The current study examined the potentially changing relations of vocabulary knowledge and attentional control with word reading and spelling from Grade 2 to Grade 4. Spelling was scored using a conventional correctness score and an alternative nonbinary scoring method that reflects the degree of correctness (i.e., text distance). A total of 165…

This study measured the effectiveness of sight word practice using flashcards and the growth results were compared based on presentation formats when administered to a group of second grade students. The data were later disaggregated to compare the success rates of each platform among three different subgroups within the test population, based on…

Sight-word interventions are often implemented when students show delays in word recognition. However, few studies have investigated the effects of teaching sight words using phrases. The current study investigated the effects of a tablet-based flashcard intervention on the acquisition of sight phrases. A multiple-baseline design across word sets…

Strategic Incremental Rehearsal (SIR) is a recently developed flashcard intervention that blends Traditional Drill with Incremental Rehearsal (IR) for teaching sight words. The initial study evaluating SIR found it was more effective than IR for teaching sight words to first-grade students. However, that study failed to assess efficiency, which is…

After considering the relationships between (a) reading fluency and reading rate and (b) reading rate and sight vocabulary, this study addressed a very practical question. Can a cut score on a sight vocabulary task (1-min) predict level of reading fluency 4+ months into the future? The prediction was tested at multiple times point across grades…

Within brief experimental analysis, assessment data are used to target interventions for struggling students. This use of assessment data aligns with prevention and early intervention frameworks, but popular measures are limited for this purpose because of issues with measuring improvement in short periods. Our study was a pilot comparison of two…

This program evaluation was undertaken to examine the relationship between participation in Project iRead and student gains in word recognition, fluency, and comprehension as measured by the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) Test. Linear regressions compared the 2012-13 PALS results from 5,140 first and second grade students at…

The simple view of reading proposes that reading comprehension is the product of word reading and language comprehension. In this study, we used the simple view framework to examine the early prediction of reading comprehension abilities. Using multiple measures for all constructs, we assessed word reading precursors (i.e., letter knowledge,…

Fluent readers can read connected text with accuracy, automaticity, and prosody. Without practice, automaticity cannot develop in reading, and readers must focus their attention on decoding, limiting their ability to simultaneously comprehend. Researchers have traditionally assumed that fluency and comprehension have a unidirectional relationship…

We evaluated the effects of a summer reading intervention with a sample of low-income Black and Hispanic students who were struggling readers. In the summer before their 2nd- or 3rd-grade school year, 14 rising 2nd graders and 18 rising 3rd graders received 15 hr of a scripted, explicit phonics-based program in dyads from credentialed elementary…

This study examined the contributions of decoding, language, spelling, and motivation to the reading comprehension of elementary school readers in a high-poverty setting. Specifically, the research questions addressed whether and how the influences of word reading efficiency, semantic knowledge, reading self-concept, and spelling on reading…

The positive effect of early intervention upon the reading abilities of struggling students has been well documented by research. Unfortunately, the current economic situation has eliminated the positions of many interventionists serving in school districts across the country. Cross-age tutoring has been implemented in many places as a replacement…

State and local assessment data from 117 students in one school in the California Central Valley were examined to determine how much participation in a kindergarten through second grade multitiered reading intervention model contributed to third grade reading achievement, over and above the demographic factors of ethnicity, socioeconomic status,…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of three computerized interventions on the reading skills of children with reading disabilities in Grade 2. This longitudinal intervention study included five test sessions over 1 year. Two test points occur before the intervention, and three afterwards. The last follow-up was conducted 1…

Fasko, Jr. Bowling Green State University Abstract The purpose of the study was to assess the effectiveness of a tutoring intervention for sight word acquisition and to examine whether progress was matched by improvement in oral reading fluency. Three primary students were selected based upon teachers' referral for poor reading fluency. Flashcards…