Shared Reading to Support Membership and Participation in English/Language Arts Classes

• In Event: 29.030 - Advancing Educational Opportunities Through Inclusive Education: Community-Based Research in Special Education

Abstract

Objective
In this paper the author will describe the results of a mixed-methods study in which community partnerships were leveraged to support the translation of an evidence-based practice to general education English/language arts (ELA) classes. The current study examined the use of shared reading, a literacy intervention for students with significant disabilities, which was previously validated in segregated special education contexts.

Method
In the current study, a multiple-baselines across participants design was implemented across four students in three school sites to examine the effectiveness of the intervention when used in tandem with general curriculum content and activities. Qualitative field notes, interviews, and document review complemented the single-case results to uncover the ways that the intervention influenced the students’ membership and participation in the literate community of the ELA class.

Analysis
This presentation will describe how general educators, special educators, and paraprofessionals participated in the selection, adaptation, implementation, and evaluation of the intervention for general education contexts. As research sites were identified, instructional personnel were provided information about the basic procedures of shared reading, which included grade level texts adapted for complexity and systematic instruction on key literacy skills. Through an iterative series of meetings and consultations with instructional staff, we developed the “stop and think” method, which prompted students to monitor their own comprehension as they read. This specific intervention was developed based on teachers’ concerns that students a) had difficulty recalling information after it was read; b) would often become distracted while reading, leading to recall challenges; and c) lacked independence in reading tasks, which put a strain on staffing resources and was not likely to support generalized and useful long-term literacy outcomes. Through an iterative process, we created adapted versions of the texts used in the students’ general education ELA classes grade-level containing “stop and think” visual prompts, and proposed instructional procedures. We continually refined the intervention prior to implementation. Instructional staff, including special educators and paraeducators, implemented the intervention in connection with the students’ ELA classes.

Results
Some challenges arose in the research process, specifically in relationship to adhering strictly to single-case methodology conventions as the instructional staff managed the intervention on a day-to-day basis. For example, adapted versions of texts were continually revised and improved as the intervention progressed, based on students’ responses. In addition, contextual issues made adherence to rigorous standards (i.e., What Works Clearinghouse) impossible. The research design required systematic staggering of the intervention after an intervention effect was observed for each participant. This made alignment between the adapted texts (a critical component of the shared reading intervention) and the general curriculum challenging, as the research team needed to create adapted materials for four different students in four different classrooms, even when the students were not receiving the intervention.

Significance
This study is significant because it provides an example of collaborative research using single-case and qualitative methodology, a novel approach in the field of significant disabilities and inclusion. Implications for the use of collaborative research in the discovery, examination, and replication of innovative and ecologically valid interventions will be discussed.

Author

• Andrea Ruppar, University of Wisconsin