Pedagogical Efficacy of Connections-OG in 3-D®: A Reading Program Based on the Science of Reading

No one disputes the importance of reading to life, career, and success. What is under debate is how to teach one to read. This research investigation analyzes the pedagogical efficacy of the Connections-OG in 3-D® reading program. Connections: OG in 3D® is a structured literacy curriculum that systematically teaches the entire structure of the English language. Each lesson provides direct, explicit instruction in the five components of reading, as outlined in the NRP Report (2000). Five elementary schools, in Arkansas and Missouri, used this program with fidelity to teach all their early elementary students how to read. The application of the Connections: OG in 3D® began in 2017 and continues to present day. Each school conducted its own assessments to determine student reading success. These assessments were collected, analyzed, and reviewed by sources outside the school district and Connections: OG in 3D®. The results of utilizing a structured literacy program based on the science of teaching reading is shared.


Introduction
The cost of illiteracy and reading difficulties in American society is widely accepted and largely incontrovertible. Being an illiterate adult in the United States can be costly. According to the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) or better known as the Nation's Report Card, 35% of American fourth graders read at a proficient level and 34% of American eighth graders read at a proficient level. Research compiled for the National Conference of State Legislatures (2020) third graders who are not reading on grade level are most likely to eventually drop out of school. Illiteracy has a monetary influence on people as well. American employers spend $125.9 billion dollars to train The third component in effective teaching of reading is fluency. Fluency instruction should be built on understanding, "Reading fluency that supports comprehension is built on automaticity in word recognition, accurate word reading, prosody, and expression" (Moats & Tolman, 2009). According to Kilpatrick (2019), "The elusive key to reading fluency is sight word vocabulary". Without a sight word vocabulary, reading is effortful and often incorrect. Fluency is a product of efficient reading instruction.
The fourth component in efficient reading instruction is vocabulary. Vocabulary is a set of words children must know to communicate with others. Vocabulary encompasses four types: listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Learning Point, 2004). Two instructional strategies that improve reading comprehension are based on ongoing, long-term vocabulary instruction (Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, 1982) and teaching vocabulary before making a reading assignment (Brett, Rothlein, & Hurley, 1996;Wixson, 1986). Scarborough (2001) lists breadth and depth as important during vocabulary study.
Breadth affects reading comprehension while depth affects fluency (Tannenbaum, Torgeson, & Wagner, 2006). Vocabulary knowledge is vital to becoming a successful reader.

The fifth component of effective reading instruction is comprehension. Comprehension is understanding
what one reads. The content of comprehension is the sum of its parts. Gough and Tunmer (1986) depicted reading comprehension as the sum or word recognition (or decoding), multiplied by language comprehension. Skills upon which comprehension is dependent should be taught. Word reading, vocabulary, syntax, background knowledge, inferencing, and attention are skills that are important for making sense of text (Kilpatrick, 2015). Reading comprehension relies on many covert mental activities.
Again, all of the components of effective reading instruction must be taught in a systematic, explicit manner (NRP, 2000). These specific guidelines can be a challenge but are necessary for successful reading instruction.
Systematic instruction is done in a planned, logical progressive sequence (Learning Point Associates, 2004). Certain sounds that are easier to learn should be taught before those that are more difficult. The lesson objectives are clear and specific in terms of what students must be able to do. According to the International Dyslexia Association (2020), the organization of what is taught to students should follow the logical order of the language. Carefully created tasks give students learning opportunities to apply what they have been taught. Any assessments are designed in a timely manner to check skill attainment as well as the application of new skills and their retention over time as students work independently.
Explicit instruction requires that the teacher state clearly what is being taught. The student does not have to guess what he/she is supposed to know from the lesson. Explicit instruction requires teachers to model how a skill is to be used. Carefully created tasks give students learning opportunities to apply what they have been taught (International Dyslexia Association, 2020). In this approach, the student's attention is focused on what is important to know or do. The Connections: OG in 3D® reading program is based on the five components of effective reading instruction that is systematically and explicitly delivered. 12 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 3, No. 4, 2020

