Researchers have evaluated the effects of repeated reading and listening-while-reading interventions on oral reading fluency and comprehension, and have compared the effects of these two interventions on indirect measures of comprehension. The current study was designed to extend this research by evaluating and comparing the effects of these two…

Oral reading fluency was investigated as a predictor of standard scores on the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement III Broad Reading Cluster (BRC). Participants included first- through third-grade students (n = 1301) from elementary schools in and around Houston, Texas. Median words correct per minute scores from three oral reading passages were…

Middle-school students completed a comprehension assessment. The following day, they read four, 120-word passages, two standard and two non-standard ransom-note passages with altered font sizes. Altering font sizes increased students' reading time (i.e., reduced reading speed) by an average of 3 s and decreased students' words correct per minute…

Working with middle-school students, we replicated and extended research on oral reading fluency (ORF) assessments and prompting students to read faster. Altering ORF administration procedures by instructing students to read fast caused statistically significant increases in their words correct per minute (WCPM) and errors, which was moderated by…

The measure words correct per minute (WC/M) incorporates a measure of accurate aloud word reading and a measure of reading speed. The current article describes two studies designed to parse the variance in global reading scores accounted for by reading speed. In Study I, reading speed accounted for more than 40% of the reading composite score…

In the current study, 42 secondary students (10th, 11th, and 12th grade students) and 51 elementary students (4th and 5th grade students) read 400 word passages silently and aloud. During aloud reading, words correct per minute (WCPM) were recorded. After reading each passage, students answered 10 multiple-choice comprehension questions. Results…

Students in an undergraduate human development course (N = 215) participated in a brief assessment of their reading (comprehension level, reading speed, comprehension rate) and multiple-choice test-taking skills on the second day of class. Students first read a one-page, 400-word passage unrelated to the course and then answered 10…

Investigates the impact of the interspersal procedure on students' reading tasks. Students read out loud two passages, with one containing additional interspersed brief, easy paragraphs. Students selected the passage that would require the least effort and the least time to read. Results suggest that the interspersal procedure may improve…

Examined effects of instructing students to read silently as another person reads aloud on comprehension in secondary students with learning disabilities. Fast and slow treatment conditions were implemented with a silent-reading control condition. Differences in results on literal and inferential questions and their implications are discussed.…

A study of two elementary students (age 12) with reading difficulties compared the effects of rapid oral presentation and slow oral presentation on rates of accurate oral rereading during listening previewing. Rates of accurate oral rereading were higher when adults reduced their oral reading rates as students read silently. (Author/CR)

Twelve secondary students with learning disabilities read aloud from a text after previewing the passage under one of three conditions. Results showed significant decreases in error rates under slow-rate listening previewing and silent previewing and showed that slow-rate listening previewing resulted in fewer errors per minute than did fast-rate…

Comparison of a taped-words procedure and a drill procedure on the correct oral reading rates of five adolescents with behavior disorders and academic deficiencies found improvement related to the opportunities to respond rather than to the model provided by the taped-words procedure. (DB)

Generalizability (G) theory was used with a sample of 37 third-grade students to assess the variability in words correct per minute (WCPM) scores caused by student skill and passage variability. Reliability-like coefficients and the SEM based on a specific number of assessments using different combinations of passages demonstrated how manipulating…