Research Summary Supporting the Use of Read&Write ... - Texthelp

Research Summary Supporting the Use of Read&Write/Read&Write GOLD
June 2008
“Technology for Learning Disabilities Project”
Washington State Special Education Technology Center at Central Washington University
The Technology for Learning Disabilities project was part of the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology program. The 2year
project provided technology to 6 teachers to use with their students with learning disabilities in Grades 6 through 12. During
both years, at least 60% of the students used Read&Write GOLD (RWG) a minimum of 2 times a week. The goal of the study was
to improve the writing and math skills and attitudes about school of students with learning disabilities through the use of technology.
RESULTS:
One teacher believed that she had taught her students more than in prior years because the read aloud function in Texthelp
Read&Write GOLD helped students better grasp content.
Additionally, all of the teachers explained that the use of the technology had caused instruction to shift from being teacher
centered to involving more student interaction. The teachers primarily attributed this shift to the document camera or
ACTIVboard interactive whiteboard which encouraged the class to work together as a group and Texthelp Read&Write GOLD
which encouraged students to work independently.
In the writing comparison study, scores for the mean treatment group showed a statistically significant increase from pretest to
posttest (using Read&Write GOLD), and the treatment group scored significantly higher on the posttest (Using Read&Write
GOLD) compared to the comparison group.
In spring 2006 half of the interviewed teachers reported that the project‟s greatest impact had been improving students‟ attitude
toward writing. Nearly all of the teachers credited Read&Write GOLD with helping the students complete their schoolwork,
which in turn increased students‟ confidence, motivation, and achievement.
Convention Overall (verb agreement; spelling;
capitalization; punctuation; complete sentences;
paragraphs)
Organization Overall (sentences on topic;
supporting details; beginning, middle and end;
transitions; sentence fluency; voice; purpose)
Year 2 Student Writing Results
Fall 2006 Pretest
(Using pencil and
paper)
Treatment Group Comparison Group
Spring 2007
Posttest
(Using Texthelp
RWG)
Fall 2006
Pretest
(Using pencil
and paper)
Spring 2007
Posttest
(Using pencil
and paper)
3.44 12.92 4.87 6.15
5.00 11.79 6.47 6.22
Length (word count) 78 163 96 103
Percent of correctly spelled words 91 99 91 92
“Assistive software tools for secondary-level students with literacy difficulties”
Journal of Special Education Technology, Volume 21, Number, 3, Summer 2006
Alissa A. Lange, Martin McPhillips, Gerry Mulhern, and Judith Wylie, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK
The study assessed the compensatory benefits of four assistive software tools on literacy tasks for secondary-level students with
reading difficulties. The study comprised 93 students with difficulties in reading between the ages of 14-15 who were assigned to one
of three groups; one using the assistive software program Read&Write.
The Assistive Software group demonstrated improvements in:
Reading comprehension using the speech synthesis tool.
Finding word meanings using the dictionary tool.
Proofreading for spelling errors using the spell checker.
Proofreading for homophone errors using the homophone tool.
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Research Summary Supporting the Use of Read&Write/Read&Write GOLD
June 2008
Overall results indicate significant assistive value of the four software tools tested in Read&Write, (speech synthesis, spellchecker,
homophone tool, and dictionary tool) in providing compensatory support in multiple domains of literacy for students with reading
difficulties. Read&Write also has the advantage that the tools can be readily accessed within most common applications.
“Independent Access: Which Students might benefit from a Talking Computer”
Bronwyn Disseldorp and Diane Chambers, The University of Melbourne
Study conducted to investigate the effect of a text reader on reading comprehension and the relationship between this effect and characteristics of
the student‟s reading abilities. A comparison was made of the reading comprehension of secondary students using Read&Write and their reading
comprehension with no assistance. The study found that the students were able to answer significantly more questions about what they had read
when using Read&Write than when reading unassisted.
“Text to Speech Software for Reading” -
International Dyslexia Association’s Perspectives on Language and Literacy Summer 2007
Kenneth Elkind and Jerome Elkind
The article focused on text to speech software products designed to assist people with learning disabilities and attention disorders in
their reading and also on the application of technology to writing.
Benefits of TTS Software:
Enables slow readers to read faster
Makes reading less stressful, less tiring, and more sustainable for longer periods of time
Improves comprehension of many students who are poor readers
Reduced frequency of distractions experienced in extended reading sessions
Using TTS technology to monitor typing and review writing locates more errors in writing than having text read aloud by
another person or working without assistance resulting in improvements to quality writing
Benefits of Read&Write GOLD:
“Read&Write GOLD is the most comprehensive application for internet access and writing support on the market today.”
“Works especially well with Microsoft and Adobe applications; can access all document formats used by these applications.”
