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The Best Evidence Encyclopedia is a free web site created by the Johns Hopkins University School of Education’s Center for Data-Driven
Reform in Education (CDDRE) under funding from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
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An adaptation of Sound Partners was evaluated with struggling readers in grades 2-3 by
Vadasy, Sanders, & Tudor (2007). Paraprofessionals provided children scripted lessons 30
minutes per day, 4 days a week, for 15 weeks. A control group received no tutoring. The children
were nominated by 26 teachers in nine urban schools in the Northwest, and scored between the
10
th
and 37
th
percentiles at pretest. A total of 43 children (23E, 20C) were randomly assigned to
treatments. On a reading accuracy composite score derived from Woodcock Word Attack and
Word Identification scales, students who received tutoring scored significantly higher than
controls, adjusting for pretests (ES=+0.49, p<.008). On an adaptation of DIBELS-Fluency, the
effect size was +0.55 (p<.014). The mean effect size was +0.52.
Vadasy, Sanders, & Peyton (2005) evaluated Sound Partners with first graders scoring in
the lowest quartile of their classes. A total of 57 children (19 in each group) in a Northwest city
were matched on pretests in two variations of Sound Partners or a control group that did not
receive tutoring. One variation, Reading Practice, emphasized oral reading of text in addition to
Sound Partners phonetic tutoring. The other, Word Study, added additional tutoring on decoding
words. All tutored children received 30-minute sessions 4 times a week from October to May.
Adjusting for pretests, effect sizes comparing the two Sound Partners groups to controls
averaged +1.02 on WRAT Reading, +1.06 on Woodcock Word Attack, +0.86 on Woodcock
Word Identification, +0.66 on Woodcock Passage Comprehension, +0.55 on TOWRE Phonemic
Decoding, +0.56 on TOWRE Sight Word, +0.33 on Passage Reading Rate, and +0.66 for
Passage Reading Accuracy, for a mean of +0.71. There were no differences between the two