Beginning reading intervention as inoculation or insulin: First-grade reading performance of strong responders to kindergarten intervention

This study examined the first-grade reading progress of children who participated in an intensive beginning reading intervention in kindergarten. Specifically, the study investigated whether kindergarten intervention could prevent first-grade reading difficulties, or pro-duce an “inoculation ” effect, for some children under certain instructional conditions. Participants included children at risk for devel-oping reading difficulties who received a 7-month beginning reading intervention in kindergarten. In October of first grade, 59 children who had achieved criterion levels on measures of phonological awareness and alphabetic knowledge were randomly assigned to one of two types of first-grade reading instruction: (a) code-based classroom instruction and a supplemental maintenance intervention, or (b) only code-based classroom instruction. February posttest measures assessed oral reading fluency, word reading, nonword reading, and comprehension. Between-group analyses indicated that instructional groups did not differ on any posttest measure. The students’ absolute levels of achievement were compared to national and local normative samples. These results indicated that between 75 % and 100 % of students in both conditions attained posttest levels and demonstrated growth comparable to their average-achieving peers. These results support the hypothesis that strong responders to kindergarten intervention can experience an inoculation effect through the mid-dle of first grade with research-validated classroom reading instruction. Over the past 20 years, our un-derstanding of reading acqui-sition and reading disabilities (RD) has increased dramatically. This understanding has been informed by the ongoing consolidation of a sub-stantial scientific knowledge base in beginning reading, consisting of con-verging, multidisciplinary research ev