The effects of a parent-child paired reading program on reading abilities, phonological awareness and self-concept of at-risk pupils (1).

Publication: Reading Improvement

Publication Date: 22-DEC-05

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Project Innovation (Alabama)

There is a body of literature suggesting that involving parents in their children's education is an effective strategy for children at risk of reading failure. In a pre-test/post-test control group design, parents in an experimental group received reading materials and were trained on techniques to stimulate their child during paired reading at home, while a control group only received materials. Reading and general academic abilities were pre- and post-tested, as well as phonological awareness and self-concept. The results show statistically significant gains in general academic abilities and phonological awareness in favor of the experimental group, while no significant gains were noted in reading abilities and self-concept. This report discusses the factors which could explain those results.

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The prevention of academic failure has become an increasing concern for those who aim to ensure the success of the greatest number of pupils possible (Leslie & McMillan, 1999; Snow, Burn, & Griffin, 1998; Torgesen, 2002). In many Western countries, the alarming number of pupils dropping out or failing has incited many researchers, educators and parents to mobilize their efforts to redress this concerning situation. Over the last few years, the increasing number of pupils experiencing difficulties in normal classes combined with budgetary cuts, which limit services available to students, have led policy makers and education specialists to put more emphasis on a better cooperation between schools and parents in order to prevent academic failure, particularly in reading (Cadieux & Boudreault, 2003). Reading is at the centre of learning activities at the beginning of a child's schooling. Among other things, reading permits access to culture and facilitates learning in many other school subjects. Early failure in reading often has disastrous impacts on the academic future of children. However, the number of children failing can be significantly reduced when parents cooperate actively in their children's school education right from the start (Purcell-Gates, 2000). Among other things, many researchers have highlighted the positive effects of parent-school cooperation programs on the performance of at-risk pupils, including those at risk of failure in reading (Fitton & Gredler, 1996; Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997; McCarthey, 2000; Sanacore, 1990; Vadasy, Jenkins & Pool, 2000; Wasik, 1998). Paired reading, which is one of those programs that necessitate an active cooperation between a child's family and school (Topping, 1995; Topping and Lindsay, 1991), was introduced in the 1970's and was based mostly on the research of K. J. Topping. This method is simple to learn and is effective with parents who do not have a high level of education or who have poor reading abilities. It includes essentially a simultaneous reading phase and an independent reading phase. In the first phase, the parent and the child read out loud together a short text previously chosen by the child. The parent follows the same reading speed as his/her child, acts principally as a model and pays attention to the child's pronunciation during reading. In the second phase, the child gives a certain signal which indicates to the parent that he/she is ready to continue reading on his/her own. The parent praises his/her child and lets him/her read alone until he/she makes a mistake or hesitates for more than four seconds. When this occurs, the parent reads the word with the child and starts reading simultaneously with his/her child again until the child signals that he/she is ready to start reading alone again, and so on (Topping, 1995).

Several literature reviews analyzed the results of primary studies that explored the effects of paired reading on reading ability (Fitton & Gredler, 1996; Toomey, 1993; Topping, 1995; Topping & Lindsay, 1991 ; Topping & Wolfendale, 1985). Topping (1995) identified 18 studies which focused on the effects of paired reading. In these studies, the age of participants varied between 5 and 13 years, with groups of 3 to 33 children participating in a 4- to 39week intervention. Twelve studies used the biological parents of the children, and six used peers or volunteer parents. The measures used as dependent variables included comprehension scale scores, such as the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability, or results obtained on other tests which generated a single reading accuracy score. Most studies obtained results expressed in 'reading age' and included an analysis of 'ratio gains', corresponding to the reading age gain achieved by a subject on a standardized reading test divided by the subject's chronological age (Topping, 1995). The ratio gains of participants varied from 0.94 to 9.75 in accuracy and from 0.96 to 9.27 in comprehension, while the ratio gains of control groups ranged from -0.43 to 4.88 in accuracy and from -0.13 to 7.11 in comprehension. In follow-up studies, the results varied generally from one child to another. Topping (1995) suggested that the duration of the intervention period and the acceleration of learning do not particularly affect the results, but that nothing indicated that the gains were not sustained.

Overett and Donald (1998) also provided data on the effects of paired reading. In six training sessions, they trained 29 parents from low socio-economic backgrounds to use the paired reading technique, then compared their results with those of a control group composed of 32 parents. The results indicated a statistically significant increase only for the experimental group in scores obtained on the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability for accuracy and comprehension. The authors also reported that the level of communication and enthusiasm of the education specialists during the training phase and the level of cooperation of parents had beneficial impacts. On the other hand, Law and Kratochwill (1993) as well as Miller and Kratochwill (1996) suggested that paired reading does not produce statistically significant gains in reading performance. It is worth noting, however, that Topping (1997) pointed out some inconsistencies, notably in the description of the paired reading method and the measurement of reading gains.

Topping (1995) indicated that the results of many studies are somewhat limited, for example at the level of the reading process, which pertains to how parent tutors controlled their behaviors following their training...

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