The Impact of a Curriculum-Based Measurement Instrument on the Reading Comprehension Performance of Students with Dyslexia

Abstract

Dyslexia is a condition that is common among special education students. Dyslexia can cause many learning and psychological problems for students if not addressed early. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of a small group reading intervention on the reading comprehension proficiency of third grade students with dyslexia. In this study, the independent variable was inclusion in a small-group reading intervention. The dependent variable was reading comprehension, as measured by a series of Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) reading comprehension tests. The CBM is an assessment method which is used to monitor progress of students in basic academic areas. A special education teacher prepared all of the materials for these interventions and conducted them over the period of 25 school days. A multiple-baseline design was used to compare the timelines of the intervention’s effectiveness among different participants. Analysis of descriptive statistics and nonoverlap of all pairs (NAP) tests were used to explore the results of the intervention. The results of the study showed that all three students experienced significant gains in their reading performance, with NAP effect sizes close to 1 across students. The students improved during the intervention period. Overall, the plots and the effect sizes showed promise for improving the reading performance of students with dyslexia.