Determining the Effect of Intervention and Intervention Packages on the Reading Fluency and Comprehension of Lower Secondary School Students with Mental Retardation

Abstract

This study aimed at identifying to what extent skill- and performance-based interventions and intervention packages affect the reading fluency and comprehension of the students with mental retardation and analyzing the results of Brief Experimental Analysis (BEA) with Extended Analysis (EA). Five different interventions and/or intervention packages were used to determine the correct number of words and reading comprehension levels of three students with mental retardation. Findings indicated that the effect of intervention and/or intervention packages differed for students. It was found that intervention packages, which increased students’ reading fluency, also increased reading comprehension of two students. Moreover, it was observed that using multiple interventions together on reading fluency and comprehension showed more effective results than using a single intervention. Based on the results, it was discussed and suggested that teachers should include interventions based on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as well as interventions based on skills in order to improve the reading fluency and comprehension skills of students with mental retardation at lower secondary school level.