An examination of a reading intervention provided to youth involved in a crime prevention program
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Date
2013-09
Authors
Whitzman, Sarah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Mount Saint Vincent University
Abstract
The current study examined aspects of delivering a reading remediation program to students with
reading difficulties who were involved in the Youth Advocate Program (YAP). This program
targets youth who are at risk for engaging in gang activities, anti-social conduct, and criminal
behaviour. Of the 44 youth entering the YAP over a 5 year period and who were referred for a
reading assessment, 38 showed reading difficulties. It was thus estimated that approximately
63% of the youth entering the YAP have significant difficulties in the area of reading. Twelve
students from the YAP program and 12 age and reading-matched comparison students
participated in the reading intervention which was the first part of the SpellRead program
(approximately 40 hours). Following the intervention, both groups showed reliable and
academically meaningful improvement in all areas of reading, including phonological awareness,
word recognition, fluency, and comprehension. There were no differences between the two
groups on pre- and post-test reading measures with the exception of reading comprehension. The
comparison group was significantly higher on the reading comprehension measure; however,
both groups’ reading comprehension performance benefitted equally from the intervention.
Although students completed only the first part of this reading intervention, statistically reliable
and academically meaningful improvements were seen in all reading skills.
Description
Keywords
Reading intervention , At-risk youth , Reading comprehension -- youth