Tara Watson and Kerry Hempenstall. (2008). Effects of a computer based beginning reading program on young children. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 24(3), 258-274.
View of Effects of a computer based beginning reading program on young children
“This study was an evaluation of a parent delivered, computer based beginning reading program with a group of 15 Kindergarten and Grade 1 students. Completing the Funnix program at home through a CD copy was expected to produce educationally and statistically significant improvements in phonemic awareness, letter-sound fluency, non-word decoding skills, and oral reading fluency, when compared to the outcomes for a similar group of 16 students in a wait list comparison group. Data were analysed using univariate analyses of covariance incorporating effect sizes. Statistically significant treatment effects were found for Kindergarten students in the intervention group on letter-sound fluency, oral reading fluency, non-word decoding, and phonemic awareness skills. Grade 1 students in the intervention group demonstrated significant improvement over time on letter-sound fluency, letter-name knowledge, non-word decoding and oral reading fluency; however, these improvements were not significantly greater than those for the Grade 1 comparison group. It was concluded that Kindergarten students gained the most benefits, and thatat risk students may represent a fruitful target audience. The Funnix program and reading skills of Kindergarten and Grade1 students
An ongoing subject of debate in educational research is how the complex skills involved in learning to read should be taught to children. Perhaps the most definitive information to date regarding reading instruction was presented in the National Reading Panel report (National Reading Panel, 2000). The specific areas of reading instruction the Panel noted as crucial were phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. For children in pre-school and in their first year of formal schooling, the Panel found that training in phonemic awareness skills, such as blending and segmenting, provided the strongest benefits (National Reading Panel,2000). It further recommended that conjoint phonemic awareness and phonics emphases should be taught directly, rather than incidentally, as effective instruction in both skills leads to early progress in reading and spelling. Computer delivered instruction was considered a potentially powerful tool for teaching these skills (National Reading Panel, 2000).
Since that time, important national reports from Great Britain (Rose, 2006) and Australia (DEST, 2005) have presented similar recommendations. The direct instruction approach has been applied successfully to many curriculum areas and to a variety of learners, consistently elevating academic performance in comparison to other methods of instruction (Hempenstall, 2004; National Institute for Direct Instruction, 2003; Watkins & Slocum, 2003). Recently, the U.S. Department of Education’s American Institutes for Research reviewed more than 800 studies of 22 educational models on their capacity to influence student achievement (American Institutes for Research, 2006). The report named direct instruction as one of only two models to achieve their highest rating. In reading instruction, its content and method of instruction are consistent with the recommendations of the three reports mentioned earlier (DEST, 2005; National Reading Panel, 2000; Rose, 2006).
The obvious identifying feature of the direct instruction programs is the attention paid to the structure of the teaching sequence in addition to the curriculum content. The designer's brief is to avoid ambiguity in instruction; the focus is on logical-analysis principles. These principles allow the organisation of concepts according to their structure, and the communication of them to the learner through the presentation of positive and negative examples. The model also shares a number of features with behavioural approaches (e.g., reinforcement, stimulus control, prompting, shaping, extinction, fading), and with the effective teaching research (mastery learning, teacher presentation skills, academic learning time, and correction procedures). Programs are designed according to what, not whom, is to be taught. Thus, children work through the same sequence of tasks using the same teaching strategies.
Individual differences are allowed for through different entry points, reinforcement, amounts of practice, and correction strategies (Gregory, 1983).There is a long history of parental assistance in the reading development of their children, although, in the last century, their role has been largely restricted to reading to their young children, and hearing the reading of their older children (Burgess, Hecht & Lonigan, 2002). There are, however, examples in which parents and other non-teachers have taken the lead role with great success (Baker, Gersten & Keating,2000; Fitzgerald, 2001; Kraft, Findlay, Major, Gilberts & Hofmeister, 2001; Leach &Siddall, 1990).Kraft et al. (2001) evaluated the reading skills of Kindergarten level children following a home based beginning reading program before which parents undertook two hours of instructional training.
They reported that parents in the study were capable of effectively teaching important skills such as letter-sound associations and blending to their children following this limited period of instruction. Leach and Siddall (1990) compared 4 different methods of tutoring: hearing reading, paired reading, pause, prompt, praise (McNaughton, Glynn & Robinson, 1981), and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (Engelmann, Haddox & Bruner, 1983) taught to parents of First Grade children with reading problems. Greater progress in reading accuracy and comprehension occurred with the use of the additional instructional strategies included in the direct instruction method. The greater the level of structure and support provided within the program, the less reliant the child reading outcomes should be upon existing parent knowledge of reading development and instruction.
