Creating a Linguistically-Responsive Intervention for Developing Readers: A Formative Experiment with a Teacher Study Group

Abstract

How are we to ensure that emergent bilinguals in early elementary settings receive linguistically-responsive reading interventions in response to intervention (RtI) frameworks? One way is to harness the collective expertise of classroom teachers, reading interventionists, and English language learner teachers. A collaborative relationship amongst these crucial school personnel is warranted in order to support the implementation of evidence-based practices in intervention, language development, and assessment. The goal of this study was to create, implement, and study a linguistically-responsive reading intervention for emergent bilinguals in an elementary RtI setting. Alongside a teacher study group that consisted of two classroom teachers, a reading interventionist, and an English language learner teacher, the teachers and I co-constructed and implemented the intervention. I used a formative experiment framework to conduct and execute the study. In six phases of design, I collected qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data collection included transcripts from teacher study group sessions, observations of teaching and learning in the intervention, interviews, and document review. Quantitative data collection included weekly reading assessment data and sentence repetition measures. Results indicate that language and reading development were fore fronted as a result of teachers’ collaborative efforts. Teachers who implemented the intervention contend that the strategies helped students’ overall comprehension. Students in the linguistically-responsive intervention showed growth in reading and language outcomes.