The MSDS structured decoding curriculum produced a small but significant effect on adult learners' pseudoword decoding (WJR Word Attack) relative to control instruction¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i1 small
Currency · newest study 2011 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i1 In a randomized control field trial, the treatment group made significantly greater gains than the control group on the WJR Word Attack decoding test with a small effect size of 0.19. → Alamprese 2011

Evidence¶

Alamprese 2011¶

Alamprese, J. A., MacArthur, C. A., Price, C., & Knight, D. (2011). Effects of a Structured Decoding Curriculum on Adult Literacy Learners' Reading Development. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2011.555294

q3 · i1 · causal · r2

Randomized control field trial with 16 ABE programs randomly assigned at the program level; 349 learners with pre- and posttests analyzed in two-level hierarchical linear models. The treatment effect on WJR Word Attack was "a small effect size of 0.19" (p = .047 in Table 2).

"The treatment group made significantly greater gains than the control group on the Woodcock-Johnson-R Word Attack test with a small effect size of 0.19."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Struggling adult readers made significant reading gains across all instructional groups, but all improvements were associated with small effect sizes — related
• Learners in K-3 structured decoding curricula adapted for adults (comparison group) did not differ significantly from treatment or control groups on any reading measure — related
• The MSDS curriculum showed no statistically significant effects on word recognition, spelling, fluency, or comprehension outcomes — related
• Treatment effects on word recognition differed by native status: the curriculum was more effective for native than non-native adults, though subgroup impacts were not individually significant — related
• Non-native English learners made significantly greater reading gains than native learners on 7 of 11 measures, while native learners gained more on vocabulary — related
• Decoding (Word Attack) showed the strongest gain of the targeted skills, with a moderate effect size of d = .46 overall — related
• Only one between-group difference emerged: the Control/Comparison, Decoding and Fluency, and DCEF groups showed stronger word attack outcomes than the Extensive Reading group — related