Interventions to improve the literacy functioning of adolescents with emotional and/or behavior disorders: A review of the literature between 1965 and 2005

This review examines interventions intended to improve the literacy functioning of adolescent students with emotional and/or behavior disorders. Seventeen studies met inclusion criteria and included a variety of interventions designed to affect a variety of literacy areas, including spelling, writing, and reading fluency. Findings from these studies indicate that, overall, several different intervention types produced increases across areas of literacy functioning. However, both participant and setting characteristics were poorly described and were not representative of the population with emotional and/or behavioral disorders. The lack of research on interventions to increase adolescent literacy limits the generalizability of the results to a broader population. Considerations for practice implications and future research are discussed.