Connections: OG in 3-D®
Connections: OG in 3D® is a structured literacy curriculum that systematically teaches the entire structure of the English language. Each lesson provides direct, explicit instruction in the five components of reading, as outlined in the NRP Report (2000). Lessons are cumulative and follow a logical order. The scope and sequence present the alphabetic principle in order of frequency of use, from simplest to most complex. Concepts are taught from concrete to abstract, through hands-on lessons with 3-D materials.
The 3-D materials evolved from the multisensory approach of Orton-Gillingham (Gillingham & Stillman, 1960, 1997 for teaching reading. Students can "hold" and manipulate sounds in their hands with 3-D objects. An example of a 3-D object used in this literacy program would be an actual apple. The student would hold this apple, smell the apple, and even taste the apple, if appropriate, in order to learn the short vowel sound of /a/. Connections: OG in 3D® follows the principles and content of a multisensory structured language approach. Connections: OG in 3D® stands apart from other Orton-Gillingham (Gillingham & Stillman, 1960, 1997 (OG) because it incorporates phonemic objects. By holding the object, which represents the sound he/she is learning, the student can actually "feel" the sound, helping to make more connections to the brain in order to remember that sound. In addition to visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic teaching, Connections: OG in 3D® also incorporates teaching sounds by smell and taste, senses that are often overlooked in multisensory programs.
Connections: OG in 3D® teaches students to attend to sound, spelling, meaning, and etymology. In addition to phoneme-grapheme correspondence and orthographic mapping, students become aware that the English language is morphophonemic, as layers of etymology and morphology are added.
Application of sound to symbol knowledge, spelling rules and patterns, grammar, comprehension, and fluency are practiced using nonsense words, real words, phrases, sentences, and connected text. 100% decodable, personalized readers provide decoding practice. Vocabulary (including multiple meanings and figures of speech) is learned by developing semantic networks or ideas and relationships.
To ensure automaticity, frequent distributive practice and checkpoints for mastery are built into each lesson. When decoding becomes automatic, students are able to use their cognitive energy for higher level comprehension. Students learn syntax and semantics using material they are actually able to decode.
Connections: OG in 3D® gets its name from the connectivity of the neural pathways from orthography, phonology, and semantics, following the research of Seidenberg (2017). The elements of effective reading instruction are "connected" and work together to produce readers.

Purpose of Investigation
The purpose of this investigation is to identify student literacy growth over an academic school year calendar using the science-based, Connections: OG in 3D® literacy program in grades kindergarten, first grade, and second grade in Arkansas elementary schools and one Missouri elementary school.

Research Design
For the purpose of this investigation, a quasi-experimental (Cook & Campbell, 1979), one group pretest-posttest design was used. Rather than have some students not receive reading instruction in the classroom, no randomized control group was used. Every student in the classroom was taught using the same Connections: OG in 3D® program which was the treatment. Each teacher had completed Connections: OG in 3D® training and signed a statement as to the fidelity of the program. For these reasons, the variable, Connections: OG in 3D® training, was measured as it naturally occurred in the classroom setting. The pretest was considered to be the first time the students were assessed for a reading skill. The posttest was each time after the initial test that students were assessed. Basically, the beginning of the school year was the pretest, and every time after was a posttest.
Throughout the school year as reading instruction continued, each school used its own form of reading assessment based upon individual school district requirements. The data reported for this investigation was gathered by the schools and sent to the investigators for analysis.

Participants
The South Side Bee Branch Elementary School is a kindergarten through sixth grade campus. On their campus, 60% of the students are considered from low-income homes. The student to teacher ratio is 13:1.
The class size is 15 students. The school has an overall campus rating of C according to state data. For the investigation, kindergarten through second grade used the Connections: OG in 3D® program.
Blytheville Primary School is a kindergarten to second grade campus. On their campus, 82% of the students are considered from low-income homes. The student to teacher ratio 14:1. The average class size is 16 students. The school has an overall rating of D according to state data.
Mountain Home Kindergarten is a kindergarten only campus. On their campus, 58% of the students are considered from low-income homes. The student to teacher ratio is 13:1. Southwest Elementary School in Dexter, Missouri is the only school in this investigation from Missouri.
The school is a Pre-Kindergarten to second grade campus. On their campus, 58% of the students are considered from low-income homes. The student to teacher ratio is 13:1. The average class size is 13.
The campus has an accredited rating.