Computers can readily provide this structure, and also represent a colourful and attractive environment to children. The delivery of computer based lessons through a combination of media such as text, sound, graphics and video clips offers potential motivational and pragmatic advantages over purely print based interventions (Wissick & Gardner, 2000).It has been suggested that future reading instruction will be presented increasingly through computers (Martinez & McGee, 2000), and research is beginning to focus on the development of adequate instructional, hardware and software technology (such as accurate voice recognition software) to enable this change (Blok, Ootsdam, Otter & Overmaat, 2002). Among the 2000 National Reading Panel’s influential recommendations was incorporating computer speech and hypertext as potentially valuable enhancements to traditional reading instruction.
One recently released computer based direct instruction beginning reading program is Funnix (Engelmann, Engelmann & Seitz-Davis, 2001). It embraces both the National Reading Panel’s literacy curricula and instructional delivery recommendations. Funnix Beginning Reading and Funnix 2are beginning reading programs designed for use within the home for beginning readers and remedial non-readers. Funnix 2 is available for children who have completed Funnix Beginning Reading, or for those reading at about the second grade level. The approach is based upon the work of Siegfried Engelmann, who achieved significant success in reading instruction with earlier programs, such as Distar Reading, Reading Mastery, and Corrective Reading (Adams & Engelmann, 1996).
These are teacher presented group programs; however, one parent based direct instruction program called Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (Engelmann, Haddox & Bruner, 1983) has been published, and has received some empirical validation (Hempenstall, 2002; Leach & Siddall, 1990). It was a parent version developed out of the Reading Mastery classroom program. Funnix is a derivative of another recent direct instruction reading program, called Horizons (Engelmann, Engelmann & Davis, 1997), described by Silbert (2005). It offers several points of similarity with, and difference from, the 100 Lessons program. Funnix is presented on a CD, and as with the 100 Lessons program, it provides explicit training in phonological awareness and the alphabetic principle (blending and decoding). However, it also emphasises fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, and includes written exercises to highlight the connection between reading, writing, and spelling (Funnix, 2003).
One objective is for children to build oral reading fluency to about 60 words-per-minute by the end of Funnix Beginning Reading, and about 90words per minute by the end of Funnix 2 (Engelmann & Engelmann, 2003). Oral reading fluency is recognised as a hallmark of reading progress. All skills are delivered in a cumulative and carefully sequenced order, and the active participation of a parent or other tutor is required throughout the program. The parent role is to navigate through the 30 minute lessons, and to provide feedback, corrections, and re-presentation of a sequence when errors are made. The program commences after the Funnix icon is activated. Each lesson begins with a narrated introduction; and buttons at the bottom of the screen are used for navigation. They include buttons for Exit, Pause, Repeat, Continue, Over (restart this exercise).
As a program’s efficacy can be compromised by failing to follow directions, the additional structure included in the CD lesson presentation sequences in Funnix may make it somewhat more likely to be presented with fidelity than is the 100 Lessons program. The programs are available for purchase from the Funnix webpage; thus, most parents can be expected to buy them online, and employ them using only the parent instruction disk to guide them. A suggestion made by Stenhoff and Jung (2006) that libraries make copies available to parents is being trialled at the RMIT University Clinic, the site of the current study. Parents who attend the Clinic expressing concern that their young child is not progressing with literacy are provided with a copy, a demonstration of the program in action, and follow up support.
Early reports from parents suggest that the dynamic nature of the computer presentation, along with the colourful graphics, offers entertainment value that increases motivation to persevere, and also helps maintain the child’s concentration more so than does the purely text delivered Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons program. The early emphasis is upon the phonological underpinnings of successful reading progress. For example, oral blending tasks instruct children how to combine singles syllable words into multisyllabic words (Pop . . . corn. . . Say it fast. Popcorn). Continuous oral blending (no pauses between sounds) is emphasised (mmmaaannn) because it is a prompt that promotes easier recognition of the actual word. Later, this prompt is removed and segmented series of phonemes (pauses between the phonemes) are emphasised. This sequence leads to spelling activities - sounding outwords one phoneme at a time, and then writing them as letters.
