The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) and reading skills in distinguishing gifted students from their non-gifted peers. A total of 260 third grade students participated in the study. Of these students, 144 were gifted, while the others were not. As the data collection tools, personal information…

Little is known about what contributes to individual differences in reading fluency after accounting for accuracy. Previous research has shown individual differences in the relative growth in word and nonword reading, specifically a pattern in which students who start lower on reading grow more in word than nonword reading ability. The purpose of…

The role of children's receptive vocabulary knowledge in word and nonword reading (decoding) in an orthographically transparent language is debated. Moreover, we have little understanding of how the role of vocabulary might differ between monolingual children and bilingual children from immigrant families (or language minority bilingual children…

This matched-sample study investigates the use of a wide range of texts of varying--and often challenging--complexity to promote fluency for students experiencing below grade level achievement. We designed a repeated-reading protocol called 'Read Like Us', and performed a pilot implementation in small groups with third- and fourth-grade students…

Purpose: The study aimed to examine whether oral reading prosody--the use of acoustic features (e.g., pitch and duration variations) when reading passages aloud--predicts reading fluency and comprehension abilities. Method: We measured vocabulary, syntax, word reading, reading fluency (including rate and accuracy), reading comprehension (in Grades…

The current study investigated the impact of manipulating reading strategy, reading the questions first (QF) or the passage first (PF), during a reading comprehension test, and we explored how reading strategy was related to student characteristics. Participants' eye movements were monitored as they read 12 passages and answered multiple-choice…

Despite repeated findings that within-year growth in oral reading rate is nonlinear for many students, existing decision-making frameworks to evaluate response to intervention assume that growth is linear across an entire school year. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the consequences of failing to account for nonlinear growth among…

This study addressed the concept of reading instructional level. First, we reviewed the history of the concept, including some recent criticisms of its validity (Schwanenflugel & Knapp, 2017; Shanahan, 2014). Next, we examined, from an instructional-level perspective, the oral reading performance of 248 third graders. We divided the sample…

Introduction: Existing studies of the variables that can impact reading comprehension at intermediate levels of Primary Education are not entirely conclusive. The present study analyzes the contribution to reading comprehension made by domain-general skills, such as fluid intelligence (Gf) and working memory (WM), and domain-specific skills, such…

This study aimed to examine (a) the developing interrelations between the efficiency of reading individually presented words (i.e., isolated word recognition speed) and the efficiency of reading multiword sequences (i.e., word list and text reading fluency); (b) whether serial digit naming, indexing the ability to process multi-item sequences,…

In this study, we examined the impact of a simple explicit-timing intervention on low-achieving third-grade students' ability to read more rapidly and accurately. We implemented an ABAB design with four struggling readers to establish experimental control and to evaluate the effects of the treatment in terms of the target variable. The results…

Reading in alphabetic orthography requires analysis and recognition of specific attributes of visual stimuli, and generation, reactivation, and use of mental images of letters and words. This study evaluated the role of visual analysis and mental imagery in reading performances of students at different stages of reading acquisition. Reading…

Assessments of oral reading rate in words correct per minute (WCPM) have proliferated in elementary classrooms. This study explores the similarities and differences among students at the end of second grade who demonstrate low WCPM. Using latent profile analysis, readers with low WCPM compared to peers were identified (n = 2,191) from a state-wide…

Grounded in the simple view of reading, this study tracked the development of print-processing skill in high-, average-, and low-achieving readers at six time points across grades 1-3. Results showed large between-group differences in sight vocabulary, oral reading accuracy, and oral reading rate that remained stable from beginning of first grade…

The current study used the learning hierarchy/instructional hierarchy phases of acquisition and fluency to predict intervention effectiveness based on preintervention reading skills. Preintervention reading accuracy (percentage of words read correctly) and rate (number of words read correctly per minute) were assessed for 49 second- and…