A METAANALYSIS AND REVIEW OF SIGHT WORD RESEARCH AND ITS IMPLICATIONSFOR TEACHING FUNCTIONAL READING TO INDIVIDUALS WITH MODERATE AND SEVERE DISABILITIES

We conducted a comprehensive review of sight word research with indivi duals with disabilities since 1980 with the aim of determining the ove rall effectiveness of sight word research and its specific impact on i ndividuals with moderate and severe disabilities. The review also iden tified innovations in instructional strategies developed since prior r eviews. A total of 48 studies was reviewed. Most studies were conducte d with individuals with moderate mental retardation, and the overall m ean IQ for research participants was 55; however, other disability gro ups and levels were represented. Most studies were conducted with elem entary school students, but a wide age range was represented, includin g adults. A meta-analysis using the percentage of nonoverlapping data points (PND) revealed that sight word instruction has been highly effe ctive across individuals for people with moderate and severe disabilit ies. New strategies have included giving instructive feedback for addi tional learning, applying constant time delay in group formats, and us ing more elaborate feedback procedures in a postresponse prompting for mat. These innovations also included teaching sight words in the conte xt of the community and in general education classes using either hete rogeneous groups or peer tutoring. A persistent limitation of sight wo rd research is the failure to measure functional use, which requires b oth stimulus and response generalization. In the absence of this compr ehension measure, sight word research may provide strong demonstration s of teaching students to name words, but falls short of demonstrating that students understand these words or apply them to their daily rou tines.