The effectiveness of supplemental phonics instruction employing constant time delay instruction for struggling readers

This study examined the provision of supplemental instruction using constant time delay for struggling readers who had fallen behind in developing word-blending skills. Additionally, the study examined the utility of adding a material reward contingency to the instructional program with a contingency derived from percentile-shaping procedures. Procedures were compared in a withdrawal design applied across blocks of letters with word blending as the target response. Participants exhibited substantial learning gains when provided constant time delay instruction in phonics skills as compared to baseline demonstrating clear experimental control. Results for the constant time delay plus reward contingency conditions were clearly differentiated from baseline but undifferentiated from the other instructional conditions. The implications of the findings for intervention for struggling readers and future research relevant to more comprehensive reading interventions are discussed.