1. Orton Gillingham Approach and Its Effect on Students with Dyslexia An Action Research Project By Sarah Abadi CBSE. 7657 Spring 2016

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction -Statement of the Problem -Review of Related Literature -Statement of the Hypothesis Method -Participants (N) -Instruments (s) -Experimental Design -Procedure Results Discussion Implications References

3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM According to the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) (2015) “Dyslexia is a neurologically-based, often familial, disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language. Varying in degrees of severity, it is manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic. Dyslexia is not the result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment, inadequate instructional or environmental opportunities, or other limiting conditions, but may occur together with these conditions. Although dyslexia is lifelong, individuals with dyslexia frequently respond successfully to timely and appropriate intervention” (¶4).

4. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Dyslexia can occur to people of all ages, backgrounds and intellectual levels. Both male and female are equally likely to have dyslexia (Conolly, 2015). People with dyslexia do not hold a cognitive deficit and in fact can be very bright. They are often gifted in areas outside of reading. (Cushen, 2010). Over 40 million American Adults are dyslexic and only 2 million know it (Conolly, 2015). Students with dyslexia have a history of struggles within the public school system. The struggles include “failure to diagnose and treat early reading difficulties” (Hettleman, 2003) “It is unclear whether the Orton Gillingham approach has scientific support within the community of researchers… it is genuinely committed to the task of helping children with dyslexia, yet it is difficult to gauge the effectiveness of its approach without empirical data” (Earnshaw & Seargeant, 2005) (page 3).

5. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS Using the Orton Gillingham Approach five times a week for 55 minutes over a 6-week period will increase the encoding and decoding skills of two students with dyslexia at a private school in Brooklyn, New York as measured by the Preventing Academic Failure (PAF) Proficiency Test(s).

6. PARTICIPANTS There is a total of two participants in this study, Boy X and Girl Y. Both Boy X and Girl Y are 8 years old and attend a 3 rd Grade self-contained class at a private school Both students are diagnosed with dyslexia, as stated on their IEP. Both participants come from the same cultural and religious backgrounds, they are both Sephardic Jewish children, living under the similar living environments and come from intact families. Girl Y suffers from poor inattention. She has trouble concentrating and instruction has to be repeated many times for it to process. She struggles in the areas of reading and writing, and has been since kindergarten. She also displays hyperactivity.

7. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The experimental design that will be used is an AB single-subject design, which is a quasi-experimental design. Both students will be pre-tested (O), exposed to the intervention (X), and post-tested (O). The symbolic design is as follows: O X1 O, O X2 O

8. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The baseline (A) will be students not receiving the intervention. Students encoding and decoding skills will be measured using a pre- test and a post-test. After their skills have been established, the students will receive the intervention (B), which will be using the Orton Gillingham Approach five times a week for 55 minutes over a 6-week period in order to increase their encoding and decoding skills. The Orton Gillingham approach measures whether this improved their encoding and decoding skills, a post-test will be administered too. This will be meausred using the PAF proficiency tests. The independent variable is the Orton Gilligham Approach and the dependent variable is the PAF proficiency tests.

9. PROCEDURE September 2015 – February 2016 Action Research Project started, data was collected. Parental Consent was obtained. March 2016 Boy X and Girl Y were Pre-tested Boy X and Girl Y were given a Self-Attitude Rating Survey Baseline was established April 2016-May 2016 Intervention using The Orton Gillingham approach May 2016 Post-test Data Collection as measured by the PAF proficiency test INSTRUMENTS Permissions

10. PRE AND POST TEST RESULTS This graph demonstrates pre and post - test results of the students who participated in this research. According to the graph, students scores improved after the six week treatment. Pre –Test Mean: 69.5 Post -Test Mean: 82.5

11. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS RESULTS: SELF ATTITUDE RATING SURVEY: When asked questions in terms of enjoying reading independently, both students strongly disagreed. Both students strongly agreed that they like being read to. Both students are aware that they struggle reading and will refrain from reading aloud in class. Although, when asked if reading is important, one student strongly agreed, while the other strongly disagreed. Based on the Survey, I concluded that students with dyslexia do not enjoy reading but much rather enjoy being read to, because of their inability to comprehend and enjoy the text properly. The inability to encode and decode is a big factor in their opinion.

12. AB Analysis: Student's Response on 4 encoding and decoding skills questions everyday on a weekly basis for 6 weeks Baseline Observation (A1)Intervention (B2) Dates Girl's ScoreBoy's ScoreDates Girl's ScoresBoy's Scores Mar. 140.25 Mar. 210.25 Apr. 110.250.5 Mar. 150.5 Mar. 220.250.5Apr. 120.750.5 Mar. 160.5 Mar. 230.50.25Apr. 1311 Mar. 1700.4Mar. 2400.25Apr. 140.5 Mar. 180.40.25Mar. 250.250.5Apr. 150.250 Average0.330.38Mar. 280.25 Apr. 1800.5 Mar. 290.5 Apr. 190.50.25 Mar. 300.250.5Apr. 200.75 Mar. 310.50.75Apr. 2110.5 Apr. 10.750.5Apr. 220.51 Apr. 50.250May. 20.50.75 Apr. 600.75May. 30.250.5 Apr. 70.751May. 40.750.25 Apr. 80.5 May. 50.751 May. 60.75 Average0.3571430.464286 Data Recording Sheet

14. RESULTS Discussions The results did show an increase and support the hypothesis that using Orton Gillingham over a course of 6 weeks, intensively can indeed increase the reading skills of students with dyslexia. But the increase was not significant enough. The results also showed that students with dyslexia comprehend better when spoken to orally, thereby also enjoy being read to. There is no correlation between their intellectual ability and their disability. According to the aforementioned researchers, there is not enough empirical data deeming Orton Gillingham effective, and therefore it still needs to be further researched. Implications More research needs to be done. More participants are needed. A longer study needs to be done.