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2006Research Conference | June 15–16

This conference highlighted the work of invited speakers, independent researchers who have received grant funds from the Institute of Education Sciences, and trainees supported through predoctoral training grants and postdoctoral fellowships. The presentations are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Education or the Institute of Education Sciences.
Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill
400 New Jersey Avenue, N.W.
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Repeated Reading Versus Continuous Reading: Influences on Reading Rate and Comprehension

Presenters:
Rollanda E. O'Connor, University of California at Riverside
H. Lee Swanson, University of California at Riverside

Abstract: In this research this year we are evaluating two methods to improve the reading rate of struggling readers. Poor readers in Grades 2 and 4 with and without LD were blocked by reading ability within class and randomly assigned to one of two practice variations or to a control group. The 80 students in the treatments practiced reading aloud under repeated or continuous reading conditions with an adult listener in 15 minute sessions, 3 days per week for 20 weeks.

By the end of May, we will have data that enable comparisons between treatments, between treated and control students, and between treated students and their average achieving classmates. We are specifically interested in differences in fluency, word identification, vocabulary growth, and reading comprehension. As the data sample grows over the three years of the research, we will consider the influence of improvement in reading rate on comprehension of poor readers.