Effectiveness

Findings

The WWC review of interventions for beginning reading addresses student outcomes in four domains: alphabetics, fluency, comprehension, and general reading achievement. ⁴ The Sivin-Kachala & Bialo (2005) study addressed outcomes in the fluency and comprehension domains. ⁵ The findings below present the authors' and the WWC-calculated estimates of the size and statistical significance of the effects of Fluency Formula™ on students' performance.

Fluency. The Sivin-Kachala & Bialo (2005) study findings for fluency are based on the performance of Fluency Formula™ students and comparison students on the Edformation Oral Fluency Assessment (OFA). The WWC found no statistically significant difference between the groups, however, the effect was positive and substantively important according to WWC criteria (that is, an effect size of at least . 25). ⁶

Comprehension. The Sivin-Kachala & Bialo (2005) study findings for comprehension are based on the performance of Fluency Formula™ students and comparison students on the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement: Passage Comprehension subtest. The WWC did not find a statistically significant difference between the groups. However, the effect was negative and substantively important (that is, an effect size of at least –. 25). ⁷

Rating of effectiveness

The WWC rates the effects of an intervention in a given outcome domain as positive, potentially positive, mixed, no discernible effects, potentially negative, or negative. The rating of effectiveness takes into account four factors: the quality of the research design, the statistical significance of the findings,⁸ the size of the difference between participants in the intervention and the comparison conditions, and the consistency in findings across studies (see the WWC Intervention Rating Scheme).