Comprehensive Program to Improve Reading and Writing Skills in At-Risk and Dyslexic Children

September 27, 2006 updated by: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Learning Disabilities: Links to Schools and Biology

This project is evaluating programs to improve reading and writing skills in children who have or are at risk for having reading disabilities. The project focuses on children who are at-risk for low achievement in school and on children with dyslexia.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study is part of a larger project to investigate the biological and educational constraints operating in children with learning disabilities, with a focus on treatment and links between assessment and treatment. The project evaluates prevention and treatment of reading and writing disabilities, the genetic contribution to subtypes of dyslexia, the relationship between brain variables and dyslexia, and the brain's response to treatment for dyslexia. Genetic and brain imaging studies occur throughout the project.

During Year 1, at-risk readers in first grade were targeted for an intervention for mapping spoken words onto written words. These students were compared to a control group. During Year 2, the faster responders (those who reached grade level) and the slower responders (those who were not yet at grade level) from Year 1 were compared. Slower responders received additional treatment and comparisons were made again at the end of the year. The additional treatment was also studied in Spanish-speaking students in first grade. During Year 3, another group of at-risk, poor readers in second grade were randomized to either word decoding treatment, comprehension treatment, a combined word decoding and comprehension treatment, or a control treatment.

During Year 4, readers at risk for failing state standards in reading (decoding) participated in an extended day program providing comprehensive reading instruction. The students were compared to a control group. During Year 5, all students grades 4 to 9 took a battery of morphological, reading, and writing tests. The testing was administered throughout an entire school system.

During Year 6, older students with dyslexia were randomly assigned to phonological or morphological reading training. Students were then compared on pre- and post-test behavioral measures and brain activation results. During Year 7, students with dyslexia were randomly assigned to an orthographic or morphological treatment for spelling. Students underwent brain imaging before and after the intervention. Behavioral and brain activation measures were also assessed. During Year 8, students with dyslexia underwent attention or fluency training and writing training with and without attentional bridges. Only behavioral measures were collected.

Recruitment of families for the family genetics study is ongoing. Recruitment for the brain imaging-treatment studies will begin in 2004 when installation of new brain imaging equipment is complete.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

2500

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Washington
      • Seattle, Washington, United States
        • University of Washington

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

6 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria

  • Student in grades 1 to 9
  • Underachieving in reading and writing
  • English as first language

Exclusion Criteria

  • Mental retardation
  • Developmental disability such as autism or pervasive developmental disorder
  • Brain damage or disease affecting brain function
  • Severe language or psychiatric disorder

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Virginia Berninger, Ph.D., University of Washington

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 1995

Study Completion

November 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 27, 2003

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 27, 2003

First Posted (Estimate)

May 28, 2003

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 28, 2006

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 27, 2006

Last Verified

September 1, 2006

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2P50HD33812-6

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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