The effectiveness of Tier 1 digital interventions for early reading: A meta-analysis

Reading is a fundamental skill to acquire during children's school career. The present meta-analysis examined research on the effectiveness of digital technologies to foster early reading skills during Tier-1 interventions (ie, high-quality core reading instruction which is intended to promote learning for all children). Unlike previous meta-analyses, this meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness in a broad way, taking into account cognitive versus non-cognitive learning outcomes, near versus far transfer outcomes and immediate versus delayed outcomes. Furthermore, different study characteristics were taken into account including participant characteristics, the targeted reading subskills, duration of intervention, type of technology and the level of integration. A total of 568 effect sizes from 72 studies encompassing 60,890 participants were analysed using a meta-analytic three-level model. A Hedges'g effect size of 0.37 was obtained, suggesting that using digital technologies generally have a positive, albeit small, effect compared to traditional teaching methods. Moderator analyses indicated that this effect was robust to cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes, near and far transfer outcomes, and immediate and delayed outcomes, but differed by participants' age and study quality. Recommendations are formulated to push forward research on how digital interventions can be effectively implemented in the classroom.