Description:

Purpose: In this project, the researchers proposed to test the efficacy of the Quick Reads fluency program as a supplementary or remedial intervention to improve student outcomes. The researchers aimed to provide evidence on whether Quick Reads could be used effectively by paraprofessionals with groups of two or four students. At the time of this project, paraprofessional tutors were often assigned to work with students with poor reading comprehension, but they often lack access to research-based programs. Quick Reads had some initial research, and this study and findings added to that research base.

Structured Abstract

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT DESCRIBES THE PROJECT AT THE TIME OF FUNDING

Sample: The student population will include large numbers of low-income and linguistic minority students often overrepresented in the proportion of students with poor comprehension skills due to underlying deficits in fluency and vocabulary knowledge. Each year 180 students will be recruited into the study from elementary and middle schools in the Seattle School District. Quick Reads tutoring will be tested with fourth- and fifth-grade and middle school students who are not at grade level in fluency, often with low levels of vocabulary, in schools that fail to show adequate yearly progress. Participants will also include paraprofessional tutors who we know to be lacking in but receptive to direct and systematic instruction approaches designed and tested for their use. The paraprofessionals who will use Quick Reads are currently an underutilized instructional resource. They have the potential to provide highly effective supplemental instruction that is carefully designed and can be easily used with appropriate training.

Intervention: The intervention, Quick Reads (tested to date by its developer in use by teachers), consists of texts with features that support fluency and vocabulary acquisition (few rare words, many high frequency words, and shared content with repeated concepts in science and social science topics). We will add to Quick Reads a layer of tutor training in simple yet effective research-based vocabulary strategies that can be delivered by paraprofessional tutors, addressing one of the questions raised by the National Reading Panel regarding comprehension instruction: "How should vocabulary be integrated into comprehension instruction for optimal benefit to the student?"

Research Design and Methods: This project will test the efficacy and replication of research-based strategies for fluency and vocabulary instruction. The study will be conducted by a research team with extensive experience in supplementary reading interventions delivered by trained paraprofessionals. Random assignment of students into treatment and control groups will be used. Interventions will be implemented by trained paraprofessional tutors with at-risk and reading disabled fourth- and fifth-grade students in phase 1 in a 2:1, and in phase 2 in a 4:1 student:tutor ratio. In phase 3, Quick Reads will be tested with middle school students who are not proficient in reading fluency on state high-stakes assessments.

Products and Publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.

Publicly Available Data:

WWC Review:

Vadasy, P. F., & Sanders, E. A. (2008). Repeated reading intervention: Outcomes and interactions with readers' skills and classroom instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 272. [WWC Review]

Vadasy, P. F., & Sanders, E. A. (2009). Supplemental fluency intervention and determinants of reading outcomes. Scientific Studies of Reading, 13(5), 383-425. [WWC Review]

Select Publications:

Journal articles

Vadasy, P.F., and Sanders, E.A. (2008). Repeated Reading Intervention: Outcomes and Interactions With Readers' Skills and Classroom Instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2): 272–290.

Vadasy, P.F., and Sanders, E.A. (2008). Benefits of Repeated Reading Intervention for Low-Achieving Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Students. Remedial and Special Education, 29(4): 235–249.

Vadasy, P.F., and Sanders, E.A. (2009). Supplemental Fluency Intervention and Determinants of Reading Outcomes. Scientific Studies of Reading, 13(5): 383–425.