As research has indicated, employing letters alongside phonemic awareness activities enhances the transfer of phonological sensitivity from the purely oral to sensitivity to letter structure of the written word - the alphabetic principle. About 10% of each lesson involves introducing new concepts – the remainder reviews and applies familiar content .There is little empirical evidence available for evaluating the effectiveness of Funnix. However, the Oregon Reading First Center included it in a broad scale evaluation of beginning reading programs. In a rating scale to evaluate a program’s theoretical adequacy, Funnix received a very high rating of 93% for its instruction of phonemic awareness, 81% for phonics, and 80% for fluency (Oregon Reading First Center, 2004). Jordan (2004), in a favourable review of the theoretical adequacy of the program for the Florida Center for Reading Research, also reported on a study in which Funnix was provided to 10 pre-school children. Their scores on basic reading, letter-word identification, and story recall tasks increased from their pretest scores, but the study’s methodological limitations allow only that the results were promising, and further rigorous evaluation of the program’s effectiveness is required.
The Florida Center for Reading Research also concluded that the content and instructional activities included in the Funnix program are aligned with current research (Jordan, 2004). However, these necessary elements are only the ingredients for success. Having all the right culinary ingredients doesn’t guarantee a perfect soufflé. There are other issues, such as what proportion of each ingredient is optimal, when should they be added, how much stirring and heating is necessary? Errors on any of these requirements may lead to sub-optimal outcomes. So, it is with literacy programs. Just because a program has all the elements doesn’t mean that it will be necessarily effective. Engelmann (2004) pointed to the logical error of inferring a whole based upon the presence of some or even all of its elements. It is possible to analyse the content of effective programs, and then assume incorrectly that the mere presence of those characteristics is sufficient to ensure effectiveness.
Engelmann is thus critical of merely “research based” programs, that is, programs constructed only to ensure each respected component is somewhere represented. “Yet there is a big difference between a program based on such elements and a program that has itself been compared with matched or randomly assigned control groups” (Slavin,2003, p.15). Thus, empirical support is also necessary. An evaluation of the reading outcomes of children undertaking the Funnix program enables a comparison between those receiving regular class instruction and those additionally completing the reading program. It was expected that, compared to similar beginning readers in a wait list comparison group, participation in the Funnix beginning reading program would lead to a statistically and educationally significant increase in phonemic awareness skills, such as blending and segmenting, letter-name knowledge, letter-sound fluency, oral reading fluency, and non-word decoding skills.
A further question of interest was whether the program produced different outcomes for students in Kindergarten year, who are just beginning to receive reading instruction, compared with students in Grade 1, who already have had a year of school based reading instruction. As the program is designed for beginning readers, would the results for Grade 1 students be significantly different to those in their Kindergarten year? Method Participants Ethics approval was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Sub-Committee of the Faculty of Applied Science, RMIT University, to conduct the study. Participants in the study were families of children enrolled in their first year of formal schooling and Grade 1, who were invited to become involved in an evaluation of a new computer-based reading program.
A total of 40 children were recruited through advertisements placed in school newsletters and local newspapers; however, nine participants withdrew prior to its conclusion. There were 31 participants: 13 females and 18 males, aged from 4 years 11months to 7 years 8 months (M= 5.6 years), drawn from 18 primary schools (14 State and 4 Catholic schools). Sixteen students were enrolled in Kindergarten and 15 in Grade 1 in 2004. The experimental and comparison groups each contained approximately half Kindergarten and half Grade 1 students. Materials Material from five measures of reading ability and a beginning reading program were used in this study.
The reading assessment included material from the Texas Primary Reading Inventory, the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing(CTOPP), the Woodcock Test of Reading Mastery – Revised, the Revised Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills, and Project Aim. The Book and Print Awareness swarm up activity from the Texas Primary Reading Inventory (Texas Education Agency, 2000) was administered as a method of developing rapport with participants, and to prepare them for upcoming activities. This activity took approximately one minute to complete and involved asking the participants five questions related to a brief passage of writing from a children’s book.