Context of the Investigation
As researchers seek to gather and address research in how to best teach reading to students, it is important for those involved to establish a snapshot of a literacy program's ability to prepare readers. Evidence must be an essential part of teaching. As such, the Connections: OG in 3D® program must assess itself on a regular basis to identify student success as well as those who are not as successful. What matters is the modality of the pedagogical approach taken in addressing learning to read. Science and evidence-based methods are quantitatively superior to those not predicated on consistently replicable approaches. A successful literacy program can only be purposeful if it is preparing students to be readers.  Vol. 3, No. 4, 2020 an assessment tool as well as a diagnostic and monitoring tool for teachers to see if there is student reading growth (Meador, 2020).  Figure 1 is a low risk for reading failure. Figure 2 is a moderate risk for reading failure, and Figure 3 is a high risk for reading failure. There was no assessment report that indicated any negative growth. At every assessment period the growth at least doubled. At the end of the school year, eighty-three percent of the class was reading on grade level and seventeen percent below grade level. These results were better than the state average. The end of year reading scores prior to Connections: OG in 3D® were 40% of the fourth -grade reading at or above grade level. In the fifth grade, 39% of students were reading at or above grade level. At the end of the school year for the sixth-grade students, 33% were reading at or above grade level.

South
Once the Connections: OG in 3D® program was added the following school year, the middle of the year results changed: 52% of fourth grade, 71% of fifth grade and 42% of sixth grade were reading at or above grade level.  December. The spring results will be added to this article as they are available. The first results to share are for the kindergarten group. In Figure 1, 25% of the students are at low risk of reading failure. For Figure 2, 18% are at a moderate risk for reading failure and Figure 3, the highest risk of reading failure was 57% of the class.
The winter assessment results identified 42% of the class was now at a low risk of reading failure. Figure   2 had 30% at moderate risk of reading failure and Figure 3, the highest risk of reading failure was now 28%. The positive growth rate for those at Figure 1 was now 42% which is a 63% change from the fall assessment. Those students in Figures 2 and 3 with the highest risks of reading failure where now 58% change. As such, Figures 2 and 3 showed positive growth in reading by 34% over a few months period of time.
The first-grade class also showed positive results. Again, these results are for the fall and winter assessment period of the 2019-2020 school year. In the fall assessment period, 48% of the students were identified as Figure 1. Students identified as Figure 2 for the fall semester totaled 12%, and 40% students were recorded as Figure 3.
The winter assessment results are as follows: 55% at Figure 1, 14% at Figure 2, and 31% identified at  Figure 1 students, that is an 11% increase in the number of students who are now considered to be at low risk for reading failure which means some students moved from either the second or third tiers which are identified to be at a moderate or his risk of reading failure. Figures 2 and 3 also showed positive growth. Students moved from Figure 3, which is at a high risk for reading failure into the Their results for the 2019-2020 school year are positive again. In the fall assessment report, 59% of the students were identified Figure 1. For Figure 2, 21% of the second graders were at a moderate risk for 19 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Vol. 3, No. 4, 2020 reading failure. In Figure 3, 20% of the students were at high risk for reading failure. In December 2019, the winter assessments were given. 69% of the students were assessed at Figure 1. 19% of the students were identified at Figure 2, and finally, 12% of the students were identified at Figure 3. For Figure 1, that is 16% positive growth in the number of students who are now at low risk for reading failure. For Figures   2 and 3, the growth was 32% who moved out of the higher risk tiers.

Figure 7. Blytheville Elementary Reading Growth Kindergarten
In the 2018-2019 school year the kindergarten class saw 20% of the students mastering letter knowledge.
In November, 22.5% mastered it. December saw 45% of the students mastering letter knowledge.
January saw a downturn to 40%, but February was back up to 45%.
When the 2018-2019 school is compared to the next school year 2019-2020, the positive growth becomes more evident. In September, 20% mastered the letter knowledge needed to learn to read. November saw 45% of the students mastering that knowledge. In December the growth continued with 50% of the students able to identify letters needed for reading. Again, in January a dip occurred down to 45%, but it rose in February to 68%.
The kindergarten class was assessed in phonemic awareness in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years.
In the 2018-2019 school year, the results are as follows: 28% of the students met the criteria for phonemic awareness needed in order to read. Again, in October no testing was done. November saw assessment remain the same in terms of percentage points. In December and January, 40% of the students possessed phonemic awareness skills. In February, that percentage rose to 45%. No negative results were reported in terms of phonemic awareness skills.
In the 2019-2020 school year the kindergarten students had to demonstrate their phonemic awareness skills. In September, 31% of the students demonstrated proficiency in phonemic awareness skills. In November, Phonemic awareness skills rose to 43% and again in December to 45%. In January, there was a slight drop in percentage points to 43%. In February, the percentage points rose again to 50% proficiency in phonemic awareness skills. 23 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/fet Frontiers in Education Technology Vol. 3, No. 4, 2020