“Notable reading feature allows users to hover the cursor over a text selection to start reading web and PDF documents; makes
reading web pages especially convenient since reading starts automatically when cursor is on even a fragment of text.”
“Extensive writing assistance including: citation tool for taking research notes, homophone identification, and vocabulary
support.”
Read&Write GOLD and Online Testing in Kentucky
Approximately 95% of K-12 schools in Kentucky have Read&Write GOLD site licenses. In addition to its use in the classroom,
Read&Write GOLD is also being used as an accommodation for the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CAT‟s)
Online – the accessible electronic version of the state‟s high stakes assessment. Participation in CATS Online by students with
disabilities grew from 29 schools and 204 students in 2003 to 200 schools and 2306 students in 2006.
Read&Write GOLD and Online Testing (KY) Post-Test Survey Results:
84% of teachers said students more engaged with online assessment
91% of students said they thought they scored better by testing on the computer using their AT
83% students said they concentrated better
78% of students said they preferred taking the test on the computer
84% of students said they re-read passages, questions, and answers
Comments on how the use of technology changes the way students approach participation in state assessment
“I like being on the computer and not having someone read to me like a kid.” 10th grader
“I liked it a lot, because you got to hear them read to you and see what they were reading.” 11th grader
“It was easy and I liked it because I could do it myself.” 4th grader
“It was better than listening to an adult read and I could go at my own pace.” 7th grader
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Research Summary Supporting the Use of Read&Write/Read&Write GOLD
June 2008
Read&Write GOLD, UDL, and Online Testing - Strode Station Elementary School (KY)
Strode Elementary is a K-5 School with approximately 30% students with disabilities. A UDL Initiative was begun in 2001 with
school wide implementation of Read&Write GOLD. Students using RWG for High Stakes Testing Online has grown from 18
students in Gr. 4 & 5 as part of the Pilot in 2002 to 25 students in Gr. 3, 4, & 5 in Year 5 (2007). In 2004, a Kentucky grant was
awarded to fund the development of 3 models of school wide UDL Implementation and report the results in Year 3.
Strode Station - Year 2 Teacher Survey Results
89.2% of teachers indicated that incorporating UDL into lesson plan preparation has improved their ability to plan for differing
learning styles in their classrooms.
94.6% of teachers indicated that using technology as an assessment tool throughout the year has increased student performance.
94.6% of teachers indicated that they believe that the gap between students with disabilities and those without has decreased.
97.3% of responding teachers feel that the implementation of UDL has improved student performance.
91.9% felt that implementation of UDL has increased inclusion into the regular classroom.
Respondents indicated that they have seen improvements in reading, writing and math with the integration of UDL concepts and
technology tools such as Read & Write Gold, Intellitools Classroom Suite, Inspiration and Kidspiration.
Strode Station - Year 2 Student Survey Results
96.8% of responding students indicated that they used computers more this year than last year.
92.1% of students indicated that their teachers gave them choices on how to show teachers what they know.
96.8% report taking tests on the computers this year.
98.4% report their teachers using computers to teach.
88.9% report their teachers give them choices on how they can complete their work.
Strode Station - Year 3 Outcomes Students
Positive Attitudes/Motivation towards learning Core Content.
Student ownership in making choices to address and meet their learning styles (needs).
Implementation of a variety of assessment styles. Students have different ways to express and demonstrate what they have
learned.
Increased self-esteem.
Increased willingness to participate in learning activities.
Increased knowledge and skills in technology
Strode Station - Year 3 Outcomes Student Test Scores
Students w/ No Disabilities
- 2005: 76.0
- 2006: 82.4
Students w/ Disabilities using Accommodations (e.g., RWG)
- 2005: 41.8
- 2006: 74.9
Online Testing 2006 Results
- Special Needs
4th Grade Index: 1.94
5th Grade Index: 2.2
- Overall School Average Index: 1.98
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Research Summary Supporting the Use of Read&Write/Read&Write GOLD
June 2008
Ongoing Research Projects with RWG
Project SMART (University of Kentucky)
A two-year federally-funded research project that was begun Oct. 2007 to conduct scientifically-based research to study the
feasibility and usability of a combination of technologies (Read&Write GOLD and MathPlayer) to provide students with
disabilities unprecedented access to math content at higher grade levels. Co-Project Directors are Dr. Debra Bauder (University of
Louisville) and Mr. Preston Lewis (University of Kentucky). Partners on the study are The University of Louisville; Bluegrass
Technology Center; Texthelp Systems, Design Science, Inc., and Prentice Hall (Pearson).
eMINTS Missouri UDL Pilot Project (2006 -2007)
Following the tenants of UDL, this pilot examines the use of Text to Speech (Read&Write GOLD) and Voice Recognition software
in eMINTS general education classrooms to support student learning needs and determine the effectiveness of these tools for ALL
students, not just those with special needs. It also investigates the potential of the software for use in response to intervention (RTI)
general education classrooms as an accommodation and/or intervention. The study involved Grades 3 through 5 with a homogeneous
mix of students, including struggling emergent readers, English language learners (ELL), and students struggling with writing and
editing skills. Teacher‟s reported significant improvement in student writing and editing skills; reading material on the Web; and
engagement with learning. Positive student results were reported with ELL students in command of their reading and writing;
emergent and struggling readers were empowered with tools that allowed them to direct their own learning.