The three phonemic awareness subtests from the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP; Ages 5 & 6) (Wagner, Torgesen, & Rashotte, 1999) that form the Phonological Awareness composite are the Elision, Blending Words, and Sound Matching subtests. Two subtests from the Revised Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills (Brigance,1991) were included: the Names Uppercase Letters and Names Lowercase Letters subtests combine to measure Letter-Name Knowledge. This is the best single predictor of first grade reading success prior to beginning reading instruction (Torgesen, 1998).
The Effects of a Computer-Based Early Reading Program on the Literacy Skills of Kindergarten Students (2022)
“This research examines the effects of a computer reading program as a supplement to classroom instruction for Kindergarten students across Study 1 and Study 2 (N = 55 and 88, respectively). Students attended schools in suburban settings and all students received their typical balanced literacy programming. Students in the treatment condition used the Ooka Island computer program (Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.TM, 2017) as a supplement to classroom instruction. The computer program targets phonological awareness, word reading, and reading comprehension. Across both studies, students in the treatment group (n = 26 and 49 for Study 1 and 2, respectively) had better outcomes for phonological blending, word reading, reading comprehension, and book-reading levels than the business-as-usual control group (n = 29 and 39). There were no group differences for phonological segmentation. The findings demonstrate that early-reading computer programs, such as Ooka Island, have the potential to supplement classroom instruction toward building foundational reading skills.”
Too many elementary school children across North America are not learning to read well (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2019). Across several Atlantic Canadian Provinces, the context for this study, approximately one-third of students in grades 2 and 3 are not meeting grade-level expectations in reading (Nova Scotia Department of Education & Early Childhood Development, 2019; Prince Edward Island Department of Education, 2018). At the same time, research has shown that targeting foundational reading skills can prevent many elementary-school reading difficulties (Foorman et al., 2016; Savage et al., 2018). Computer-based early reading programs have the potential to provide an engaging learning environment to target decoding-related skills, can provide scaffolded practice with text reading, and can include activities to potentially enhance comprehension. This study examined the effects of Ooka Island (Scholastic F.I.R.S.T.TM, 2017) on Kindergarten children’s reading skills.
Reading instruction for young children
Reading comprehension is the primary goal of elementary-school reading programs (Foorman et al., 2016). Skilled readers have accurate and quick word reading skills that allow attention to be directed to aspects of comprehension, such as using prior knowledge to understand and interpret words, sentences and longer segments of text (Stanovich, 2000). Developing skilled word reading is thus one important aspect of a complete early reading program (Al Otaiba & Foorman, 2008). Critical to building word reading skills, are children’s abilities to manipulate individual sounds in spoken words (i.e., phonemic awareness) and to use letter-sound correspondences to decode words (Ehri, 2005; Foorman et al., 2016). Kindergarten children who struggle with these skills have difficulties in learning to read (Lonigan & Shanahan, 2009; Moats, 2020).
Instruction in grapheme-phoneme correspondences and how to use these to decode written words (i.e., phonics instruction) is also critical to developing word reading skills (National Reading Panel, 2000). Teaching and practice of sounding out words supports children to become accurate and quick at reading words (Brady, 2020; National Reading Panel, 2000). Instruction targeting phonemic awareness, grapheme-phoneme knowledge and decoding strengthens reading comprehension and helps prevent reading disabilities (Al Otaiba & Torgesen, 2007).
There is an ongoing debate concerning how young children are best taught to read (Moats, 2020; Spear-Swerling, 2019). Balanced literacy approaches emphasize learning from classroom reading experiences, using multiple cues to solve for unknown words in text (meaning, grammar, and letters), and progressing through a series of leveled readers (e.g., Fountas & Pinnell, 2009). A structured literacy approach includes one focus on directly and systematically teaching decoding-skills (phonemic awareness, grapheme-phoneme correspondences, and left-to-right sounding out and spelling of written words; Spear-Swerling, 2019). Knowledge of how to teach foundational word reading skills with structured literacy is often not emphasized in teacher education programs (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2022) and has been found to be an area of relative weakness for North American teachers (Joshi et al., 2009). Balanced literacy approaches characterize instruction the Canadian Atlantic provinces, the context of the current study. One critical question, therefore, is whether a supplemental computer program, like Ooka Island, can deliver the structured approach recommended in research to facilitate young children’s early skill development within classrooms using a balanced literacy approach.
