Assessing for generalized improvements in reading comprehension by intervening to improve reading fluency

Abstract

AbstractThe relationship between reading fluency and comprehension was evaluated in five 4th‐grade students. These students were identified as being at risk of not meeting yearly goals in reading fluency and comprehension based on fall benchmark assessment data. A brief intervention assessment was used to determine which intervention components would be essential to improving reading fluency across the five participants. As a result, the combination of repeated practice with performance feedback and error correction was implemented using instructional‐level reading materials twice per week for 30‐minute sessions with progress monitored weekly using AIMSweb measures of oral reading fluency and comprehension. Empirical, single‐case designs were used to evaluate the impact of the program across these five students with assessed, generalized improvements in comprehension. Results indicated increased rate of words read correctly per minute with generalized increases in comprehension for four of five participants. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.