An Evaluation of the Implications of Evidence-Based Practice in the Education of Disadvantaged or At-Risk Children

Abstract

The research in this thesis focused on an investigation of the implications of adopting evidence-based practice with disadvantaged or at-risk children. The research focused on the Headsprout© reading program specifically. Chapter 1 begins with an overview of practice that can be considered 'evidence-based,' the importance of research within education and the nature of literacy difficulty faced by the UK. The chapter concludes with an overview of literacy interventions used within the UK and a detailed outline of the Headsprout© Reading Program. Chapter 2 (Study 1) evaluated the impact of Headsprout© Early Reading and Reading Comprehension on Oral Reading Fluency and Word Recognition Age of primary school children who had spent at least one-year in care but were now fully adopted (n=8). The results demonstrated that Headsprout© was effective in increasing both of these literacy measures across 4 participant pairs. Chapter 3 (Study 2) compared the effectiveness of Headsprout© with a whole-language approach to literacy instruction in a school with a high percentage of children receiving free school meals (n=30). The results demonstrated significantly higher scores in early reading skills (phonological awareness) for children in the Headsprout© treatment group in comparison with children in the whole-language intervention group and the control group. Chapter 4 (Study 3) compared the effectiveness of Headsprout© with a SENCO delivered eclectic approach to literacy instruction for children with specific literacy difficulty (n=32). Results demonstrated significantly higher scores on Sentence Reading, Word Recognition and Dolch Assessment scores for children in the Headsprout© treatment group. Chapter 5 discusses the implications of each of the study findings and how they relate to current literature. This chapter also discusses limitations to this research
and recommendations for future research in this area.

Date of Award	Jan 2017
Original language	English
Supervisor	Claire McDowell (Supervisor) & Julian Leslie (Supervisor)