Running Head: EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

EffectiveFluencyInterventions
JillA.Croy
NorthCarolinaStateUniversity
December10,2013

EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

EffectiveFluencyInterventions
Introduction
Soonafterlearningoftheteacherresearchproject,IknewIwantedittobe
focusedonreadingfluency.Readingfluencyhasreceivedalotofattentionineducation
recently.Specifically,theReadtoAchieveProgrammarksthirdgradeasapivotalyearin
achildsreadingprogress.Asathirdgradeteacher,itbecomesparamountthatIam
awareofthereadingabilitiesofthestudentsinmyclass.Oneformofdata,which
highlightsstrugglingreaders,isanoralreadingfluencyscore.ThecountyinwhichIam
teachingrequiresstudentsinthirdgradetobeassessedaminimumofthreetimesayear
todeterminetheiroralreadingfluency(ORF)progress.TodetermineastudentsORF
score,theteacherhasthestudentreadthreepassagesaloudforoneminuteeach.Foreach
passage,ascoreiscreatedbasedonhowmanywordswerereadcorrectlyintheone
minutetimeperiod.Themedianofthesethreescoresisusedasthefinalscore.By
comparingeachstudentsscoretoabenchmark,teacherscandetermineifastudentis
readingbelow,on,orabovegradelevelintermsofreadingfluency.Studentswhoareon
orabovegradelevelarenotassessedagainuntilthemiddleoftheschoolyearandagain
attheendoftheschoolyearshouldtheyremainonorabovegradelevel.Studentswhose
scoresfallbelowthebenchmarkrequirefluencyinterventions.
Inthepast,IbecamefrustratedwiththeinterventionsIwasimplementingbecause
Ididnotfeeltheywereeffective.Iwantedtotrulyhelpmystudents,butfeltIwas
wastingtheirtimeaswellasminewithaninsubstantialintervention.Thisledmetothe

EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

basisofmyresearchproject:toinvestigatefluencyinterventionsanddeterminetheir
effectiveness.
InterventionsImplemented
Aftersomeresearch,Ichosetoimplementtwodifferentinterventions.Usingthe
ORFscoresfrombeginningoftheyearassessments,Isplitmysixloweststudentsinto
twogroupsofthree.Onegroupreceivedtheirinterventiononthecomputerusinga
programcalledRAZkids.Thisprogramallowseducatorstostarteachstudentontheir
readinglevel.Whenastudentlogson,theyhaveseveralelectronicbooksfromwhichto
choose.Afterthestudentchoosesabook,itisreadaloudtothemwhileacursormoves
overthewords.Whenthebookhasended,thestudentanswerstenmultiplechoice
questionsaboutthebookandhastheoptiontolookbackinthetextfortheanswer.Asan
incentive,studentscanearnpointsforeachquiztheypass.Thepointsallowthestudent
theoptionofpurchasingpartstoarocketship,whichtheycanflytovariousplacesin
outerspace.
IfoundmysecondinterventioninthearticleSoLong,RobotReader!A
SuperheroInterventionPlanforImprovingFluency(Marcell&Ferraro,2013).Inthis
article,aneducatorusedsuperheroestohelpstudentsimprovetheirreading.On
Monday,studentsaregivenapoemapproximatelyonepageinlength.Thestudentsare
givenoneminutetoreadasmuchofthepoemaspossible.OnTuesday,studentspractice
phrasingbyreadingthewaySuperScooperwould,nothisnemesis,ChoppyBoy.On
Wednesday,ExpressionManbattlesFlatManbyhelpingthestudentsreadwitha
fluctuatingvoicethatpaysattentiontopunctuation.OnThursday,studentsfocusonwhat

EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

thewordsmeanthewayCaptainComprehensiondoes.AlienDudeontheotherhand
isfromMarsandhasnoideawhatthewordsmean.Thefinalbattletakesplaceon
FridaywhenthestudentsreadthepoemforafinaltimeasPoetryPowerMandefeats
RobotReader.Thestudentsaretimedagainforoneminutetoseehowmuch
improvementtheyhavemade.
Bothoftheseinterventionsweregiveneverydayfor20minuteswiththe
exceptionofoneortwodayswhenschoolwasnotinsessionorschedulechanges
preventedtheinterventionsfrombeinggiven.WhileIamcurrentlycontinuingto
administertheseinterventions,Icollectedsixweeksofdataforthisproject.
ResearchQuestion
Initially,myresearchquestionwas,Whichreadinginterventionshavethemost
significantimpactonimprovingachildsreadingfluency?Inarrowedthisquestionto,
AretheRAZKidsprogramandSuperheroInterventionPlaneffectiveinterventions
forimprovingastudentsoralreadingfluency?
Formystudy,Idefinedoralreadingfluencyastheabilitytoreadwordsin
connectedtextwithaccuracy,automaticity,andprosody(McEwanAdkins,2010,p.99).
WhilethecountyIworkforreferstofluencysolelyaswordsreadcorrectperminute,I
believefluencyismorecomprehensive.Ratherthanspeedread,Ibelievestudentsneedto
payattentiontotheirphrasing,expression,andprosody;therebyallowingforgreater
readingcomprehension.Manyresearchersagreewiththenotionthatreadingfluency
impactsreadingcomprehension.Whenachildreadstextinasmooth,meaningfulway

EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

withoutstoppingfrequentlytodecodewords,itiseasierforthemtounderstandwhatthey
arereading.
Rationale
Iconsidertheabilitytoreadanessentialskillforanymemberofsociety.Words
areanintegralcomponentofoureverydaytasks.Readingopensupmanyavenuesfora
person,soIwanttoimprovewhatIamdoingtohelpmystrugglingreadersovercome
theirreadingdeficits.IfIcanmakereadingeasierformystudents,myhopeistheywill
belessreluctanttoreadandbeginreadingindependentlywithenthusiasm.
NorthCarolinalegislationhasplacedagreatdealofemphasisonthereading
abilityofthirdgraders.AccordingtotheNorthCarolinaReadtoAchieveprogram,ifa
studentisnotreadingatorabovegradelevelbytheendofthirdgrade,theymaybe
requiredtoattendsummerschool,enteratransitionalfourthgradeclass,orevenbe
retained.Asathirdgradeteacher,itisimportantthatItakeaninitiativeandbegin
interventionsearly.DoingsowillgivemystudentsthebestchancetopasstheirEndof
GradeAssessment.
ResearchonReadingFluency
BothofthereadinginterventionsIadministeredwereformsofrepeatedreading.
Inrepeatedreading,strugglingreadersworkwiththesametextseveraltimes,eachtime
improvingtheirabilitytoreadit.Withmyteacherledgroup,weusedapoemeachday
forfivedays.Mystudentsusingthecomputerfortheirinterventionsheardtheirstories
readtothemseveraltimesastheywentbacktothetextlookingforanswerstotheirquiz
questions.InDevelopingReadingFluencyWithRepeatedReading,Therrienand

EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

Kubinaconcludethat,Repeatedreadingdirectlytargetsoralreadingfluencyandcan
easilybeintegratedinanexistingreadingprogram.Previousresearchhasshownthat
repeatedreadingiseffectivewithavarietyofstudents,includingstudentswith
disabilities(2006,p.159).
Additionally,Rasinski(2012)statesin,WhyReadingFluencyShouldBeHot!,
Severalreviewsofresearchonfluencyhaveshownthatwordrecognitionaccuracy,
automaticity,comprehension,andattitudetowardreadinghavebeenshowntoimprove
withrepeatedreadings(p.518).Researchindicatesthatwhenimplementedproperly,
repeatedreadinginterventionsimproveoralreadingfluency.
DataCollection
Icollecteddatainvariousforms.Beforebeginningtheinterventions,Igaveeach
ofthesixstudentsinmystudyareadingsurvey(seeAppendixA)todeterminetheir
thoughtsaboutreading.Eachdayafteradministeringinterventions,Irecordedany
thoughtsIhadinmyteacherresearchjournal.ThereweredayswhereIwouldforgetto
dothis,butIwasabletojournalconsistently.Additionally,Iconductedonegroup
interviewwiththreeofmystudentsaswellasoneononeinterviewswitheachofthesix
studentsinmystudy(seeAppendicesBandCforinterviewquestions).
OnFridays,Icollectedquantitativedataintwoforms.Eachofthethreestudents
intheteacherledgroupwasgivenoneminutetoreadthepoemusedduringtheweek.
ThiswasalsodoneonMonday,sohavingthemreadthepoemagainattheendofthe
weekallowedmetoseeiftheirreadingrateincreased.Ialsoadministeredaoneminute

EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

coldreadpassagetoeachofthesixstudentsinmystudytodetermineiftheywere
makinggrowthinfluencywhengivenunfamiliartext.
DataAnalysis
Ibeganmyanalysisbylookingateachformofdataindividually.Ireviewedthe
notesmadeinmyteacherresearchjournalandcomparedeachstudentsreadingsurvey
responsesfromthesurveygivenattheonsetofthestudytotheonegivenattheend.I
listenedtoeachofthestudentinterviewsandtranscribedthem.Ithenusedcodingto
determinewhichcommonthemesexistedintheinterviewresponses.
Formyquantitativedata,IorganizedtheORFscoresobtainedeachweekintoa
tableandincludedeachstudentsbaselinescore.
Findings
Surveys
Thestudentsurveys(AppendixA)didnotyieldmuchinformation,asstudent
responsesdidnotchangesignificantlyfromthebeginningofthesixweekperiodtothe
end.However,thefewchangesmadewerepositive.Forexample,inthesectionwhere
studentsratebooks,thereweremoresmileyfacesandinthesectionwherestudentscircle
sentencesdescribingtheirreadingattitudesandbehaviors,severalstudentsdecreasedthe
numberofnegativephrasestheycircled.
Journal
Twocommonthemesemergedfromtheanalysisofmyteacherresearchjournal:
1.Thestudentsseemedtoenjoytheinterventionsand2.Schedulechangesarestressful.

EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

SeveraltimesinmyteacherresearchjournalInotedthatthestudentswere
enjoyingthemselves,werehavingfun,askedtoreadthepoemagain,etc.This
informationisvaluablebecauseitmeansthestudentshadagoodattitudeaboutpracticing
theirreading.Inmysixyearsofteaching,Ihavelearnedthatthemoreinvestedstudents
are,themorelikelytheyaretoexceed.Mystudentsenthusiasmtowardtheirreading
interventionisimportanttonote.
AsoftenasImadenotesaboutmystudentspositiveattitudes,Iwasnegative
abouthowfrequentlyourschedulechangedandcausedtheinterventionimplementation
tobeshortened,changed,orcancelled.Inthirdgrade,studentsaretestedforacademic
giftedness.Thistestingalongwithbenchmarktesting,schoolassemblies,earlyrelease
days,andvariousotherinterruptionsbegantotaketheirtollonmyattitude.Inoted
severaltimesinmyjournalthatitseemedasthougheverythingwasinterferingwiththe
implementationofmyinterventions.
Scheduleconflictscannotbehelped,soIdonotthinkitisworthwhiletoharpon
themtoomuch.Itmaybeworthconsideringotherscheduleoptionsasfaraswhenthe
interventionscouldbeimplemented,butmostoftheconflictsthemselveswereoutofmy
control.
Interviews
IntheinterviewsIconductedwithmystudentsIaskedquestionstogetasenseof
theirgeneralattitudetowardreading,aswellastheirattitudeaboutthereading
interventionsspecifically.Interestingly,nostudentschosereadingastheirfavoriteor
leastfavoritesubject,butallstatedtheylikedreading.Onestudentnotedthatreading

EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

madeherfeelnervouswhenshedidnotknowawordandthatitwasdifficultattimes,
butoverallshestillhadpositivefeelingsaboutreading.Whenaskedaboutthereading
interventionstheywerereceiving,thethreestudentsintheteacherledgroupallstated
theyenjoyedtheinterventionandthoughtitwashelpingthem.Thestudentsusingthe
RAZkidsprogramhadmixedreviews.Whiletheyallagreeditwashelpingthem,one
studentdidnotlikethathispeerswereatahigherlevelthanhim(apparentlyhehadbeen
peekingathisneighborscomputerscreen)andanotherdidnotenjoyhowlongittookto
movefromoneleveltothenext.Allbutonestudentfelttheyhadgottenbetteratreading
fromthebeginningoftheyearuntilthepresent.Thestudentwhodidnotfeelshehad
improvedstatedthatshedoesnotfeelsheisdoingagoodjobunderstandingwhatsheis
reading.Finally,whenaskedhowtheyknewtheywereimprovinginreading,students
respondedthattheyunderstandmoreofwhattheyread,knowmorewords,andgenerally
findreadingeasier.
WeeklyORFScores
Myquantitativedataconsistedoftrackingstudentsprogressinwordsread
correctlyinoneminute.Whilestudentsscoresfluctuatedfromoneweektothenext,the
generalgrowthtrendforeachstudentwaspositive.
Thefollowingtableshowseachstudentsbaselineoralreadingfluencyscore,as
wellastheirweeklyscoresaftertheinterventionshadbeenimplemented.

