This page addresses 10 frequently asked questions about the Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) Programs. The HELPS One-on-one Program (referred to simply as, HELPS) and the HELPS program for small instructional groups (HELPS-SG) are two distinct programs. HELPS is implemented with one student at a time, whereas HELPS-SG can be used with small groups of generally 2-5 students at once. 

Both programs were developed to strengthen a student’s reading fluency and confidence as a reader. As students improve reading fluency, they are better able to focus on and improve other important reading skills, including comprehension. 

Both HELPS and HELPS-SG have research evidence showing they are effective in improving students' reading fluency, reading comprehension, and reading confidence. Although both programs are conceptually similar and include similar instructional strategies, each was systematically and uniquely developed to maximize effectiveness for the instructor and learner. 

In many school contexts, both HELPS and HELPS-SG are strategically used to support students' different learning needs. For example, students who have some difficulty with reading fluency might receive HELPS-SG, and students with more significant difficulties with reading fluency might receive HELPS as a more intensive (one-on-one) intervention.

The HELPS and HELPS-SG Teacher's Manuals each provide more than a hundred pages of content describing the respective program. Each manual describes, for example, the theoretical and empirical basis for the program, how to use the specific program strategies and materials, how to use the program in a range of different school-based contexts, how to adapt the program if needed, how to navigate using the program based on student-specific learning needs or circumstances, and much more.

Additionally, each manual includes the necessary materials and forms for using the respective program, such as tools that support educators in using the program correctly (that is, with fidelity), tracking sheets for student reading data, materials to strengthen student motivation, and more. 

The 10 questions and answers summarized below represent some of the more common questions that come up from those who want to learn more about HELPS or HELPS-SG. Please contact the author and developer of HELPS and HELPS-SG at jcbegeny@ncsu.edu if you have other questions or would like additional information.

When asked “How does HELPS work?” educators often want to know what teaching strategies are integrated within the HELPS Programs.

HELPS and HELPS-SG strategically combine each of the instructional and motivational strategies most associated with improved outcomes for reading fluency and (as a result) reading comprehension. Specifically, each program systematically integrates each of the following evidence-based teaching and learning strategies, all within an engaging 10-20 minute session with a student or group of students:

• Repeated reading of ability-appropriate text

• Model reading (i.e. having students listen to a more skilled reader read a passage aloud)

• Systematic error-correction procedures

• Verbal cues for students to read with fluency and for comprehension

• Goal-setting (that is, practicing text until a predetermined performance criterion is met)

• Performance feedback, combined with graphical displays so that students can easily see their progress and improvements

• Systematic praise and a structured reward system that highlights students’ accomplishments and increases their motivation to do their best during each HELPS session

In addition to its integration of the aforementioned strategies, HELPS programs are effective because they allow students to work through a rigorously developed curriculum of reading passages (that is, the HELPS reading curriculum of passages—which is used for HELPS and HELPS-SG). Using specific decision rules for a student to read each respective passage at a set fluency level, this systematic reading of passages within the HELPS Curriculum ultimately allows students to build their text reading fluency. Research with HELPS not only shows that students develop better text reading fluency for brand new reading content, but they are also better able to comprehend the new content. The HELPS and HELPS-SG Teacher’s Manual each provide additional detail about how each program works. 

Because all students must develop reading fluency in order to become successful readers, HELPS and HELPS-SG can be used effectively with learners of all ages as long as they have at least some proficiency in basic decoding skills. Most often, the programs are implemented with students in grades 1 through 5, especially for those who experience difficulties with text reading fluency. However, research and practice have also shown how each program can be effective with learners who are in grades 6 and above and have not yet developed proficient text reading fluency.

Both programs have also been used effectively for students in grades 1 to 3 who do not experience reading difficulties but can benefit from targeted practice with text reading fluency. For example, HELPS can be used effectively to promote faster development of foundational skills for students in grades 1 and 2, and HELPS-SG is sometimes used in the early grades to supplement a teacher’s core reading curriculum that is provided to the entire class.   

HELPS has sometimes even been adapted and used to help adults who are working to establish foundational literacy and language skills, including but not limited to adults who are learning a second language. Research on this use and benefit of HELPS is currently in progress.  

HELPS and HELPS-SG each represent a highly structured intervention that can be used by all types of professionally trained educators, including classroom teachers, reading specialists, intervention teachers, school psychologists, speech-language pathologists working in schools, librarians, and more.

We also have more than a decade of success with training hundreds of community volunteers to use HELPS with 100% accuracy and make meaningful impacts in students’ learning. In other words, you do not need to have a formal teaching background in order to use HELPS effectively. Community volunteers can include virtually anybody who is interested and committed to learn the program. Just as some examples, we have worked to recruit and train HELPS tutors from community-based nonprofit organizations, corporate partners, universities and high schools, faith-based organizations, parents from Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), and other individuals from the community who contact us and want to become a HELPS tutor. 

Yes, educators can use the HELPS or HELPS-SG programs virtually. Like the original in-person use of HELPS and HELPS-SG, data from our projects suggest that our virtual approach is also effective and can be a beneficial way to support student learning if in-person implementation is not possible for some reason.

If educators need or want to use virtual implementation, HELPS is especially effective and engaging for students. HELPS-SG can also be effective and engaging, but (unlike the one-on-one version of HELPS) small-group virtual instruction poses some unique challenges compared to in-person small-group instruction.

When virtual use of HELPS or HELPS-SG is preferred, we can offer systematically developed digital tools (derived from the in-person materials) to aid educators in using the programs virtually.

