Project Activities
This project will use a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with long-term follow-up data collection to assess the efficacy of RANX at increasing reading performance while decreasing anxiety in students with reading difficulties.
Structured Abstract
Setting
Research activities will occur in public schools in Texas.
Sample
Approximately 400 students in grades 3 and 4 with reading difficulties will participate. Students will qualify as having reading difficulties based on scoring at or below the 25th percentile on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test reading comprehension subtest.
RANX is a fully manualized, multi-component reading intervention that interweaves anxiety management instruction grounded in evidence-based, cognitive-behavioral practices that help children recognize anxious feelings and use stress management techniques to manage these emotions. The reading instruction focuses on improving word reading, fluency, vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension using evidence-based instructional routines and practices such as systematic word reading instruction and explicit vocabulary and comprehension teaching. RANX includes 75 instructional lessons per year for 2 years.
Research design and methods
An RCT will be used to examine the efficacy of RANX for students with reading difficulties. Students will be divided evenly and randomized to either the RANX treatment or a control group. Students randomized to treatment will receive RANX instructional lessons for 2 academic years. During each year of intervention, pre- and post-testing will occur in the fall and spring, respectively. For 2 subsequent academic years following intervention, when the participating students are in grades 5 and 6, the research team will collect follow-up data for all treatment and control students on key outcome measures to determine whether treatment effects are maintained over time.
Control condition
Students in the control condition will receive business-as-usual instruction.
Key measures
For student reading outcomes, the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement—3rd edition will be used to measure decoding, word recognition, fluency, and reading comprehension. Reading comprehension will also be measured with the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test reading comprehension subtest. For student anxiety outcomes, reading anxiety will be assessed via the Reading Anxiety Scale, test anxiety via the Children's Test Anxiety Scale, general anxiety via the Beck Anxiety Inventory-Youth, and anxiety management via the Knowledge of Anxiety Management Strategies. Treatment fidelity will be determined by recording and coding reading instruction in both groups to document treatment adherence, dosage, instructional quality, and overlap between the treatment and comparison instruction on any essential intervention elements.
Data analytic strategy
The effect of RANX will be analyzed using multi-level models (MLM) with students nested within schools (not within teacher, as the project spans 2 academic years). MLM will also be used to conduct a moderator analysis to assess whether the effects are moderated by student word reading or anxiety level at pretest.
Cost analysis strategy
The ingredients method will be used to account for all costs associated with RANX and the control condition. Data on costs will be collected concurrently with implementation for greater accuracy and documented with tools from the Cost Analysis in Practice Project. The research team will determine the cost-effectiveness of RANX by calculating the per student cost relative to the average treatment effect using effect sizes.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
Products: The products of this project will include evidence of the efficacy of RANX on reading and anxiety outcomes for children with reading difficulties in upper elementary school, information about for whom and under what conditions the program is effective, and the intervention's cost effectiveness. The project will also result in a final dataset to be made publicly available as well as peer-reviewed publications and presentations, and additional dissemination products that reach education stakeholders such as practitioners and policymakers.
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
