WWC review of this study

The Role of Working Memory and Fluency Practice on the Reading Comprehension of Students Who Are Dysfluent Readers [Continuous reading vs. business as usual]

Swanson, H. Lee; O'Connor, Rollanda (2009). Journal of Learning Disabilities, v42 n6 p548-575 2009. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ861278

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    40
     Students
    , grade
    2

Reviewed: February 2023

No statistically significant positive
findings
Meets WWC standards without reservations
Oral reading fluency outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

GORT-4 Fluency subtest

Continuous reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Grade: 2: Continuous Reading vs. Comparison;
40 students

38.29

37.62

No

--
Reading Comprehension outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

GORT-4 Comprehension subtest

Continuous reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Grade: 2: Continuous Reading vs. Comparison;
40 students

14.57

13.96

No

--
Word reading  outcomes—Substantively important positive effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised Normative Update, Word Attack subtest

Continuous reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Grade: 2: Continuous Reading vs. Comparison;
40 students

18.32

14.94

No

--

Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised Normative Update, Word Identification subtest

Continuous reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Grade: 2: Continuous Reading vs. Comparison;
40 students

47.69

44.18

No

--


Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.


  • Urban
    • B
    • A
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F
    • G
    • I
    • H
    • J
    • K
    • L
    • P
    • M
    • N
    • O
    • Q
    • R
    • S
    • V
    • U
    • T
    • W
    • X
    • Z
    • Y
    • a
    • h
    • i
    • b
    • d
    • e
    • f
    • c
    • g
    • j
    • k
    • l
    • m
    • n
    • o
    • p
    • q
    • r
    • s
    • t
    • u
    • x
    • w
    • y

    California

Setting

The study took place in classrooms in 6 elementary schools in Southern California.

Study sample

The study did not present sample characteristics for only the second grade students.

Intervention Group

The study tests a continuous reading intervention. Students read text aloud to adult listeners continuously for 15 minutes. No passages of text were repeated; the adult listeners corrected errors by giving missed words but did not teach decoding or vocabulary. The intervention involved 15-minute sessions 3 times a week for 20 weeks.

Comparison Group

Teachers taught their regular lessons using the Houghton Mifflin curriculum.

Support for implementation

There were nine total adult listeners used for the study (five graduate student researchers and four additional hired listeners). These tutors (adult listeners) were trained during a 2-hour session by the principal investigator. The tutors were also observed during the first two treatment days and were given feedback. They were also observed on a weekly basis during the entire study (95 total observations). The tutors kept logs on the students reading.

Reviewed: May 2014



Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Study sample characteristics were not reported.
 

Your export should download shortly as a zip archive.

This download will include data files for study and findings review data and a data dictionary.

Connect With the WWC

loading
back to top