Results of an early intervention program for first grade children at risk for reading disability

Abstract

Thirty‐eight first grade children with low emergent literacy skills who were at risk for difficulty in learning to read were tutored for a median of 58 half‐hour sessions in addition to their regular classroom instruction. The tutoring (Early Intervention Program, EIP) focused on word recognition, phonetic application and comprehension in context. The EIP children's word recognition in isolation and in context, reading speed, and comprehension were superior to well‐matched controls at completion of tutoring, at the end of first grade, and at third grade. At grade three, the EIP group was equivalent to a group of average‐reading classmates on word recognition in context, acceptable accuracy and answering comprehension questions, but not on word recognition in isolation or on reading speed.