WWC review of this study

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

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    202
     Students
    , grades
    2-3

Reviewed: February 2023

At least one finding shows promising evidence of effectiveness
At least one statistically significant positive finding
Meets WWC standards without reservations
Oral reading fluency outcomes—Statistically significant positive effect found for the domain
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;
202 students

91.13

83.28

Yes

 
 
14
 

Gray Oral Reading Test-Fluency

QuickReads vs. Business as usual

15 Weeks

Full sample;
202 students

91.79

87.45

No

--

DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency Benchmarks (alternate)

QuickReads vs. Business as usual

15 Weeks

Full sample;
202 students

74.65

70.30

No

--
Reading Comprehension outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
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;
202 students

95.93

93.97

No

--

Gray Oral Reading Test-Comprehension

QuickReads vs. Business as usual

15 Weeks

Full sample;
202 students

91.64

92.21

No

--
Word readingĀ  outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
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;
202 students

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.

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.


  • 29% English language learners

  • Male: 59%

  • Urban

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.

 

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