A
B
C

Baseline

Week1

Week2

Week3

Week4

Week5

Week6

ORF
58
71
86

84
73
109

68
80
92

82
104
108

65
84
112

65
85
107

100
95
112

EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

D
E
F

23
73
54

64
94
88

62
96
66

10
75
137
75

57
105
absent

66
118
76

absent
115
88

Discussion
Basedonmydatacollection,Iwouldarguethatbothinterventionsareindeed
effective.Researchsuggeststhatthirdgradersweeklyrateofimprovementintermsof
ORFshouldbe1.1words(Hasbrouch&Tindal,2006).Nineweekshavepassedfromthe
timethebaselinescorewasdetermineduntilnow.Thismeanseachstudentshouldhave
grownbyabout10wordscorrectperminute.Thedatacollectedindicatesthateachofthe
sixstudentsinmystudyhasgrownbyatleastthatamount.
TheinterventionsIimplementedhadasignificanteffectontheORFimprovement
ofmystudents.Evenmoresignificantisthefactthatthestudentsseemedtoenjoythe
interventionsandfelttheywerebeneficial.Iwouldliketocontinuemyresearchby
switchingtotwonewfluencyinterventions.Mygoalistocontinuetryingout
interventionstogetasenseofwhichonesseemthemosteffective.OfthetwoIhave
implemented,IfoundtheSuperheroInterventionPlanbetter.Teacherledinstruction
allowedmetoconsistentlycorrectmystudentsastheywerereading.Additionally,all
threestudentsinthisstudysaidtheyenjoyedtheintervention,thoughtitwasfun,andfelt
ithelpedthemimprovetheirreading.
Mystudysuggeststhatwiththeuseofqualityinterventions,astudentsORFcan
beimproved.Notonlydotheinterventionshavetobequality,butalsotheyhavetobe
administeredfrequentlyandforsignificantamountsoftimeonadailybasis.Therearea

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varietyofinterventionsfromwhichtochoose.Teachersshouldfindinterventionsthey
areinvestedinsoimplementingthemdoesnotfeellikeawasteoftime.
TheresearchIhaveconsultedcautionsteacherstonotfocusalloftheirfluency
effortsonspeed.Rather,readingfluencyisacombinationofmanythings.In
administeringtheseinterventions,itbecamecleartomethatitisimportanttofocuson
fluencycomprehensivelywhenhelpingstudentsbelowgradelevel.TheSuperhero
InterventionPlanisperfectforthis.Theoverarchinggoaloftheinterventionisto
improveastudentsreadingfluency,butphrasing,expression,andcomprehensionare
partoftheintervention.Ihavelearnedthatfluencyislinkedtocomprehension,butnot
whenthefocusisspeedonly.Astudentwhofliesthroughapassageasfastastheycanis
notaslikelytounderstandwhattheyhavereadasastudentwhoreadswithgood
accuracy,automaticity,andprosody.Whileitisnotpossibletomeasurethese
componentsoffluencyaseasilyasitistomeasurewordsreadcorrectperminute,Ifeel
theyareimportant.

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References
Hasbrouck,J,Tindal,G.A,(2006).Oralreadingfluencynorms:avaluableassessment
toolforreadingteachers.TheReadingTeacher,59(7),636644.
McEwanAdkins,E.K.(2010).Part4:Interventionsforbuildingfluency.In40reading
interventionstrategiesfork6students(pp.97127).Bloomington,IN:Solution
TreePress.
Marcell,B.,Ferraro,C.(2013).Solong,robotreader!asuperherointerventionplanfor
improvingfluency.TheReadingTeacher,66(8),607614.
Rasinski,T.(2012).Whyreadingfluencyshouldbehot!TheReadingTeacher,65(8),
516522.
Silverman,R.D.,Speece,D.L.,Harring,J.R.,&Ritchey,K.D.(2012).Fluencyhasa
roleinthesimpleviewofreading.ScientificStudiesofReading,17(2),108133.
Therrien,W.J.,Kubina,Jr.R.M.(2006).Developingreadingfluencywithrepeated
reading.InterventioninSchoolandClinic,41(3),156160.

EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

AppendixA

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AppendixB
Interviewquestionsaskedtothethreestudentsreceivingtheirinterventionfromme:

Whatisyourfavoritesubjectinschool?
Whatisyourleastfavoritesubject?
Howdoyoufeelaboutreading?
Howdoyoufeelaboutwhatwearedoingeachdaytopracticereading?
Doyoufeellikeitshelpingyou?How?
Whatisyourfavoritepart?
Whatisyourleastfavoritepart?
Doyouthinkithelpsyouunderstand?

AppendixC
Interviewquestionsaskedtoeachofthesixstudentsindividually:

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EFFECTIVE FLUENCY INTERVENTIONS

Howdoyoufeelaboutthesubjectofreading?
Ifyouthinkaboutthebeginningofthirdgradeuntilnow,doyouthinkyour

readinghasgottenbetter?
Doyouthinkwhatyouredoingattheendofthedaytopracticereadingis

helping?
Doyoulikeit?
Whydoyouthinkyouvegottenbetteratreading?Howcanyoutell?

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