Supplemental Fluency Intervention and Determinants of Reading Outcomes
Vadasy, Patricia F.; Sanders, Elizabeth A. (2009). Scientific Studies of Reading, v13 n5 p383-425 2009. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ856423
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examining202Students, grades2-3
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: February 2023
- Practice Guide (findings for QuickReads)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency Benchmarks (uniform) |
QuickReads vs. Business as usual |
15 Weeks |
Full sample;
|
91.13 |
83.28 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Gray Oral Reading Test-Fluency |
QuickReads vs. Business as usual |
15 Weeks |
Full sample;
|
91.79 |
87.45 |
No |
-- | |
|
DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency Benchmarks (alternate) |
QuickReads vs. Business as usual |
15 Weeks |
Full sample;
|
74.65 |
70.30 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
WRMT-R - Passage Comprehension subtest |
QuickReads vs. Business as usual |
15 Weeks |
Full sample;
|
95.93 |
93.97 |
No |
-- | |
|
Gray Oral Reading Test-Comprehension |
QuickReads vs. Business as usual |
15 Weeks |
Full sample;
|
91.64 |
92.21 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Word Level Skills: Word Reading |
QuickReads vs. Business as usual |
15 Weeks |
Full sample;
|
97.20 |
98.66 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
-
29% English language learners -
Male: 59% -
Urban
Study Details
Setting
The study takes place in 13 urban, public elementary schools. Though not mentioned explicitly, this study does appear to have been conducted in the United States.
Study sample
The majority of students in the study were in 2nd grade (65.3%), almost 60% were male (58.9%), 66.3% were minority, 74.3% were eligible for Title 1, 5.9% received special education services, and 28.7% were categorized as English Language Learner. All of the teachers were female, 83% self-reported being White, all had their master's degrees and were K-12 certified. The teacher tutors averaged 14.2 years of experience teaching in the classroom (range = 4-32 years) and had an average of 0.7 years of experience tutoring. The paraeducator tutors, who were recruited from school communities, were mostly female (75%) and White (63%). Paraeducators' education ranged from high school completion to a master's degree and they averaged 1.0 years of tutoring experience.
Intervention Group
The intervention is a supplemental tutoring program focused on repeated reading with word-level instruction provided to students in grades 2 and 3 in dyads. The intervention utilized a modified version of the Quick Reads fluency program. Each tutoring session consisted of the following six steps: (1) word reading instruction, (2) first passage reading, (3) second and third passage reading, (4) fourth passage reading, (5) comprehension, (6) read new passage/reread previous passage(s). Students were tutored in their dyads for 30 minutes per day, 4 days per week, for 15 weeks. Tutors were provided with an instructional package, which was recommended in the Quick Reads manual. All instruction that was part of the intervention was scripted as a way to standardize procedures across tutors.
Comparison Group
Students assigned to the control condition received regular classroom instruction.
Support for implementation
Tutors received a 4-hour training conducted by project staff. The training focused on providing an overview of reading fluency development and the repeated reading method. The use of the Quick Reads materials were modeled and procedures were demonstrated for add instruction/scaffolding in decoding. After the initial training, the project staff visited tutors biweekly to provide follow up training.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
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A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
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as defined in the
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and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).