115 Compensatory role of verbal learning and consolidation in reading and spelling 5 correctly written or read) were converted into percentile scores (a score of for instance 35 meant that 35% of the children scored at or below the child in question). A higher score meant a better performance on the task. For the predictor measures z-scores (based on raw scores) were used to standardize all measures. From the z-scores of the measures phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and semantic abilities a composite score was computed. Phonics through spelling intervention A phonics through spelling intervention aimed to reach a functional level of technical reading and spelling by means of combining reading and writing in one intervention following the protocol by Blomert (2006). Unique to a phonics through spelling intervention is that 50% of the amount of time available during the intervention is spent on spelling while most studies include less or sometimes no word spelling. Children had a weekly 45-minute session with a clinician. The mean length of the intervention was 27.27 weeks (SD=4.88). Variation in the length of the intervention occurred due to variation in the post-intervention assessment schedule (for instance due to holidays or personal circumstances). Furthermore, variation in the length of the intervention occurred due to variation in time needed to acquire 80%-accuracy levels and improved fluency levels as described below. During the sessions, the clinician tailored the intervention as much as possible to each child’s needs. Explicit direct instruction, guided exercises, and feedback were given according to each child’s needs. The continuity of quality during assessment and intervention was guaranteed by supervision of certified clinical health psychologists. The intervention included two stages: 1) Phonological spelling The intervention started with practice of the phonological base of reading and spelling due to learning the grapheme-phoneme-correspondences (GPC). After learning the GPCs, children learned to use this letter knowledge in reading and writing words and sentences/texts by using an explicit strategy. When children mastered the basic levels, children learned to read and write words based on syllables as well. Accuracy was trained first, followed by efficiency and words and sentences/texts increased in difficulty. Feedback was given on accuracy and later also on efficiency. 2) Orthographic spelling Dutch is a rather transparent language, but still morphological rules and orthographic patterns need to be learned to write and read words (mostly polysyllabic words) correctly. The morphological rules and orthographic patterns were taught according to each child’s needs.
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