Assistive Software Tools for Secondary-Level Students with Literacy Difficulties
ARTICLE
Sarah Irvine Belson, American University ; Daniel Hartmann and Jennifer Sherman, The Lab School of Washington (DC) ; Dane Marco Di Cesare David Bruce, University at Buffalo ; Melissa Sullivan, University of North Carolina at Greensboro ; Sarah Irvine Belson, American University ; Daniel Hartmann and Jennifer Sherman, The Lab School of Washington (DC) ; Dane Marco Di Cesare David Bruce, University at Buffalo ; Melissa Sullivan, University of North Carolina at Greensboro ; Margaret Manalo Carol Sue Englert, Michigan State University ; Sarah Irvine Belson, American University ; Daniel Hartmann and Jennifer Sherman, The Lab School of Washington (DC) ; Dane Marco Di Cesare David Bruce, University at Buffalo ; Melissa Sullivan, University of North Carolina at Greensboro ; Margaret Manalo Carol Sue Englert, Michigan State University ; Sarah Irvine Belson, American University ; Daniel Hartmann and Jennifer Sherman, The Lab School of Washington (DC) ; Dane Marco Di Cesare David Bruce, University at Buffalo ; Melissa Sullivan, University of North Carolina at Greensboro ; Margaret Manalo Carol Sue Englert, Michigan State University ; Alissa A. Lange, Martin McPhillips, Gerry Mulhern, Judith Wylie
Journal of Special Education Technology Volume 21, Number 3, ISSN 0162-6434
Abstract
The present study assessed the compensatory effectiveness of four assistive software tools (speech synthesis, spellchecker, homophone tool, and dictionary) on literacy. Secondary-level students (N = 93) with reading difficulties completed computer-based tests of literacy skills. Training on their respective software followed for those assigned to the Assistive Software and the Microsoft Word Control groups. Posttests revealed an improvement for the Assistive Software group on reading comprehension, homophone error detection, spelling error detection, and word meanings. The Microsoft Word Control group also improved on spelling error detection and word meanings, but performed worse on homophone error detection. A Full Control group showed no significant improvements on any of the measures. Overall, results indicate a significant assistive value of the four software tools (from the software package Read & Write Gold, 2002) across several domains of literacy. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)
Citation
Belson, S.I., Sherman, D.H.a.J., David Bruce, D.M.D.C., Sullivan, M., Belson, S.I., Sherman, D.H.a.J., David Bruce, D.M.D.C., Sullivan, M., Carol Sue Englert, M.M., Belson, S.I., Sherman, D.H.a.J., David Bruce, D.M.D.C., Sullivan, M., Carol Sue Englert, M.M., Belson, S.I., Sherman, D.H.a.J., David Bruce, D.M.D.C., Sullivan, M., Carol Sue Englert, M.M., Lange, A.A., McPhillips, M., Mulhern, G. & Wylie, J. (2006). Assistive Software Tools for Secondary-Level Students with Literacy Difficulties. Journal of Special Education Technology, 21(3), 13-22. Retrieved October 4, 2023 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/100366/.
