Improving Response to Intervention in Students With or at Risk of Reading Disabilities

The purpose of the proposed studies is to examine a reading intervention for fourth grade
students with RD that integrates the psychosocial component of mindset with the academic
component of reading. Specifically, the investigators will examine the extent to which
integrating mindset intervention improves student response to reading intervention. The
investigators will use previous research in intensive reading intervention for students with
RD in the upper elementary grades to examine an intervention that addresses reading skill
deficits, while providing mindset training along with (Study 1) or embedded in (Study 2) the
reading intervention.

Specific Aim 1. To determine the effects of intensive reading intervention with mindset
training (Reading Intervention Plus Mindset) relative to reading intervention alone and
business as usual comparison on the academic outcomes of fourth grade students with or
at-risk for reading disabilities. The proposed study will target students with or at-risk for
reading disabilities in fourth grade to examine the effects of reading intervention with
mindset training relative to reading intervention alone and business as usual comparison on
students' mindset, general academic achievement, phonological awareness, word reading,
fluency, and reading comprehension outcomes. Students will be randomly assigned to condition
with students in the Reading Intervention Plus Mindset condition receiving the mindset
training along with their reading intervention. Students assigned to the Reading Intervention
will receive the same reading intervention but without the mindset training. Students in the
Business as Usual condition will continue to receive their typical school services which will
be carefully documented. It is hypothesized that students in the Reading Intervention Plus
Mindset condition will improve their reading outcomes more than students in the Reading
Intervention only and Business as Usual groups by continuing to develop a growth mindset to
work through the challenges in their reading development and, thus, being able to progress
more efficiently in the reading intervention.

Specific Aim 2. To determine the effects of embedding mindset training in an intensive
reading intervention on the mindset and academic outcomes of fourth grade students with or
at-risk for reading disabilities. The proposed study will use the results from Specific Aim 1
to further examine the effects of an intensive reading intervention with mindset embedded in
the content with a new cohort of fourth grade students with or at-risk for reading
disabilities. Embedding mindset practices directly in the content area of difficulty for
students with learning difficulties could be more powerful than separate mindset training.
The investigators will use the results from Study 1 to determine the most appropriate
comparison treatment. If, as hypothesized, Study 1 results indicate Reading Intervention Plus
Mindset is more beneficial than Reading Intervention alone then Reading Intervention Embedded
with Mindset will be compared to Reading Intervention Plus Mindset to determine if higher
effects are found when mindset is specifically embedded in the content. However, if Study 1
determines that Reading Intervention Plus Mindset does not bring added benefit to student
learning then Reading Intervention Embedded with Mindset will be compared to Reading
Intervention only to examine the effects of intervention when mindset is directly embedded in
the reading intervention. There is also a business as usual comparison condition. Students
will be randomly assigned to one of the three study conditions. The investigators will
examine the effects of intervention on students' mindset, general academic achievement,
phonological awareness, word reading, fluency, and reading comprehension measures. It is
hypothesized that embedding mindset training directly in the reading content will further
improve student reading outcomes by allowing students to directly apply a growth mindset to
their work in the area of difficulty, reading.

Specific Aim 3. To link student characteristics to response to intervention. The proposed
study will link students' initial reading achievement, initial mindset, vocabulary ability,
behavior/attention as well as race, sex, socioeconomic status, and parents' educational
background to student response to intervention. It is hypothesized that students with lower
initial reading achievement, higher initial levels of fixed mindset, higher vocabulary, lower
parent educational background or socioeconomic status, and/or higher levels of problem
behavior/attention initially will benefit more from the mindset intervention, particularly
the embedded mindset intervention. It is hypothesized that no differences based on gender or
race.

Inclusion Criteria:

Fourth grader Identified with reading difficulty

Exclusion Criteria:

Identified vision, hearing, or intellectual disability