Complete reading programs in the early elementary years also need to include ample opportunities to read connected text and engage with stories (Duke & Pearson, 2009; Foorman et al., 2016). Familiarity with stories and understanding story structures are important for reading comprehension as these help children follow and recall the sequence of events (Duke & Pearson, 2009). Moreover, adequate time for engaging with interesting texts is related to young students’ reading achievement and to their intrinsic motivations for reading (Gambrell, 2011). For these reasons, most early reading approaches incorporate an abundance of storybook reading and a focus on building vocabulary in early literacy classrooms (Lonigan & Shanahan, 2009).
Across North America, children’s reading progression is frequently assessed by informal reading inventories that determine the book reading-level for each child within a published system (Fountas & Pinnell, 2007; Parker et al., 2015). Teachers listen to a child read and record errors, fluency, and responses to orally posed comprehension questions. These assessments are often used to gauge individual progress and screen for those who require interventions, as well as for district level monitoring (National Reading Panel, 2000; Prince Edward Island Department of Education, 2018). Although one of the most frequently used assessment methods in North American classrooms (Parker et al., 2015), these measures have been largely excluded in research studies examining reading outcomes to classroom interventions. The current study addresses this limitation by examining teachers’ assessed levels as one outcome measure.
Computer-assisted early reading instruction
Computer technology has been explored as one possible delivery system to supplement classroom reading instruction in the early elementary years (Jamshidifarsani et al., 2019), a pressing need given the high number of students failing to meet expectations across North America. Chambers et al. (2008) noted that computer-assisted technology might be particularly beneficial for decoding-related skills, as these programs are often engaging for young students, target areas for which the student needs more practice, and advance at a personalized pace. Computer programs can thus accommodate diverse learning needs of students, at the same time as providing immediate feedback and rewards.
Studies examining the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction have largely focused on lower-level foundational skills, such as phonemic awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and word reading (Jamshidifarsani et al., 2019). Improvements in preschoolers’ and Kindergarteners’ phonological awareness was observed with computer intervention in one study (Foster et al., 1994), and Kindergarten students’ phonological awareness and grapheme-phoneme correspondence knowledge showed improvements compared to unseen control groups (Macaruso & Rodman, 2011; Macaruso & Walker, 2008). For second grade students, phonological awareness and word reading skills improved with programs targeting grapheme-phoneme correspondences or correspondences at the rime-level (Kyle et al., 2013; Saine et al., 2011). Similarly, positive findings have been reported in randomized control trials for the ABRACADABRA program on aspects of Kindergarten and first-grade students’ phonological awareness and word-decoding related skills (Piquette et al., 2014; Savage et al., 2009). ABRACADABRA is an interactive literacy software program that targets phonics, phonemic awareness and word reading, as well as fluency and comprehension in young students. Researchers have largely attributed the positive effects of these computer reading programs to the content and sequence of presentation aligning with non-computerized evidence-based programs (Foster et al., 1994; Kyle et al., 2013; Macaruso & Rodman, 2011; Macaruso & Walker, 2008; Saine et al., 2011) and to high usability and engaging game-like activities (Kyle et al., 2013; Saine et al., 2011).
Fewer studies have examined the benefits of computer-assisted instruction on reading comprehension during the early elementary grades (Schechter et al., 2015). Nonetheless, first graders who received facilitator-led instruction with the ABRACADABRA program had higher reading comprehension than a business-as-usual control group (Savage et al., 2009). In contrast, other studies and major reviews have concluded that computer-assisted early reading programs are not beneficial to overall reading achievement (Paterson et al., 2003). A large-scale randomized controlled trial involving grade 1 classrooms from 43 schools, found a nonsignificant mean effect size across five computer reading-programs (Dynarski et al., 2007). Similarly, a meta-analysis and two research syntheses reported small effect sizes associated with computer-based reading programs (Blok et al., 2002; Cheung & Slavin, 2012; Cheung & Slavin, 2013). Such mixed results concerning the effects of computer-based programs on a variety of reading outcomes have led to questions of their potential for producing educationally meaningful effects.
