The Role of Working Memory and Fluency Practice on the Reading Comprehension of Students Who Are Dysfluent Readers
H. Lee Swanson; Rollanda O'Connor (2009). Journal of Learning Disabilities, v42 n6 p548-575 . Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ861278
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examining40Students, grade2
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: October 2026
- Practice Guide (findings for Repeated reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009))
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
GORT-4 Fluency subtest |
Repeated reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
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34.34 |
37.62 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Gray Oral Reading Test-4 (GORT-4): Comprehension subtest |
Repeated reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
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13.26 |
13.96 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Woodcock Reading Mastery Test - Revised: Word Attack |
Repeated reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
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15.67 |
14.94 |
No |
-- | |
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Woodcock Reading Mastery Test - Revised: Word Identification |
Repeated reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
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45.02 |
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.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Other or unknown: 100% -
Urban
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California
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Race Other or unknown 100% -
Ethnicity Other or unknown 100% -
Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch Other or unknown 100%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in classrooms in 6 elementary schools in Southern California.
Intervention Group
The study tests a repeated reading intervention. Students read aloud one-on-one to adult listeners. Students received 15 minutes of practice 3 times a week for 20 weeks. They read each page of text 3 times for the 15 minute session.
Comparison Group
Teachers taught their regular lessons.
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: October 2026
- Practice Guide (findings for Continuous reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009))
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
GORT-4 Fluency subtest |
Continuous reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Grade: 2: Continuous Reading vs. Comparison;
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38.29 |
37.62 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gray Oral Reading Test-4 (GORT-4): Comprehension subtest |
Continuous reading practice—Swanson and O'Connor (2009) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Grade: 2: Continuous Reading vs. Comparison;
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14.57 |
13.96 |
No |
-- |
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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;
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18.32 |
14.94 |
No |
-- | |
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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;
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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.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Urban
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- 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
- v
- x
- w
- y
California
Study Details
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.
Repeated Reading Intervention Report - Students with a Specific Learning Disability
Review Details
Reviewed: June 2026
- The study is ineligible for review
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.
Please see the WWC summary of evidence for Repeated Reading.
Findings
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
Study sample characteristics were not reported.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.
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The number of students included in the analysis.
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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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