The method used to examine the research questions outlined in this dissertation study
entailed the use of two single subject multiple baseline across participants experiments. The
experiments consisted of the application of two specific reading interventions with students
identified with emotional disturbance and reading difficulties who attend an alternative school.
Experiment 1 applied the reading interventions in an AB order (alphabetics followed by fluency)
where experiment 2 applied the interventions in reverse order (fluency followed by alphabetics),
BA, to control for presentation order effects.
Participants and Setting
School Setting
The target school was an alternative school operated by a regional educational agency,
serving the surrounding districts in one part of a county, in a suburban area of the Northeastern
United States. All students in the school were classified as eligible for special education and
related services, typically under the category “Emotional Disturbance,” and occasionally with
secondary diagnoses of “Specific Learning Disability,” “Speech and Language Impaired,” or
“Other Health Impaired.” At the time of this study, there were 54 students enrolled in the
alternative school. There were 9 students enrolled in the elementary program (all male), 21
students enrolled in the middle school program (19 male, 2 female), and 24 students enrolled in
the secondary/transition program (18 male, 6 female). 76% of the students in the school received
free and reduced lunch rates. Class size ranged from 3 to 7, with one teacher and one or two
instructional assistants.