One difficulty has been that reviews typically examined the effects of programs on the overall reading achievement of students, whereas most programs specifically target phonological awareness and word reading (Wood et al., 2017). More comprehensive programs targeting decoding-related skills and reading comprehension have not been extensively studied (Schechter et al., 2015). A recent study revealed that targeting phonological awareness, word reading, and comprehension with the addition of a technology component improved Kindergarten reading achievement compared to a business-as-usual comparison group (Wilkes et al., 2020) and there were similar findings for grade 1 and 2 students (Schechter et al., 2015). Our study also addresses this gap in the literature by examining the effects of a comprehensive computer reading-program on Kindergarten students’ early word reading and reading comprehension outcomes”
Metsala, J. L., & Kalindi, S. C. (2022). The Effects of a Computer-Based Early Reading Program on the Literacy Skills of Kindergarten Students. Computers in the Schools, 39(4), 373–393. https://doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2022.2127344
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Effects of a Computer-Based Early Reading Program on the Early Reading and Oral Language Skills of At-Risk Preschool Children (2020)
“This study examined the effects of a computer-based early reading program (Headsprout Early Reading) on the oral language and early reading skills of at-risk preschool children. In a pretest–posttest control group design, 62 children were randomly assigned to receive supplemental instruction with Headsprout Early Reading (experimental group) or Millie's Math House (control group) for 30 min each school day for 8 weeks. Children using Headsprout Early Reading made greater gains in early reading skills as measured by the Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA-3), F(1, 59) = 39.35, p < 0.01, and in oral language skills as measured by the Test of Language Development-Primary (TOLD-P:3), F(1, 59) = 37.03, p < 0.01. Effect sizes were large for the gains in both measures (TERA-3, η2 = 0.24; TOLD-P:3, η2 = 0.17). Teachers' responses to an open-ended interview indicated that the program was perceived as a desirable instructional aid. Educational considerations for preventing future reading difficulties and issues about implementation integrity are discussed.”
Huffstetter, M., King, J. R., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Schneider, J. J., & Powell-Smith, K. A. (2010). Effects of a Computer-Based Early Reading Program on the Early Reading and Oral Language Skills of At-Risk Preschool Children. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 15(4), 279–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2010.532415
Comparative Effects of Computer-Based Reading Programs on the Early Literacy Skills of At-Risk Students (2021)
“Students displaying reading difficulties/disabilities at the end of third grade are unlikely to succeed in content areas and graduate from high school. One alternative to meeting the learning needs of students is to provide explicit instructional support in basic literacy skills through computer-based reading programs via after-school programs. This study examined the effects of two computer-based reading programs on the reading skills of 71 randomly assigned at-risk students using a pre–post-test design. Furthermore, tutor and students’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness and desirability of the programs were examined. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the programs on the Word Use Fluency measure and both computer-based programs were effective in facilitating the growth of basic early literacy skills of students at-risk for reading failure. A description of the computer programs, results, implications, and limitations of the study are discussed.”
Successful mastery of basic early literacy skills is pivotal to the development of oral reading fluency and comprehension. However, recent data suggests that a large per centage of students in today’s schools do not become skilled readers. For example, 65% of fourth and eighth-grade students performed below the “proficient” level in reading according to the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress (National Center for Education Statistics, 2018). Similarly, 20% of 15-year-old students scored below the “proficient” level on 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Carr, 2016). Failure to learn to read in early grades is associated with adverse consequences such as (a) impaired academic skills in later grades, (b) low self esteem, and (c) reduced employment opportunities (Hammond, 2012; Mather et al., 2001; Slavin et al., 2009).
It is estimated that 70% of students identified as at-risk for reading failure at the beginning of first grade will continue to experience reading difficulties in adult life (Lyon, 2001). Similarly, research suggests that students not having basic reading skills by third grade will have difficulty with (a) reading grade level materials, (b) developing average reading fluency levels, and (c) comprehending what they read (Hammond, 2012). The prevention of reading failure in early grades is fundamental to avoiding later reading skill deficits and continued decreases in motivation to read (Pindiprolu & Forbush, 2009). In the past two decades, the call for explicit reading instruction to facilitate development of basic early literacy skills of all students including students at-risk for reading failure has increased. The most influential evidence emphasizing explicit literacy instruction came from the National Reading Panel Report (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000).
The report emphasized the need for explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics, along with instruction in vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension as essential to the development of skilled readers. This recommendation led to an increased emphasis on explicit-direct instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics to promote early literacy skills of all children, including children with reading disabilities and/or students at-risk for reading difficulties. It has been estimated that 25–173 hr of preventative instruction is essential to successfully accelerate early reading skill development of at-risk students (Scammaca et al., 2007; Torgesen et al., 2010) and explicit, intensive early instruction can help reduce the number of students who experience reading failure by approximately two thirds (Lyon, 2001).
