Effects of Pull-In and Pull-Out Approaches to Reading Instruction for Special Education and Remedial Reading Students

In this study, pull-in and pull-out approaches to delivering reading services to elementary special education and remedial students were compared. Students' reading activities were observed using a revision of the Student-Level Observation of Beginning Reading (SOBR-R), and reading comprehension assessed using the Stanford Achievement Test. Students in pull-in programs did not differ from students in pull-out programs in gains in reading comprehension. Pull-in and pull-out approaches did not differ in total time devoted to reading instruction each week, but there were differences in time spent on non-reading activities. Time spent on reading and non-reading activities did not predict reading achievement. Data are also presented documenting how reading instruction time is spent in six different models of pull-in and pull-out, to illustrate the variability within each approach to service delivery. It is suggested that these differences in how teachers implement pull-in and pull-out need to be considered in future research evaluating the efficacy of these approaches.