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. 2014 Dec 4:5:1413.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01413. eCollection 2014.

A cluster randomized control field trial of the ABRACADABRA web-based reading technology: replication and extension of basic findings

Noella A Piquette  1 , Robert S Savage  2 , Philip C Abrami  3
Affiliations

A cluster randomized control field trial of the ABRACADABRA web-based reading technology: replication and extension of basic findings

Noella A Piquette et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

The present paper reports a cluster randomized control trial evaluation of teaching using ABRACADABRA (ABRA), an evidence-based and web-based literacy intervention (http://abralite.concordia.ca) with 107 kindergarten and 96 grade 1 children in 24 classes (12 intervention 12 control classes) from all 12 elementary schools in one school district in Canada. Children in the intervention condition received 10-12 h of whole class instruction using ABRA between pre- and post-test. Hierarchical linear modeling of post-test results showed significant gains in letter-sound knowledge for intervention classrooms over control classrooms. In addition, medium effect sizes were evident for three of five outcome measures favoring the intervention: letter-sound knowledge (d= +0.66), phonological blending (d = +0.52), and word reading (d = +0.52), over effect sizes for regular teaching. It is concluded that regular teaching with ABRA technology adds significantly to literacy in the early elementary years.

Keywords: elementary school education; internet; intervention; randomized controlled trial; reading development; web applications.

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