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Intervention Program Review Criteria

Background Information and Psychometrics

Full Name of Program: Seeing Stars

Cost: $399.95 for the kit; ancillary materials extra (available at ); $649 training workshop; there is not a local sales representative, orders can be made through Gander Publishing

Date of Publication: 2007

Publisher’s Address: Gander Publishing, P.O. Box 780, Avila Beach, CA 93424

Phone: 805-541-5523

What is the main focus of the program according to the authors?

The main focus of the program is reading and spelling. Seeing Stars is a comprehensive program that helps establish phonemic awareness and orthographic processing. This improves decoding, recognition of sight words, spelling, and reading fluency. The program is unique; it focuses on developing symbol imagery. Symbol imagery is the ability to visualize the identity, number, and sequence of letters in words. Students with developed symbol imagery can better retain words in their visual memory which enhances reading and spelling skills.

For whom is the intervention appropriate (what population of learners)?

Ages: kindergarten through adulthood Gender: both males and females

Race: all Ethnicities: all

Does the program have multiple components that focus on different weaknesses? If so, name and briefly describe the components:

The program focuses on imaging letters, syllable cards, sight words, and spelling. It then focuses on imaging, reading, and spelling two and three syllables.

Is there research available to speak to the efficacy of the program? Yes No

Krafnick, Flowers, Napoliello, and Eden’s Research article Gray Matter Volume Changes Following Reading Intervention in Dyslexic Children (doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.10.062)

Behavioral tests and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were performed before and after the Seeing Stars instruction. They were repeated after a time of no instruction. The results showed that reading behaviors improved significantly. Additionally, the results indicated that Gray Matter Volume (GMV) increased.

Who performed the research?

This study was performed by researchers from the Center for the Study of Learning, Georgetown University Medical Center, and Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. The researchers were Anthony J. Krafnick, Dr. Lynn Flowers, Eileen M. Napoliello, and Guinevere F. Eden.

How old is the research?

The research was done in 2010 and the article was published on July 27, 2011.

Is there a website that provides evidence for the efficacy?





Intervention Administration

Is the intervention individually or group administered?

It can be both, though individual and/or small group is preferable.

Are the instructions user-friendly (why or why not)?

The instructions are not as user-friendly as in some other programs. The teacher must read the entire Seeing Stars book to understand the sequence of the program. Though the preface says that the kit can be used by a teacher who is unfamiliar with how to teach phonics or a parent wanting to teach his or her child, it seems as though the program assumes certain knowledge of teaching reading. Sample lessons are provided in a conversation between Nanci, the author, and Buzz, a struggling reader. In the kit there is a “Kit Manual and Materials Guide.” This summarizes some information in the book. With so many different components to the kit it can be overwhelming to the teacher at first.

How long does it say a student should remain in the intervention?

The amount of time is not defined for the program. This program is designed for readers who are truly struggling, so the time in the intervention would be determined by the pace of the child. Considering it starts everyone at the letter level and moves all the way to multisyllabic words, it is not a “quick-fix” intervention.

Does the intervention require a standardized administration; that is, are the directions scripted?

There are no scripted directions for the intervention, though sample lessons are provided.

Does the intervention require the student to respond using a pencil?

At times the student uses a pencil. However, it begins with air-writing, then writing with a finger, and finally writing with a pencil. The program says that writing without a pencil is less threatening.

Does the intervention require the student to manipulate materials?

The intervention does not provide materials to be manipulated. It does ask the student to manipulate letters in his or her mind through syllable chains. The purpose of syllable chains is to develop and stabilize phonemic awareness and symbol imagery and to begin the transition to English spelling patterns. For example, a vowel-consonant syllable chain might progress from ip, ap, af, ag, og, ob, os, om, osh, to och (Bell, p. 249).

Does the intervention require the examinee to orally identify or read symbols, words, sentences, paragraphs, or other text (underline all that apply)?

The intervention requires students to identify letters by name and sound. The strategies taught in the program can be applied to real words and connected text, but these resources are not included. The kit includes syllable cards which are “nonsense.”

How is it determined that a student moves from one level to the next, or move out of the program?

Once the students show a certain degree of mastery at each level (consonants, vowels, VC, CV, CVC, CCV, VCC, etc.) the teacher introduces the next, continually reviewing.

Is progress monitoring built into the program?

Progress monitoring is not formally built into the program as far as numbers. The teacher monitors accuracy of the student’s responses to determine if more review is necessary. For example with the Star Words (sight words), students practice piles of slow, medium, and fast words, based on how quickly they are recognized. Then, the words are “graduated” if continually answered automatically. There are charts that keep track of progress. There is a Program Checklist for: Sounds and Symbols, One Syllable, Star Word Reading, Multisyllable, Contextual Reading, and Star Word Spelling/VSC. One the back of this is a Kit Card Tracking Chart for each book of each box.

What type of data does the program yield?

There is a Seeing Stars Sounds & Symbols Chart with ten rows. The progression moves form consonants to short vowels and “oo” to less frequent vowel patterns. A star sticker is earned upon mastery of each row. On the Seeing Stars Syllable Cards Student Progress Chart, there are five rows moving from simple to complex to multi-syllables. Each row has five stars to be mastered before moving to the next row. On the back of this page is the Student Progress Chart for Star Words Reading and Spelling. There are 1000 words on the list, which are all the most common words ordered for both frequency and syllable complexity. There is a Visual Spelling chart where students analyze, visualize, write, and track progress in spelling.

Which Tier of SRBI would you suggest that the program be used for?

This program would be used for Tier III.

Is any part of the program computerized?

The program is not computerized, but there are CDs that are sold separately. There is a set of Star Words Timed Reading Practice CDs and a Magnificent Affixes CD.

Are results helpful for guiding classroom instruction?

If this program is used with early learners it can guide differentiated instruction in the core. However, if used with delayed readers the instruction does not align with the grade level curriculum. For older students the step in the program can be used to determine appropriate decodable text for students to read independently.

What qualifications are required to administer the program?

There is a two-day Seeing Stars Workshop to train teachers to use the program.

| Strengths |Weaknesses |

|Aligns with current reading research |Does not include connected text in the kit or ancillary materials |

|Only current program to develop symbol imagery |Directions are not scripted, leaving a lot of work in preparation up |

|Develops phonemic awareness |to the teacher |

|Focuses on helping students learn to read and spell sight words |Progress monitoring is up to the teacher through charts, there are no |

|The kit includes all the word cards needed to teach |mastery tests included |

|Can be used in whole group, small group, or individual instruction |The kit only has one copy of each set of cards |

|Corrective feedback using the Socratic method |The charts are copyrighted and need to be replenished, causing |

|Sample lessons are provided |additional fees |

|Designed to be flexible to incorporate, for example, LiPS |Does not focus on vocabulary or comprehension |

|Additional workbooks are available for decoding, spelling, and |Says it can be taught by anyone, but these reviewers caution that this|

|comprehending high-frequency words |person should have knowledge of teaching reading |

|Systematic, explicit instruction | |

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