The effects of a holistic-graphophonic intervention on the decoding performance of children with reading disabilities

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an intervention combining holistic and graphophonic methods on the decoding performance of children with reading disabilities. The impact of this synthesis of teaching methods was evaluated by examining five students\u27 abilities to decode a set of training words using three common vowel patterns. Words containing these magic e, double vowel, and closed vowel patterns were presented in isolation and in context. Additional sets of novel words and nonsense words using the same vowel patterns were used to evaluate generalization. The study incorporated single-subject experimental research methods, using a multiple baseline design across vowel patterns. Data were collected and analyzed daily. The results of this study indicated that all five second-graders, three boys and two girls, demonstrated substantial gains in decoding ability on all three vowel patterns. The students increased their accuracy on training words in isolation, as well as in context. In addition, students increased their decoding accuracy on generalization words, in both novel and nonsense words. These increases in decoding accuracy were maintained during post-intervention probes and during the 7-week follow-up phase of the study