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Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB): Teaching Early Literacy Skills to Students with Severe Disabilities

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Intervention Details

Subject

English Language Arts

Academic Program

Special Education Services

Duration

30-40 minutes, daily, for the full school year

Grades

K, 1, 2, 3, 4

Personnel

General Education Teacher, Paraprofessional, Special Education Teacher

Intervention Summary

Early Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB) is a comprehensive early literacy intervention that targets foundational early literacy skills, including early phonics, phonological awareness, comprehension, and the conventions of reading and print awareness, for students with severe disabilities.

Statistical Finding Summary

Positive effect on early literacy skills, including phonics, phonological awareness, comprehension, and conventions of reading and print awareness

No effect on vocabulary/word study

Greater gains in literacy scores for verbal students

Greater gains in literacy scores for nonverbal students

Greater gains in literacy scores for younger students (Grades K-1) than for older students (Grades 2-4)

Source

Corrine, A., Danielle, F., Elizabeth, K., Grace, L., Inna, S., Jaehoon, L., Kathleen, M., Kristin, D., Lakshmi, B., Leslie Ann, B., Pam, H., Tyler, H., Vidya, M. & Youngha, O. (2020). Implementing Comprehensive Literacy Instruction for Students with Severe Disabilities in General Education Classrooms (EJ1247769). ERIC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1247769.pdf.

Data Sample by Population

These charts show the characteristics of the student populations studied. When assessing programs, you may want to prioritize interventions that yielded success in a similar demographic environment as your school or district.