Helping Early Readers Obtain Excellence in Special Education (HEROES) is an evidence-based, literacy intervention for students aged 6-10 with reading disabilities. It uses intensive, 30-40 minute sessions led by trained teachers to focus on reading, writing, and decoding, with studies showing significant improvements in reading fluency and comprehension.
Key Aspects of the HEROES Intervention
Target Audience: Children with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or those at-risk for reading disabilities.
Methodology: Delivered by trained specialists, the program involves 3–4 sessions per week focusing on:
Fluent reading: Using familiar texts to build phrasing.
Assessment: Using a "Record of Decision Making" (RODM) or similar tool to guide instruction.
Scaffolded Reading: Decoding challenging books with teacher support.
Teacher Training: Participating educators undergo specialized training or graduate-level coursework.
Results: Research indicates that students in the program significantly outperformed peers in word recognition and reading fluency.
HEROES was developed by researchers, Emily M. Rodgers, Ph.D. & Jerome V. D'Agostino, Ph.D. at The Ohio State University. HEROES is designed to be highly individualized and responsive to student needs, according to a 2021 study published in the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk and a 2025 article in the same journal.
Research Articles:
Litwok, D., Brown, K., Rodgers, E., D'Agostino, J. (2025). Improving Outcomes for Struggling Readers: Evidence from a Randomized Trial of HEROES, Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness
Rodgers, E., D'Agostino, J. (2025).Theoretical Foundation and Validation of the Record of Decision-Making (RODM), Education Sciences