Research Interests and Expertise

Dr. Phil Capin’s primary research interest is to identify effective practices for improving reading outcomes among children, particularly bilingual students and children with or at risk for learning disabilities. Dr. Capin currently serves as co-principal investigator for three grants funded by the Institute of Education Sciences or the National Institutes of Health focused on improving reading outcomes, including two projects focused on bilingual learners.

Selected Research Projects and Grants

  • Center for the Success of English Learners (CSEL), Institute of Education Sciences, $10,000,000, 2020–2025
  • Texas Center for Learning Disabilities, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, $11,000,000, 2016–2022
  • Project i-SMART: Intervention to Support Mindset and Reading Together, $1,950,000, 2021–2025
  • Computer-Assisted Collaborative Strategic Reading: Accessing Scientifically Based Reading Practices for English Learners With and At Risk for Disabilities, $2,500,000, 2023–2028

Boards, Committees, and Associations

  • Member: Council for Exceptional Children, International Dyslexia Association, Learning Disabilities Association, Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness

Representative Publications

  • Capin, P., Miciak, J., Bhat, B. H., Roberts, G., Steinle, P., Fletcher, J., & Vaughn, S. (in press). An extensive reading intervention for bilingual Spanish-English speakers in middle school with significant reading difficulties. Remedial and Special Education.
  • Capin, P., Vaughn, S., Gillam, S. L., Fall, A. M., Roberts, G., Israelsen-Augenstein, M., Holbrook, S., Wada, R., Dille, J., Hall, C., & Gillam, R. B. (in press). Evaluating the efficacy of a narrative language intervention for bilingual students. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.
  • Capin, P., Vaughn, S., Miller, J., Miciak, J., Fall, A. M., Cho., E., Barth, A. E., Roberts, G., Steinle, P., & Fletcher, J. (2023). Investigating the reading profiles of middle school emergent bilinguals with significant reading comprehension difficulties. Scientific Studies of Reading. Advance online publication.
  • Capin, P., Stevens, E. A., & Vaughn, S. (2023). Self-regulation and reading comprehension: Integrating and aligning to improve reading outcomes. Mind, Brain, and Education. Advance online publication.
  • Capin, P., Gillam, S. L., Fall, A. M., Roberts, G., Dille, J. T., & Gillam, R. B. (2022). Understanding the nature and severity of reading difficulties among students with language and reading comprehension difficulties. Annals of Dyslexia, 72(2), 1–27.
  • Capin, P., Hall, C., Stevens, E. A., Steinle, P., & Murray, C. S. (2022). Evidence-based reading instruction for secondary students with reading difficulties within multitiered systems of support. Teaching Exceptional Children. Advance online publication.
  • Capin, P., Roberts, G., Clemens, N., & Vaughn, S. (2022). When treatment adherence matters: Interactions among treatment adherence, instructional quality, and student characteristics on reading outcomes. Reading Research Quarterly, 57(2), 753–774.
  • Capin, P., Cho, E., Miciak, J., Roberts, G., & Vaughn, S. (2021). Examining the reading and cognitive profiles of students with significant reading comprehension difficulties: A latent class analysis. Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 44(3), 183–196.
  • Capin, P., Stevens, E. A., Stewart, A. A., Swanson, E., & Vaughn, S. (2021). Examining vocabulary, reading comprehension, and content knowledge instruction during fourth grade social studies teaching. Reading and Writing, 34(5), 1143–1170.
  • Capin, P., Walker, M. A., Vaughn, S., & Wanzek, J. (2018). Treatment fidelity in reading intervention research: A synthesis of the literature. Educational Psychology Review, 30(3), 885–919.