Jennifer Weber is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University in Teaching as Applied Behavior Analysis, a program that is part of the Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS). Through NIFDI's fellowship program, Jennifer conducted research on the implementation of Corrective Reading (CR) with students with and without disabilities at a Title I school.

Jennifer tested the effects of Corrective Reading on third through fifth grade students in CABAS classrooms who were identified as reading below proficient according to the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK), Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), and DIBELS. These classrooms utilize behavioral principles to teach children with and without disabilities. Twenty-five students participated in the Corrective Reading intervention and were matched to 25 counterparts within the school that functioned at similar academic levels.

The study compared the performance of students who received CR as an intervention with the performance of students who received teacher-developed reading lessons. After four months, the students receiving CR outperformed the comparison students as their independent reading level increased one to four levels on the DRA.

Ms. Weber's summary of her findings is forthcoming and will be made available in the research portion of this website.

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) is an organization established in 2002 that is charged with producing user-friendly guides for educators on effective instructional practices. Many of you also are likely familiar with NIFDI's reservations and concerns with the procedures and reports the WWC publishes, which are documented on our website.

That said, a recent report published by the What Works Clearinghouse details the effectiveness of Spelling Mastery for students with learning disabilities. Spelling Mastery, a Direct Instruction program designed for students in grades 1-6 to teach phonemic, morphemic and whole-word strategies, demonstrated "potentially positive" effects in writing with students with learning disabilities.

Read the full report from the WWC.

Proponents of DI often request programs in content areas such as science and social studies to use with their students. Academic Core, published by NIFDI Press, has been designed as a supplement to help teach students important science facts and information.

Academic Core is a highly structured three-level program (A through C; Levels B and C forthcoming in 2014) that ensures mastery of sophisticated information and includes a built-in reward system to motivate and reinforce students. Some of the units in Level A include: measurement, time, the solar system, rocks, body systems and U.S. geography, among many others.

Academic Core is available exclusively through NIFDI for only $129.00 + S&H. Help your students master fundamental concepts in science! Learn more or purchase Academic Core Level A here.

NIFDI's Assistant Director of Research, Caitlin Rasplica, will be a discussant at a symposium being held as part of the Association for Behavior Analysis International's (ABAI) 40th Annual Conference in Chicago this May. The symposium, Improving Reading and Writing Repertoires in Students With and Without Disabilities, will address Direct Instruction's evidence-based procedure that has resulted in academic gains for students.

Two papers will be addressed:

(The following is an excerpt from ABAI's description of the symposium)

In the first paper, the implementation of an Accelerated Independent Learner model coupled with Direct Instruction Corrective Reading program resulted in educationally and statistically significant outcomes in students in grades 3-5 that were identified as performing below grade level in reading.

In the second paper, the participants were students diagnosed with emotional disturbances and autism respectively. The experimenters found that the use of general case instruction resulted the mergence of metaphorical production responses for all participants.

The symposium will be held on May 26, 2014 in the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois at 10:00 am. For more information, visit ABAI's website at http://www.abainternational.org/events/annual-2014.aspx.