Reading Fluency and Students With Reading Disabilities: How Fast Is Fast Enough to Promote Reading Comprehension?

Technology-assisted reading fluency interventions for students with reading difficulties: evidence from a meta-analytic approach of single case design studies

PURPOSE

The purpose of this article was to provide a quantitative review of technology-assisted reading fluency interventions for students with disabilities and select moderator variables that may modify the effects of the interventions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

All reviewed 13 studies employed a single-case research design, targeting technology-assisted reading fluency interventions for students with learning disabilities (LDs) or learning difficulties. Studies were descriptively analysed and evaluated for methodological quality. Additionally, to examine the level and trend of reading fluency outcomes, Tau-U was calculated across the studies by measuring the impact of various moderator variables on the intervention effects.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Overall, studies showed a moderate to strong effect on reading fluency and there was a significant difference in moderator variables such as student status, type of technology, and features of technology. While the current study found positive outcomes from technology-based fluency interventions for struggling readers suggesting the effectiveness of using technology for the improvement of reading fluency, educators should consider using a rubric when utilising tablets because of the limited instructional components. Possible explanations about intervention effects, moderator effects, and study qualities along with limitations and future research were discussed. Implications for rehabilitationThis article examined a quantitative review of technology-assisted reading fluency interventions for students with disabilities and those considered at-risk. From this examination, we suggest the following implications:More research is needed to explore the effectiveness of technology-assisted reading fluency interventions. Some studies exist exploring the effect of overall reading interventions, but more specific analyses are needed related specifically to fluency and technology-assisted fluency interventions.Due to continuous advancements in technology, more research is also needed related to the integration of tablets and applications (or apps) on reading fluency.The use of technology to teach fluency has a general positive outcome for at-risk students. However, these types of interventions are more effective if they also provide vocabulary support.

Cut-off point, sensitivity and specificity for screening the reading fluency in children

PURPOSE

to establish cut-off point for reading speed and accuracy, to obtain minimum values for comprehending texts, and allow classifying students from 2nd to 5th grade of elementary school according to good or poor reading performance.

METHODS

147 assessment protocols for oral reading and text comprehension of students from 3rd to 5th grade of Elementary School with and without reading difficulties were analyzed. The oral text reading rate and accuracy values were analyzed. ROC curves were constructed, and sensitivity and specificity calculated for each reading fluency parameter, and each school grade.

RESULTS

Sensitivity and specificity for measures of rate and accuracy in text reading were calculated for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Rate and precision under the ROC curve did not differ statistically. The values for the 2nd grade were mathematically estimated.

CONCLUSION

The cutoff values expected for students from 2nd to 3rd grade were identified, with recommendations for using the oral text reading rate for reading comprehension screening procedures.

A meta-analytic review of comprehension deficits in students with dyslexia

Beyond the established difficulties of individuals with dyslexia in word recognition and spelling, it remains unclear how severe their difficulties in comprehension are. To examine this, we performed a meta-analytic review. A random-effects model analysis of data from 76 studies revealed a large deficit in reading comprehension in individuals with dyslexia compared to their chronological-age (CA) controls (g = 1.43) and a smaller one compared to their reading-level (RL) matched controls (g = 0.64). Individuals with dyslexia also differed significantly from their CA controls in listening comprehension (g = 0.43). Results further showed significant heterogeneity in the effect sizes that was partly explained by orthographic consistency (the deficits were larger in languages with low orthographic consistency) and vocabulary matching (the deficits were larger in studies in which the groups were not matched on vocabulary). These findings suggest, first, that individuals with dyslexia experience significant difficulties in both reading and listening comprehension, but the effect sizes are smaller than those reported in the literature for word reading and spelling. Second, our findings suggest that the deficits in reading comprehension are likely a combination of deficits in both decoding and oral language skills.

Improving English reading fluency and comprehension for children with reading fluency disabilities

In the English language, students who read words accurately but have impairments in reading fluency are under-studied. The associated difficulties they have with comprehending text make it particularly important to delineate effective interventions for these students. Counter to suggestions that these readers need interventions focused on text reading, we examined the effects of a decoding-focused intervention. The intervention targeted decoding-related skills, including speeded training on sublexical spelling patterns. We examined the efficacy of this program for students with fluency-defined disabilities, and compared gains to those for students with accuracy-defined disabilities. In the initial phase of the program, readers with fluency-defined disabilities made greater gains in fluency, while readers with accuracy-defined disabilities made larger gains in word reading accuracy. The mean fluency score for readers with fluency-defined disabilities came within the average range across the intervention, as did reading comprehension for both groups. Readers' mastery on speeded learning of sublexical spelling patterns predicted unique variance in fluency outcomes, beyond variance accounted for by pre-test fluency and word reading accuracy. The results support intervention approaches focused on decoding-related skills for students who have fluency-defined disabilities and are consistent with theories of reading fluency that identify a role for automaticity with sublexical spelling patterns.

Reading speed in Elementary School and Junior High

PURPOSE

To verify the influence of schooling on reading speed measures in Elementary School and Junior High, also aims to explore the levels of accuracy of the variables of reading speed in the epidemiological investigation stages of cases.

