Incarcerated Youth Receiving Lindamood-Bell Instruction Outperform Comparison Students in Reading
California, Comprehension, High School Results, Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing, Reading, Seeing Stars, Visualizing and Verbalizing
Camp Barrett and the Juvenile Ranch Facility in San Diego, California, serve a large percentage of incarcerated males who are at-risk of reading failure. From 2002 to 2004, Camp Barrett and Juvenile Ranch Facility implemented Lindamood-Bell® instruction to address the specific needs of this student population. One hundred eighty students received an average of 88 hours of Seeing Stars, Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing, and Visualizing and Verbalizing instruction to develop symbol imagery, phonemic awareness, and concept imagery for reading and comprehension. Instruction was delivered by Lindamood-Bell staff. Student gains were measured with a reading assessment and compared to gains made by similar students. Students were randomly assigned to the Lindamood-Bell and comparison groups.
Results
On average, the Lindamood-Bell students achieved significantly greater improvements than comparison students on both measures. Effects sizes, eta squared, were .06 (medium) for both measures. The results of this study suggest that Lindamood-Bell instruction in the Seeing Stars, Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing, and Visualizing and Verbalizing programs lead to improved reading and comprehension with this traditionally challenged population.
Profile
Number of Students:
· 180 Lindamood-Bell
· 42 Comparison
Grade Levels: 6th-12th
Lindamood-Bell Programs Implemented:
· Seeing Stars®
· Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing®
· Visualizing and Verbalizing®
Outcome Measures: Gray Oral Reading Test-4th (fluency and comprehension)
