The efficacy of phonological awareness training with first-grade students who have behavior problems and reading difficulties

Research has identified a comorbid group of children who have both antisoci al and attention problems. Many of these children demonstrate the most dele terious features of both conditions (e.g., aggression and academic underach ievement) and experience the most negative outcomes, including school failu re, drug and alcohol abuse, and delinquency in adolescence, than either con dition alone. Treatment outcome studies, although few in number, suggest th at remediation of academic deficits may be associated with reciprocal effec ts on social and behavioral domains. The purpose of the present study was t o conduct a preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of a reading int ervention program for first-grade children at risk for conduct and attentio n problems. Academic, social, and behavioral outcome measures were examined using single case methodology. Findings support the efficacy of early inte rvention in the area of early reading for these children.,However, the find ings also suggest that while improvements were noted, the intervention may knot have been; of sufficient intensity and duration to (a) produce lasting changes and (b) produce beginning reading skill acquisition at a rate comm ensurate with normally achieving students of the same age.