Teacher Comments:
• Student Benefits
− “As we have researched several projects throughout the year, the option to listen to material that is above low readers'
abilities has been a major plus to their projects' material.”
− “As we work on our last big project for the year, I am, once again, glad to have RWG for my students. We are creating
Missouri scrapbooks, and my students have many things to look up on websites about Missouri. They, of course, use RWG
whenever necessary. They also can reread/proofread the articles they have written for their scrapbooks, using RWG.”
• Improved Student‟s Writing and Self-editing
− “I made a requirement that everybody had to listen to their writing.”
− “Mine were a surprise because they never want to do a second draft; they never want to edit because it‟s perfect the first
time, and they would get it back and they‟re like, „It isn‟t reading it right, there‟s something wrong here!‟ because they were
leaving out little words or no punctuation and all of a sudden the software was incorrect, but I think they got an awakening.”
− “We expanded their writing. The kids who didn‟t want to write, wanted to write more so they could listen because they
wanted to spend more time listening to it than they did . . . so there was a pay off there. You know, if I only get to listen to it for
three sentences that wasn‟t worth it; so I found they worked more.”
• Kept Students on Task
− “Even some of our students that we really had to work with. . . they were on task and focused. That is the best element. I
mean, once those headphones go on its like, okay I know what I‟m going to do. So that was a wonderful side benefit of it for
sure.”
• Helped with Research
− “I think one of the biggest successes was just the ability to read the WebQuest when the kids are doing research.”
− “All the students have benefited from the use of the program with their writing. It is a part of the writing and editing
process for them to use the text to speech portion. This process has become second nature for all students and they enjoy this
portion the most.”
− “I love having the ability to have my students proofread their work on RWG. We started back in October with our
autobiographies and every writing activity since, the kiddos know to RWG their work before we conference or they publish. This
is a wonderful feature!”
• ELL Students Benefitted
– “I noticed the greatest change in ELL students who could hear the changes and the correct pronunciation of things; I think
their writing improved. Some of our most challenging ELL students were really able to improve on their writing styles. …I mean
they just picked up … they picked up on it so easily in class, and they learned to adjust to their own learning style.”
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Research Summary Supporting the Use of Read&Write/Read&Write GOLD
June 2008
Sampling of Other Related Research
Synchronized highlighting support has been found to improve reading comprehension for students with reading difficulties
(Wise & Olson, 1994). 1
Students with reading disabilities found that comprehension improved when text-to-speech is combined with reading (Leong,
1995; Montali & Lewandowsi, 1996). 2
Some students benefit more from a faster text-to-speech reading speed than others. The ability of the individual student to adjust
the speed is important (Shany & Biemiller, 1995). 3
Students show significant increase in reading comprehension using text-to-speech software (Disseldorp, & Chambers 2002). 4
Text-to-speech technology has a positive impact on reading comprehension (Elkind & Murray 1993). 5
Study conducted by the National Center on Accessing General Curriculum (CAST) provides a comprehensive overview of the
effectiveness of text-to-speech software. www.cast.org
Study conducted by the Kentucky Department of Education in relation to Read&Write software shows a significant increase in
student performance in a number of areas, including the ability to stay on task, interest in learning, and the ability to work
independently. 7 http://kysig.louisville.edu/udl/
1 Wise, B. W., & Olson, R. K. (1995). Computer-based phonological awareness and reading instruction. Annals of Dyslexia, 45, 99-122.
2 Leong, C. K. (1995). Effects of on-line reading and simultaneous DECtalk aiding in helping below-average and poor readers comprehend and
summarize text. Learning Disability Quarterly, 18, 101-116.
3 Shany, M. T., & Biemiller, A. (1995). Assisted reading practice: effects on performance for poor readers in grades 3 and 4. Reading Research
Quarterly, 30(3), 382-395.
4 Disseldorp, B. and Chambers, D. (2002). Independent access: Which students might benefit from a talking computer? In S. McNamara and E.
Stacey (Eds), Untangling the Web: Establishing Learning Links. Proceedings ASET Conference 2002. Melbourne, 7-10 July.
5 Elkind, J., Cohen, K. & Murray, C. (1993). Using computer-based readers to improve reading comprehension of students with dyslexia. Annals of
Dyslexia, 43, 238-259.
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