Assisting low-performing readers with a group-based reading fluency intervention

Nearly 40% of America's fourth-grade students are below the basic level in reading. Creating opportunities for practice to build reading accuracy and speed (i.e., fluency) is an important link between word decoding and passage comprehension. The purpose of this study was to combine several empirically validated reading interventions into an instructional package that could be used with small groups of children to increase oral reading fluency. Effects of the instructional package were evaluated with 12 third-grade students using a multiple-baseline design across groups. Findings suggested that students read more words correct per minute on trained passages and completed maze comprehension passages with higher accuracy and fluency. In addition, students made statistically significant gains over time on nonpracticed passages of varying grade levels, on word lists containing both "trained" and untrained words, and on subtests from a commonly used standardized educational assessment tool. Implications for the use of a group-based intervention, limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.