Reading Rules in Kindergarten: Development of a Small-group Intervention to Support Emergent Reading and Writing

The purpose of this project is to develop and conduct a pilot study of a small-group literacy intervention for kindergarten students who are at risk for reading and writing difficulties (RWD). The Reading RULES! Kindergarten (RRK) intervention is an extension of our previous work to develop a first-grade intervention in word study, text reading, and comprehension (Reading RULES). Under funding from the Brown Foundation, a draft of the kindergarten level of the Reading RULES Word Study and Text Reading components was developed over a period of one year. The goals of this project are to iteratively field test and revise the RRK Word Study and Text Reading components based on teacher input and expert consultant review, to newly-develop additional components that address emergent writing as well as reading, and to conduct a pilot study of the full intervention.

This project addresses five specific aims:

1. Field test and revise the existing RRK Word Study and Text Reading components based on teacher feedback and expert review to increase the program’s feasibility and usability
2. Incorporate newly-developed vocabulary instruction into the Text Reading component
3. Newly-develop, field test, and revise a component called Oral and Written Response to Text, focused on oral language development, writing, and comprehension
4. Newly-develop, field test, and revise a Handwriting component to support writing development
5. Pilot the fully-developed curriculum to evaluate its feasibility, usability, and promise of enhanced student outcomes

CLI Faculty:

Tricia Zucker, Ph.D., Yoonkyung Oh, PhD

Principal Investigator:

Tricia Zucker, Ph.D., Colby Hall, Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston)

Co-Investigator:

Yoonkyung Oh, PhD

Participating Sites:

The study is being conducted in schools in the greater Dallas, Texas area.