A Comparison of Two Flashcard Interventions for Teaching Sight Words to Early Readers

• Published in: Journal of behavioral education Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 151 - 168
• Main Authors: January, Stacy-Ann A., Lovelace, Mary E., Foster, Tori E., Ardoin, Scott P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer 01-06-2017; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accuracy; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Comparative Analysis; Comparative studies; Drills (Practice); Elementary education; Elementary School Students; Evaluation; General education; Grade 1; Grade 2; Instructional Effectiveness; Instructional materials; Intervention; Kindergarten students; Learning and Instruction; Methods; Original Paper; Psychology; Reading Instruction; Rehearsal; Sight Method; Sight Vocabulary; Sight words; Students; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Visual Stimuli; Vocabulary; Word Recognition; Reading intervention; Sight word instruction; Strategic Incremental Rehearsal; Incremental Rehearsal
• ISSN: 1053-0819; 1573-3513
• DOI: 10.1007/s10864-016-9263-2

Strategic Incremental Rehearsal (SIR) is a recently developed flashcard intervention that blends Traditional Drill with Incremental Rehearsal (IR) for teaching sight words. The initial study evaluating SIR found it was more effective than IR for teaching sight words to first-grade students. However, that study failed to assess efficiency, which is important to consider when evaluating and selecting interventions. Therefore, the current study evaluated both the efficiency and effectiveness of SIR compared with IR for teaching sight words to 4 general education students (3 in second grade and 1 in first grade) who were enrolled in 1 of 2 schools. An alternating treatments single-case design was used to compare the effects of SIR and IR interventions implemented 4 days per week across 4 or 5 weeks. Students' accuracy with words that were introduced during the week was assessed on Fridays, and maintenance of these words was assessed the following Friday. Results indicated that both interventions were effective for teaching students sight words, but that SIR was slightly more effective and efficient than IR for 3 of the 4 students. Findings have implications for the selection of flashcard interventions for teaching sight word vocabulary to early elementary students.