Word study intervention shows a moderate overall effect on word reading and comprehension for older struggling readers¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · reviewr2·q3·i2medium
Currency · newest study 2008 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i2 A meta-analysis found a moderate overall effect for word study intervention across standardized and researcher-developed measures (g = .60). → Roberts 2008
Evidence¶
Roberts 2008¶
Roberts, G., Torgesen, J. K., Boardman, A., & Scammacca, N. (2008). Evidence-Based Strategies for Reading Instruction of Older Students with Learning Disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 23(2), 63–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5826.2008.00264.x
q3 · i2 · review · r2
Meta-analytic review (Scammacca et al., 2007) of word study interventions for older struggling readers, reporting "a moderate overall effect" of g = .60 across four studies; the standardized-measures-only effect was .68 and comprehension-only .40.
"A recent review of the research (Scammacca et al., 2007) in this area found a moderate overall effect for word study intervention across both standardized and researcher-developed measures of word reading and reading comprehension (g = .60, n = 4, 95 percent CI = .25, .95)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Morphological instruction improves word-level literacy outcomes (decoding, spelling, vocabulary, morphological knowledge) but shows no reliable effect on reading comprehension — related
- Systematic phonics outperforms unsystematic or no-phonics instruction on children's reading overall, but its advantage over whole-word teaching on novel words is untested in children and contested — related
- Morphological Instruction Improves Vocabulary — related
- Fluency interventions for older students show very small effects on rate and accuracy and virtually no effect on standardized comprehension — related
- No significant differences emerged between word-reading intervention approaches, though whole word recognition showed trends toward null effects — related
- Comprehension strategy instruction shows a large overall effect, but reliability is undermined by few standardized measures — related
- Computer-assisted word reading interventions transfer to reading comprehension with an average effect size of 0.21 — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
word-study-moderate-effect-older-readers |
title |
Word study intervention shows a moderate overall effect on word reading and comprehension for older struggling readers |
description |
Word study intervention shows a moderate overall effect on word reading and comprehension for older struggling readers |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2008 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-16 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — roberts-2008 |
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