METHODS

535 students from the 2nd to the 9th grade from a private school and a state school system participated in the study. The oral reading of a simple text was evaluated in the following parameters: words read per minute and correctly words read per minute. Descriptive statistics and T-test measures with the significance of 5% were conducted, besides the z-score, standardized and individual.

RESULTS

The results corroborate the literature review which shows an increase in reading speed with the progression of schooling. The reading fluency was presented in the construction process between the 2nd and 7th grades, with stabilization from the 7th year. A more fluent and homogeneous reading was sedimented between the 7th and 9th grades. The study proposes the interpretation of the findings with scales suggestive of the deficit using the z-score. The data are stratified from values suggestive of significant deficit to non-suggestive, with a total of five strata. The stratification allows a clearer reference on which point the scholar found in the expected ranges for their schooling.

CONCLUSION

The measures of the expected values according to schooling are essential for better-quality knowledge of reading development, to provide reference standards for adequate monitoring in the clinical and educational sphere and prediction of reading skills and difficulties.

Scale of Perception and Analysis of Reading Fluency - SOLAR: usability and consistency

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the consistency of responses of evaluators and to verify the usability of the perception and analysis of SOLAR (Science of Language and Reading) Methods: a non-experimental descriptive cross-sectional study. Elementary school teachers and undergraduate students of speech therapy and pedagogy participated as the judges. The judges used the SOLAR Scale as an instrument to analyze the reading fluency of twenty audios recorded by elementary school students. Usability comparisons were performed using the Kruskal Wallis test and two-by-two comparisons using the Mann Whitney test. To analyze the consistency of the responses between the judges, the calculation of the interclass correlation coefficient was used. Results: the analysis of the reliability of the answers showed an excellent intraclass correlation coefficient for all the skills of the Scale. As for the usability of the Scale, more than 80% of the participants positively evaluated the assessment. This was verified through the usability questionnaires which confirmed that it was easy to use, with clear guidelines and that users felt comfortable and confident using it. Conclusion: SOLAR obtained good results in reliability and consistency with excellent agreement between the evaluators. These results indicated satisfactory reliability of the SOLAR items and favorable qualitative ratings from users.

Fluency Interventions for Elementary Students with Reading Difficulties: A Synthesis of Research from 2000–2019

Oral reading fluency (ORF) deficits are a hallmark of reading difficulties. The impact of fluency struggles extends beyond word-level difficulties to include deficits in reading comprehension. Sixteen empirical studies conducted in 2000–2019 that examined ORF interventions among elementary students identified as having reading difficulties were reviewed to identify the characteristics (e.g., instructional variables, group size, type of interventionist) of effective ORF interventions and their impact on English oral reading fluency and reading comprehension outcomes. The systematic review revealed that interventions reported centered around repeated reading procedures (86.5%). Across the 16 studies, outcomes for oral reading fluency varied widely and most focused on speed and rate aspects rather than prosody. Effect sizes for rate and accuracy measures ranged from negligible to large (i.e., 0.01 to 1.18) and three studies found large effects for prosody outcomes. Effect sizes for reading comprehension ranged between non-significant and large significant effects. Findings support the use of repeated reading of text to build up ORF of students with reading difficulties. Interventions that were found to be most effective were those that were conducted one-on-one with a trained model of fluent word reading and accuracy. Findings also point to three gaps in our understanding: (1) the efficacy of interventions other than repeated reading, (2) effects of ORF interventions on prosody outcomes, and (3) sustainability of outcomes.

The effects of varied practice on the oral reading fluency of fourth-grade students

To improve oral reading fluency rate and promote its generalization to unpracticed texts, this study investigated a Varied Practice approach that involved passages with a high proportion of overlapping words (M = 85% unique word overlap). Fourth graders were randomly assigned either to the Varied Practice treatment (n = 405), where they read three different passages one time each, or the Repeated Reading comparison (n = 422), in which they read the same passage three times each. Both groups read with a partner for about 20 min, 3-4 times per week, over an average 12 weeks (30 total sessions). Results indicated that students in Varied Practice demonstrated significantly better fluency outcomes than students in Repeated Reading, but both groups demonstrated growth near the 90th percentile. Results of a quantile regression revealed that low-to-middle achievers benefited from Varied Practice the most. Overall, the findings suggest fluency approaches rooted in statistical learning hold promise as an alternative to approaches focused on practicing words in redundant contexts.

The Contributions of Reading Fluency and Decoding to Reading Comprehension for Struggling Readers in the Fourth Grade

The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of decoding and reading fluency on reading comprehension and how it differs across different types of comprehension measures among fourth-grade students with reading difficulties and disabilities (Mean age = 9.8, SD = 0.6). Results indicated that decoding and reading fluency predicted 8.1% to 43.3% of the variance in reading comprehension. Decoding and reading fluency accounted for 8.1% of the variance associated with performance on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Comprehension Test, 22.5% for the Test of Silent Reading Efficiency and Comprehension (TOSREC), and 43.3% for the Woodcock-Johnson III Passage Comprehension subtest (WJ3-PC). Decoding explained -0.2% of the variance for the Gates-MacGinitie, 3.1% for the TOSREC, and 15.1% for the WJ3-PC subtest. Reading fluency individually accounted for 3.9% of the variance for the Gates-MacGinitie, 4.5% for the TOSREC, and 1.9% for the WJ3-PC. We discuss the limitations and practical implications of these findings.