The present study investigated perceptual characteristics of speech in persons with stuttering before and after speech therapy. Five adult stutterers served as subjects. All the stutterers underwent prolongation therapy. Percentage of dysfluency, rate of reading, and type of dysfluencies were calculated in reading and spontaneous speech, before…

The authors outline a research study that explores the plight of students who direct so much effort into decoding that comprehension suffers. They make the case that difficulties in reading for older readers (intermediate, middle, and high school) could be due to reading fluency difficulties, and they offer strategies for helping these students…

Relationships between the Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency (TOSWRF; Mather, Hammill, Allen, & Roberts, 2004), a recently developed measure of fluency, and other operationalizations of reading, including subtests from the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS; 1996), and the Woodcock-Johnson-III Tests of Achievement, (WJ-III; Woodcock,…

The role of spelling recognition was examined in word reading skills and reading comprehension for dyslexic and nondyslexic children. Dyslexic and nondyslexic children were matched on their raw word reading proficiency. Relationships between spelling recognition and the following were examined for both groups of children: verbal ability, working…

This study investigated whether 2 different progress monitoring assessments differentially predicted growth in reading skills associated with systematic phonics instruction. Oral reading fluency (ORE) was compared with an intervention aligned word list (IAWL) as predictors of growth in untimed and timed decoding and word identification and text…

This study tested the hypothesis whether older dyslexic children may obtain fewer gains on fluency and accuracy with respect to their younger peers after specific remediation. Changes in accuracy and fluency of a group of children with a diagnosis of dyslexia attending third and fourth grades were compared with those obtained by a group of…

Response to intervention (RTI) involves ongoing evaluation of children's responsiveness to different levels of evidence-based interventions as a basis for eligibility determination. If students fail to make expected rates of progress, instruction is changed and, in most cases, intensified. Based on behavior-analytic models of effective instruction…

Most school-age boys score lower than girls at every level on standardized tests of reading comprehension in almost every country where tested. The amount of reading that a child does is directly related to reading fluency; the more one reads, the more proficient one becomes. After reviewing theories and research studies investigating why boys…

This article describes pertinent information regarding national and state standards and tests; instructional techniques for teaching word recognition, fluency, vocabulary knowledge, and comprehension skills; the selection of appropriate texts and materials; reader response; the diverse student learner; and a variety of authentic assessments that…

A total of 46 children in Grades 2 and 3 with low word-level skills were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups that received supplemental phonics-based reading instruction. One group received intervention October through March (21.5 hours), and one group served as a control from October through March and later received intervention March through May…

The Curriculum and Instructional Projects Team at the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) developed "Guidelines for Reviewing a Reading Program" ("Guidelines") to assist reviewers in determining if a program is consistent with the scientific research on reading. Based on that work, the Center on Instruction Reading Strand developed this…

This action research project was developed in order to increase student literacy, particularly in the area of reading, for students who were considered at-risk. The targeted student population was 2nd grade students who were served within a primary cross-categorical special education program. The classroom was housed in an elementary (K-2) school,…

The purpose of this study was to develop and gather validity evidence for silent reading fluency passages. A number of passages were written following a traditional story grammar structure (character, setting, events) and placed on a computer for students to read silently. We describe in detail, the manner in which content-related evidence was…

If, by looking more closely at word identification, knowledge of word meanings, and reading comprehension, some interesting similarities and differences are found between children and adults who are learning to read, then the approaches that work best with each group can be identified. When children learn to read, fluency of word identification…

The acquisition of reading fluency crucially involves the beginning reader's tacit recognition that he or she must learn to compensate for the absence of graphic signals corresponding to certain prosodic cues by making better use of the morphological and syntactic cues that are preserved. The success of the method of repeated readings and similar…