Unfortunately, many teachers are not adequately prepared to implement evidenced-based instructional practices (Lyon & Chhabra, 2004). Inadequately pre pared teachers hinder the implementation of effective literacy instruction for children with reading difficulties. The literature indicates that teachers practicing in the earlier grades are not adequately skilled in delivering explicit instruction in the areas of phonemic awareness and phonics. For example, Mather et al. (2001) assessed teachers’ knowledge of early literacy instruction methods and strategies for students at-risk for reading failure.
They concluded that many general education teachers lacked sufficient knowledge about concepts of English language structure, which prevents them from providing explicit instruction in the areas of phonemic awareness and phonics skills to students with reading difficulties. Similarly, Cunningham et al. (2004) examined teachers’ knowledge about reading and concluded that teachers in Kindergarten through third grade possess relatively little knowledge of phonemic awareness and phonics. More recently, Piasta et al. (2009) examined the interactions among teacher knowledge, explicit decoding instruction, and students’ word-reading abilities; and concluded that students receiving explicit instruction from knowledge able teachers made greater gains in word reading.
The results also indicated that students receiving explicit instruction from less knowledgeable teachers had lower levels of skill gain. Computer-based reading programs (CBRPs) offer one alternative way of meeting the needs of students with reading deficits and in supporting the limited skills of teachers in early literacy instruction. CBRPs offer multiple benefits. First, they can provide highly specialized instruction in the area of reading for relatively low costs and with high fidelity (Torgesen et al., 2010). Second, well-designed CRBPs can provide immediate feedback and motivate students through features like graphics, game-like activities, and multimodal presentations (Regtvoort & Leij, 2007).
Finally, recent literature suggests that CBRPs are effective in facilitating basic early literacy skills. For example, Howell et al. (2000) examined the effects of a computer-based early reading program, IntelliTools Reading, on early reading skills (such as onset-rime word decoding skills, phonemic awareness skills, sight word recognition skills, writing and spelling skills) of 55 first-grade students with disabilities and/or who were at-risk for reading failure. Students in the experimental group received 16 weeks of supplemental instruction in addition to regular reading instruction and students in a criterion group received regular reading instruction. The results indicated that students in the intervention group made measurable gains in the areas of phonemic awareness, word reading, and word writing skills. Similarly, Temple et al. (2003) evaluated the effects of Fast Forward, a computer based reading intervention program consisting of seven adaptive practice lessons to improve the auditory and language processing skills of 20 students with dyslexia (ages 8–12 years). The results indicated that after 20 hrs of intervention the children gained in word identification, word attack, passage comprehension, oral language, and rapid naming skills.
This study examined the impact of two CBRPs on the basic early literacy skills of K-2 at-risk students. The results indicated that (a) there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups on the WUF measure in favor of the HS program, (b) the HS group showed gains on all the seven DIBELS measures, (c) the Funnix group showed gains on five of the seven measures, (d) a slightly higher percentage of students in the Funnix group liked the program (and components) compared to HS group, and (e) a slightly higher percentage of HS tutors rated the program as a good program and useful in teaching reading skills. The results, limitations, and contributions of the study are discussed below.
A significant finding of this study is that both programs facilitated gains (both overall and across grade levels) in the areas of the phonemic awareness (as measured by ISF) and phonics (as measured by NWF), which are crucial early literacy skills. Similarly, the students in both groups exhibited a gain in their oral reading skills (both overall and across grades as measured by the ORF measure). Furthermore, the students in the HS group had small gains in the areas of vocabulary and oral reading fluency. These findings support Watson and Hempenstall (2008) findings that computer-based programs can facilitate the growth of basic early literacy skills of at-risk beginning readers. Also, these findings extend the results of Kim et al. (2011) after-school intervention study with elementary to middle-grade students. The results suggest that the two CBRPs can be used in after-school programs to provide focused, explicit interventions in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency and thereby prevent the compounding of reading deficits across years.”
Pindiprolu, S. S., & Forbush, D. E. (2021). Comparative Effects of Computer-Based Reading Programs on the Early Literacy Skills of At-Risk Students. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 50(2), 255-272. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472395211040048 (Original work published 2021).
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