Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T21:42:20.941Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Does What Works Clearinghouse Work? A Brief Review of Fast ForWord®

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

Genevieve McArthur
Genevieve McArthur*
Affiliation:
Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) provides online reports to the public about the scientific evidence for educational interventions. The quality of these reports is important because they effectively tell the non‐scientific community which programmes do and do not work. The aim of this brief review is to assess WWC’s report on a clinically popular, yet theoretically controversial, intervention called Fast ForWord® (FFW). Some of the methods used by WWC to assess FFW were problematic: the literature review included studies that had not passed peer review; it failed to include a key study that had passed peer review; alphabetic skills were assessed with phonological awareness outcomes; effectiveness ratings were based on statistical significance; terms peculiar to WWC were not clearly defined; and existing quality control procedures failed to detect an error in the WWC report. These problems could be addressed by making minor adjustments to WWC’s existing methods and by subjecting WWC reports to the scientific peer‐review process before they are released to the public.

Type
Research Article
Information
Australasian Journal of Special Education , Volume 32 , Issue 1: A Scientific Approach to Special Education , April 2008 , pp. 101 - 107
Copyright
Copyright © The Australian Association of Special Education 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Carter, M., & Wheldall, K. (2008). Why can’t a teacher be more like a scientist? Science, pseudoscience and the art of teaching. Australasian Journal of Special Education, 32(1), 5–21.Google Scholar
Castles, A., & Coltheart, M. (2004). Is there a causal link from phonological awareness to success in learning to read? Cognition, 91, 77–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, W., Hodson, A., O’Hare, A., Boyle, J., Durrani, T., & McCartney, E. et al. (2005). Effects of computer-based intervention through acoustically modified speech (Fast ForWord) in severe mixed receptive–expressive language impairment: outcomes from a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 48, 715–729.Google Scholar
Institute of Education Sciences. (2007a). Intervention Fast ForWord®: Overview. Retrieved November 12, 2007 from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/fastfw/index.asp.Google Scholar
Institute of Education Sciences. (2007b). Overview: Review process. Retrieved November 12, 2007 from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/overview/review.asp.Google Scholar
Institute of Education Sciences. (2007c). Overview: Principal investigators. Retrieved November 12, 2007 from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/overview/index.asp?ag=pi.Google Scholar
Institute of Education Sciences. (2007d). Intervention: Fast ForWord®: References. Retrieved November 12, 2007 from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/fastfw/references.asp.Google Scholar
Institute of Education Sciences. (2007e). Intervention: Fast ForWord®: Appendices. Retrieved November 12, 2007 from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/fastfw/appendix.asp.Google Scholar
Institute of Education Sciences. (2007f). Technical Details of WWC-Conducted Computations. Retrieved November 12, 2007 from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/conducted_computations.pdf.Google Scholar
Institute of Education Sciences. (2007g). Effect Size Substantive Interpretation Guidelines: Issues in the Interpretation of Effect Sizes. Retrieved November 12, 2007 from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/essig.pdf.Google Scholar
Merzenich, M. M., Jenkins, W. M., Johnston, P., Schreiner, C., Miller, S. L., & Tallal, P. (1996). Temporal processing deficits of language-learning impaired children ameliorated by training. Science, 271, 77–81.Google Scholar
Scientific Learning Corporation. (2007a). Fast ForWord Products. Retrieved November 12, 2007 from http://www.scilearn.com/products/index.php.Google Scholar
Scientific Learning Corporation. (2007b). PDF Reports. Retrieved November 12, 2007 from http://www.scilearn.com/results/main=downloads.Google Scholar
Tallal, P., Miller, S. L., Bedi, G., Byma, G., Wang, X., & Nagarajan, S. S. et al. (1996). Language comprehension in language-learning impaired children improved with acoustically modified speech. Science, 271, 81–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed