A supplementary behavioral program to improve deficient reading performance.

Abstract

A behavioral program was designed to deal with certain skill and attentional problems of a group of below-grade-level readers. Fourteen 7–12-year-old problem readers were already enrolled in an on-campus behavioral tutoring program. From This group, seven Ss (experimental group) were placed into the supplementary program, which basically consisted of a point system to reward attention to and identification of letter and word combinations. The remaining seven problem readers (yoked-control group) were given the same materials but without a specific task or reinforcement. After seven to ten 30-minute sessions over a 7-week period, the experimental group had improved significantly more than had the control group, based on a comparison of standardized reading test scores.