| A review of current twelfth grade student reading achievement data for the leadership course at a male boarding high school in Southern California revealed minimal improvement in reading comprehension, which created a concern and need to introduce an intervention specific to reading and comprehension improvement. A quantitative study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Reading Performance Systems (RPS), a visual training intervention (treatment), which used computer generated exercises for the practice and development of foundational reading skills that strengthen neural pathways to maximize individual reading performance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the twelve-week treatment in a school setting and to investigate a possible causal link between visual training exercises and improved reading comprehension. The study had a quasi-experimental pretest, midtest, and posttest non-equivalent control group design. Study participants were chosen by taking a census of the seventy-eight 12th grade students. The preset twelfth grade classes were randomly assigned to control and treatment groups. Reading comprehension was measured from scores derived from the released questions of the reading comprehension cluster of the California Standards Tests (CSTs) Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) exams. The results did not show a statistically significant difference between the pretest and midtest comprehension scores after 6 weeks M = 5.62%, 95% CI [-1.36, 12.59], t(38) = 1.630, p =.111, nor after twelve weeks M = 4.87%, 95% CI [-1.95, 11.69], t (38) = 1.446, p =.156. In addition, there was not a statistically significant difference found between the test scores of the treatment group and the control group after 6 weeks M = 1.05, 95% CI [-7.55 to 9.64], t(69.60) = .243, p = .801 and after 12 weeks M = 2.55, 95% CI [-5.99 to 11.09], t(74) = .594, p = .554. To evaluate the true efficacy of the RPS intervention, additional research is necessary as the limitations caused by noncompliance to the study's protocol for time on task and frequency of usage became confounding variables. With additional research, visual training may become a diagnostic tool when students do not respond to conventional strategies. |
