This article reports a synthesis of intervention studies conducted between 1994 and 2004 with older students (Grades 6–12) with reading difficulties. Interventions addressing decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension were included if they measured the effects on reading comprehension. Twenty-nine studies were located and synthesized. Thirteen studies met criteria for a meta-analysis, yielding an effect size (ES) of 0.89 for the weighted average of the difference in comprehension outcomes between treatment and comparison students. Word-level interventions were associated with ES = 0.34 in comprehension outcomes between treatment and comparison students. Implications for comprehension instruction for older struggling readers are described.

A synthesis of the extant research on reading interventions for students with reading difficulties and disabilities in fourth and fifth grade (ages 9-11) is presented. Thirteen studies with treatment/ comparison study designs and eleven single group or single subject studies were located and synthesized. Findings from the 24 studies revealed high effects for comprehension interventions on researcher-developed comprehension measures. Word recognition interventions yielded small to moderate effects on a range of reading outcomes. Few studies were located implementing vocabulary and multi-component interventions.

Previous research studies examining the effects of spelling and reading interventions on the spelling outcomes of students with learning disabilities (LD) are synthesized. An extensive search of the professional literature between 1995 and 2003 yielded a total of 19 intervention studies that provided spelling and reading interventions to students with LD and measured spelling outcomes. Findings revealed that spelling outcomes were consistently improved following spelling interventions that included explicit instruction with multiple practice opportunities and immediate corrective feedback after the word was misspelled. Furthermore, evidence from spelling interventions that employed assistive technology aimed at spelling in written compositions indicated positive effects on spelling outcomes.

The authors report the effects of a yearlong, very small-group, intensive reading intervention for eighth-grade students with serious reading difficulties who had demonstrated low response to intervention (RTI) in both Grades 6 and 7. At the beginning of Grade 6, a cohort of students identified as having reading difficulties were randomized to treatment or comparison conditions. Treatment group students received researcher-provided reading intervention in Grade 6, which continued in Grade 7 for those with low response to intervention; comparison students received no researcher-provided intervention. Participants in the Grade 8 study were members of the original treatment (N = 28) and comparison (N = 13) conditions who had failed to pass a state-mandated reading comprehension test in both Grades 6 and 7. In Grade 8, treatment group students received a 50-minute, daily, individualized, intensive reading intervention in groups of two to four students per teacher. The results showed that students in the treatment condition demonstrated significantly higher scores than comparison students on standardized measures of comprehension (effect size = 1.20) and word identification (effect size = 0.49), although most continued to lack grade-level proficiency in reading despite 3 years of intervention. Findings from this study provide a rationale for intensive intervention for middle school students with severe reading difficulties.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations among oral and silent reading fluency and reading comprehension for students in Grades 6 to 8 (n = 1,421) and the use of fluency scores to identify middle school students who are at risk for failure on a high-stakes reading test. Results indicated moderate positive relations between measures of fluency and comprehension. Oral reading fluency (ORF) on passages was more strongly related to reading comprehension than ORF on word lists. A group-administered silent reading sentence verification test approximated the classification accuracy of individually administered ORF passages. The correlation between a maze task and comprehension was weaker than has been reported for elementary students. The best predictor of a high-stakes reading comprehension test was the previous year's administration of the grade-appropriate test; fluency and verbal knowledge measures accounted for only small amounts of unique variance beyond that accounted for by the previous year's administration.In recent years, increasing emphasis has been placed on identifying and intervening with older students with reading difficulties (e.g., Biancarosa & Snow, 2004), but questions remain regarding the valid identification of these students. Based on its demonstrably stong relations with both decoding and reading comprehension in the elementary grades, the measurement of oral reading fluency (ORF) has been widely accepted as an efficient and Correspondence should be sent to Carolyn A. Denton, Children's Learning Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center Houston, 7000 Fannin, UCT 2443, Houston, TX 77030. Carolyn.A.Denton@uth.tmc.edu. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptSci Stud Read. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 May 31. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript valid way to assess elementary school students' overall reading competence (e.g., Fuchs, Fuchs, Hosp, & Jenkins, 2001). These measures are often administered to elementary school students to identify those who need reading intervention, to monitor their progress, and to determine whether they have responded adequately to instruction.The empirical support for the use of such measures with elementary grade students is strong, but there is appreciably less known about valid applications of fluency measures with older students. Assumptions have been made that the measures will operate with secondary school students as they do with younger children, but these assumptions have not been substantiated. The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the relations among multiple measures of oral and silent reading fluency and reading comprehension for students in Grades 6, 7, and 8 and (b) the use of fluency measures to identify students at risk for failure on a high stakes reading comprehension test who may need supplemental reading intervention. MEASURING ORFORF is most often measured by timing a student reading one or more passages orally for 1 to 2 min, counting the total number of w...

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This experimental study was conducted to examine the efficacy of repeated reading and wide reading practice interventions for high school students with severe reading disabilities. Effects on comprehension, fluency, and word reading were evaluated. Participants were 96 students with reading disabilities in grades 9-12. Students were paired within classes and pairs were randomly assigned to one of three groups: repeated reading (N = 33), wide reading (N = 34), or typical instruction (N = 29). Intervention was provided daily for approximately 15-20 minutes for 10 weeks. Results indicated no overall statistically significant differences for any condition, with effect sizes ranging from −.31 to .27. Findings do not support either approach for severely impaired readers at the high school level. We hypothesize that these students require more intensive interventions that include direct and explicit instruction in word-and text-level skills as well as engaged reading practice with effective feedback.Over the last decade, researchers and policy makers have focused their attention on the need to prevent reading disabilities in young children through early intervention. Considerably less attention has been provided to remediating reading difficulties at the secondary level.

Previous research studies examining the effects of fluency interventions on the fluency and comprehension outcomes for secondary struggling readers are synthesized. An extensive search of the professional literature between 1980 and 2005 yielded a total of 19 intervention studies that provided fluency interventions to secondary struggling readers and measured comprehension and/or fluency outcomes. Findings revealed fluency outcomes were consistently improved following interventions that included listening passage previewing such as listening to an audiotape or adult model of good reading before attempting to read a passage. In addition, there is preliminary evidence that there may be no differential effects between repeated reading interventions and the same amount of non-repetitive reading with older struggling readers for increasing reading speed, word recognition, and comprehension.