Yes. In addition to English, the HELPS program is currently available in Spanish and Portuguese (both Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese).

Additionally, we are involved with translating and adapting HELPS into other languages, and our team is always interested in exploring new collaboration opportunities that result in HELPS adaptations into additional languages. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more about adapting and translating HELPS into another language. Copyright laws require our involvement in HELPS translations, and we seek partnerships that eventually allow HELPS to become free or low-cost for learners in several languages.

Please contact jcbegeny@ncsu.edu if you would like information about the Spanish or Portuguese versions of HELPS, or if you would like to discuss HELPS translations in other languages.

Of course, every student has a unique set of characteristics, reading strengths, learning needs, etc. It is therefore impossible to know how many HELPS sessions are needed to best support every individual student, but past research with HELPS and HELPS-SG has provided a wealth of information related to how often it should be used for it to be highly effective for most students. The following summarizes key information on this topic and we encourage you to contact us if you have any questions.

• A HELPS session can be comfortably implemented in approximately 10-15 minutes once the instructor has been well-trained.

• Research shows that HELPS and HELPS-SG can significantly improve students’ reading fluency and comprehension when at least 3 sessions are provided each week.

• It is not recommended to implement more than one HELPS or HELPS-SG session in a day; instead, when improving text reading fluency, it is important to spread out the sessions over several days.

• Although research shows that students who receive at least 3 sessions per week make significant reading improvements over time, students can certainly benefit by getting more than 3 sessions per week if that is preferred by the educator.

• Students appear to benefit most from HELPS and HELPS-SG when they receive at least 30 total sessions over the course of at least 7-10 weeks. Additionally, some evidence suggests that the more sessions a student receives, the more the student benefits. For instance, receiving 40 total sessions over multiple weeks appears better than getting 30 sessions, and 50 total sessions can be better than 40 sessions. However, even with 30 total sessions, most students make significant reading improvements.

• Research suggests that some students can make significant improvements with fewer than 30 sessions, but we recommend that students receive at least 30-50 total sessions because this is most associated with the strongest impact. 

The HELPS and HELPS-SG Teacher’s Manuals each provide even more information about how frequently to use each program, and they discuss detailed considerations for assessing program effectiveness with individual students.

HELPS and HELPS-SG can be used in virtually every type of school-based context to support students’ foundational reading skills. This includes use in schools, after-school programs, home schooling, literacy support clinics, and more.

Additionally, if a school uses a tiered approach to providing struggling learners with interventions—such as Response to Intervention [RTI] or Multi-Tiered System of Supports [MTSS] models of intervention)—HELPS programs can easily be used within a tiered intervention model.

In fact, school districts throughout the United States and internationally often use HELPS at Tiers 2 and 3 of common three-tier models, and they use HELPS-SG at Tiers 1 and 2. For more information about using HELPS programs in a tiered intervention model, please contact jcbegeny@ncsu.edu.

Although HELPS and HELPS-SG were originally designed for students in grades 1-5, we quickly learned that teachers wanted to use these programs for students in grades 6 and above who still did not have proficient text reading fluency. In some cases, educators also began using HELPS with adult learners. Since the development of HELPS and HELPS-SG, we now have research and numerous educator testimonials indicating that the programs can be effective with learners of any age who are needing to improve text reading fluency. In this way, HELPS can be used effectively with students in elementary, middle, and high school, and even with adult learners.

However, to use HELPS with students in grades 6 and above, the teacher will need to ensure that the motivational strategies integrated within HELPS and HELPS-SG are age appropriate. The HELPS and HELPS-SG Teacher’s Manual each provide guidance about age-appropriate considerations and adaptations. 

For educators who want to use HELPS programs for students in grades 6 and above, we also try to support them by providing supplemental materials we have developed over the years and/or with advice about how to best adapt the programs. Please contact jcbegeny@ncsu.edu if you would like additional information.

Preliminary evidence suggests that, on average, English Language Learners (ELLs) benefit as much from the HELPS Program as non-ELLs.

When evaluating a subset of HELPS Program research participants who received English as a Second Language (ESL) services, ELLs who received HELPS tended to improve their reading much more than ELLs who did not receive HELPS. Furthermore, differences between these groups were evident across a range of different reading skills, including reading comprehension.

In short, preliminary findings support educators’ use of HELPS with ELLs.

Yes, we continue to offer training for individual educators as well as for groups, such as groups of educators in a school, a school district, non-profit organization, etc. See below for more information.

From the time HELPS and HELPS-SG were developed, thousands of individuals have been effectively trained to use the programs. Trainings have included educators from dozens of countries around the world, and we have routinely heard from those educators how the HELPS programs have made a strong and meaningful impact on students' literacy development and confidence as readers. 

The primary focus of trainings are to show educators how to successfully implement the respective program (HELPS and/or HELPS-SG) and to answer all educators' questions. Also, attendees have opportunities to practice implementing each program while one or more expert trainers provide feedback and support. Additional supports can also be provided, and the overall goal of training is to ensure educators are able to use HELPS programs in the way that is most likely to have a strong and sustainable impact on students' reading development.  

Since ~2007, and with ongoing support from the author and developer of HELPS programs, a thoroughly developed system for offering and communicating about trainings was built and put into place. Some recent events have required a change in the previous system for communicating about training opportunities, so at this time, please contact the author and developer of HELPS directly (jcbegeny@ncsu.edu) if you want additional information about training opportunities in HELPS and/or HELPS-SG. 

Please contact jcbegeny@ncsu.edu if you have any questions that are not answered on this page or you want to talk with one of our HELPS or HELPS-SG experts.