Limitations of the Investigation
In this investigation due to the type of design, there are several limitations that must be explored. While every teacher was trained in the Connections: OG in 3D® program and signed an agreement to use the program with fidelity, without direct, constant observation, it is difficult to prove fidelity.
Another limitation of this investigation is the difference in assessment tools used by each school.
Regardless, two of the schools were in Arkansas, neither used the same type of assessment tool to record student results. While each assessment tool assesses the five necessary components of learning to read, it was not consistent in how students demonstrated their knowledge.
However, it can also be stated that the difference in assessment tools used throughout the various school districts bodes to the strength of the Connections: OG in 3D® program. Regardless of the assessment tool selected, the Connections: OG in 3D® program participants scored significant growth. Connections: OG in 3D® program is not biased toward one particular type of reading assessment tool.
While each teacher who used the Connections: OG in 3D® program was trained to do so, there is no guarantee from the schools that the people who assessed the students for the pretest and posttest were certified teachers or had sufficient training in using the assessment tool. As such, this lack of information could influence assessment tool results.

Discussion
Overwhelmingly, the results when using the Connections: OG in 3D® program are significant. Each individual grade level at each of the elementary schools saw reading growth from the previous school year when using the Connections: OG in 3D® reading program. The change in reading on grade level saw significant growth at each grade level for each school.
The students at Blytheville Elementary were not consistently assessed in the month of October, so that data was not provided to the investigation. For the kindergarten students, the month of January reported a slight negative dip in the scores of letter knowledge and phonemic awareness for both school years. As the students are off for almost two and a half weeks from school, they are not consistently reviewing and addressing their letter knowledge and phonemic awareness skills. The scores rebounded in the month of February and were even higher than that of the December scores.
The growth in spelling skills for the second graders from the beginning of each school year to middle of the next semester is overall positive with the exception of December to January of 2018-2019 and October to November of 2019-2020. The dip in skills from December to January of 2018-2019 could be attributed to the winter break that students have for close to two-and one-half weeks where they did not actively practice those specific skills. The dip in percentage points for the month of January 2019-2020 school year is attributed to the same reason as stated previously; winter break with the time off from school. It is noted that the scores rose in February.
The Connections: OG in 3-D® reading program supports the science of teaching reading in a systematic, direct manner. Each teacher taught the program in the same manner, with the same materials, objects, lessons, and sequencing. As the program teaches to mastery, the students may need different amounts of time to be successful, but the score results indicate positive results.
It is significant to note that regardless of the school's demographic data, students produced close to or at double digit growth in their reading on grade level scores when the Connections: OG in 3D® reading program was used to teach them to read. The score results for all students involved with learning to read via the Connections: OG in 3D® program were higher than the average state scores in both Arkansas and Missouri.
Another important element of the data results is that regardless of assessment tool used, the student growth remained positive and consistent

Future Research
Research efforts are ongoing. As other school districts adopt Connections: OG in 3D®, their assessment data will be reviewed and shared. As this research effort was in progress, schools in two other states, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, have selected the Connections: OG in 3-D® program. As the demographic information in states differs as well as their reading base scores, comparing assessments from those states can provide further evidence of Connections: OG in 3D® being a science-based reading program.

Conclusion
The ability to read is too precious of a skill to allow any student to fail at the task. As more and more students learn to read, regardless of personal background or socio-economic level, the propensity within the education system to embrace teaching fads and unproven programs must offer a way to a more effective practice of teaching students to read on a more evidenced-based foundation. The science of reading is solid scientific research on how reading should be taught to read. The Connections: OG in 3D® program was developed on that scientific research. Student reading success has been proven based on solid effective reading practices that Connections: OG in 3D® utilizes. Based on the evidence presented, the Connections: OG in 3-D® reading program has significantly increased scores in multiple school districts made up of different demographics. Connections: OG in 3D® has proven that all students can learn to read.