehension

of the text. By teaching students multiple strategies, they are able to utilize and apply the ones

that work for them or that are appropriate to the style of text. One last takeaway for teachers is to

ensure that they are giving enough time to try interventions before concluding that it is a failure

or success, especially interventions for students with disabilities.

Overall, the most important concept for teachers to gain from the literature is not just

specific interventions, but rather how they can refine their practice and teaching as a whole. The

most important takeaway for teachers is to ensure that they are delivering lessons that explicitly
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and systematically teach elements of reading. This is a theme that was emphasized through the

majority of the journal articles and other related works such as the International Dyslexia

Association Standards (2010) and literature by the National Institute for Literacy, regardless of

the specific reading topic. In general, students who were receiving direct instruction and

intervention performed better and made more positive gains than students who did not receive

direct instruction. Whatever research-based intervention or instructional curriculum teachers are

using, it should involve direct instruction in a way that is explicit to students and systematically

taught. In conclusion, in order to help students with dyslexia and learning and/or reading

disabilities, teachers and other educational professionals need to be working together to

implement research-based interventions and practices that will help students be the most

successful they can be.

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References

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Collaborative strategic reading for students with learning disabilities in upper  

elementary classrooms. ​Exceptional Children, 82(4), 409-427. doi:10.1177/001 

4402915625067 

Boon, R., Paal, M., Hintz, A., & Cornelius-Freyre M. (2015). A review of story mapping  

instruction for secondary students with ld. ​Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary  

Journal, 13(2), 117-140.

Brown, S., Lignugaris, B., & Forbush, D. (2016). The effects of morphemic vocabulary  

instruction on prefix vocabulary and sentence comprehension for middle school  

students with learning disabilities. ​Education and Treatment of Children, 39, 301-338. 

Costa, L., Edwards, C., & Hooper, S. (2016). Writing disabilities and reading disabilities in  

elementary school students: Rates of co-occurrence and cognitive burden. ​Learning 

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Goodwin, A. & Ahn, S. (2010). A meta-analysis of morphological interventions: Effects on  

literacy achievement of children with literacy difficulties. ​Annals of Dyslexia, 60,  

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Gough, P. & Tumner, W. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. ​Remedial and

Special Education, 7(1), 6-10.

Graham, S., Collins, A., & Rigby-Willis, H. (2017). Writing characteristics of students with  

learning disabilities and typically achieving peers: A meta-analysis. ​Exceptional  

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Harris, M., Schumaker, J., & Deshler, D. (2011). Analysis instruction on the vocabulary

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