Supplemental literacy instruction for students with Down syndrome: A program evaluation

The study utilizes an inductive, qualitative approach to program evaluation to understand the nature of an afterschool literacy tutoring program for students with Down syndrome. Two research questions guide this study: (a) What are the curricular and instructional elements of the Let's Read Now (LRN) literacy tutoring program for students with significant learning needs resulting from a diagnosis of Down syndrome? and (b) How does the LRN program align its practices to the research-based approaches to core and supplemental literacy instruction? The methodology utilized in this study is a formative, program evaluation design based on a nested case study approach. Findings reveal that training and ongoing support for tutors centers on the behavioral characteristics of students with Down syndrome as opposed to instructional practices that promote literacy development. For students with limited reading skills, the program utilizes a sight word approach for teaching reading, which is based on research that has largely been refuted by more recent studies indicating that students with DS can learn to read with direct instruction in both phonics and comprehension blended with explicit attention to auditory and/or visual memory. The findings provide insight into what pertinent changes could take place within this tutoring program to situate affective and behavioral aspects of learning within a larger, research-based framework that promotes students' literacy growth. In addition, this study provides avenues for future research in the areas of literacy curriculum, instructional practices, and assessments for students with significant learning needs arising from developmental disorders, and it informs the types of practices that could prove effective within school programs as well as tutoring or intervention settings for students with learning, cognitive, or intellectual disabilities in order to improve outcomes for this population.