Eight third-grade teachers and their 111 students participated in this 12-week study that was conducted within regular classroom settings. Sixteen of the students demonstrated significant reading problems and qualified for special education or were identified by the school district as dyslexic. This study addressed the differential effects of fluency and comprehension instruction on fluency and comprehension outcomes in two groups of students: those with significant reading problems and those who are low- to average-achieving students. Eight classrooms of third graders and their teachers were assigned to one of two interventions : partner reading, designed to enhance fluency, or collaborative strategic reading, designed to enhance comprehension. Results indicated no statistically significant main effects or group-by-time interaction effects; however, over time (pre- to posttest), there were statistically significant effects for rate of reading and correct words read per minute (but not accuracy or comprehension) for both partner reading and collaborative strategic reading for both low- to average-achieving students and students with reading disabilities.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arreaga-Mayer, C., Terry, B., & Greenwood, C.R. (1998). Classwide peer tutoring . In K. Topping & S. Ehly (Eds.), Peer-assisted learning (pp. 105-119). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
2.
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., Sandora, C., Kucan, L., & Worthy, J. (1996). Questioning the author: A yearlong classroom implementation to engage students with text. The Elementary School Journal , 96, 385-414.
3.
Carr, E., & Ogle, D. (1987). K-W-L plus: A strategy for comprehension and summation . Journal of Reading, 30, 626-631.
Donahue, P.L., Voelkl, K.E., Campbell, J.R., & Mazzeo, J. (1999). National Assessment of Educational Progress: 1998 reading report card for the nation and the states. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
8.
Elbaum, B.E., Vaughn, S., Hughes, M.T., & Moody, S.W. (1999). Grouping practices and reading outcomes for students with disabilities. Exceptional Children, 65, 399-415.
9.
Foorman, B.R., Francis, D.J., Fletcher, J.M., Schatschneider, C., & Mehta, P. (1998). The role of instruction in learning to read: Preventing reading failure in at-risk children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 37-58.
10.
Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., Mathes, P.G., & Simmons, D.C. (1997). Peer-assisted learning strategies: Making classrooms more responsive to diversity. American Educational Research Journal, 34(1), 174-206.
11.
Fuchs, L.S., & Deno, S.L. (1981). The relationship between curriculum-based mastery measures and standardized achievement tests in reading (Tech. Rep. No. 57) . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities.
12.
Fuchs, L.S., Tindal, G., Shinn, M.R., Fuchs, D., Deno, S.L., & Germann, G. (1983). Technical adequacy of basal readers' mastery tests: Ginn 720 series (Tech. Rep. No. 122). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities .
13.
Greenwood, C.R., Terry, B., Delquardri, J., Elliott, M., & Arreaga-Mayer, C. (1995). Class Wide Peer tutoring (CWPT): Effective teaching and research review. Kansas City, KS: Juniper Gardens Children's Project.
14.
Hansen, J., & Pearson, P.D. (1983). An instructional study: Improving the inferential comprehension of good and poor fourth-grade readers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 821-829.
15.
Ihnot, C. (1991). Read naturally. St. Paul, MN : Read Naturally.
16.
Klingner, J.K., & Vaughn, S. (1996). Reciprocal teaching of reading comprehension strategies for students with learning disabilities who use English as a second language . Elementary School Journal, 96, 275-293.
17.
Klingner, J.K., & Vaughn, S. (1999). Promoting reading comprehension, content learning and English acquisition through collaborative strategic reading. The Reading Teacher, 52, 738-747.
18.
Klingner, J.K., & Vaughn, S. (2000). The helping behaviors of fifth-graders while using collaborative strategic reading during ESL content classes. TESOL Quarterly, 34(1), 69-98.
19.
Klingner, J.K., Vaughn, S., & Schumm, J.S. (1998). Collaborative strategic reading during social studies in heterogeneous fourth-grade classrooms. Elementary School Journal, 98, 3-21.
Mastropieri, M.A., & Scruggs, T.E. (1997). Best practices in promoting reading comprehension in students with learning disabilities: 1976 to 1996. Remedial and Special Education, 18, 197-213.
22.
Mathes, P.G., Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L.S., Henley, A.M., & Sanders, A. (1994). Increasing strategic reading practice with Peabody classwide peer tutoring. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 9, 44-48.
23.
Meyer, M., & Felton, R.H. (1999). Repeated reading to enhance fluency: Old approaches and new directions. Annals of Dyslexia, 49, 283-306.
Palinscar, A.S., & Brown, A.L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, 1, 117-175.
26.
Pressley, M., El-Dinary, P.B., Gaskins, I., Schuder, T., Bergman, J., Almasi, J., & Brown, R. (1992). Beyond direct explanation: Transactional instruction of reading comprehension strategies. Elementary School Journal , 92, 511-554.
27.
Samuels, S.J. (1979/1997). The method of repeated readings . The Reading Teacher, 50, 376-381.
28.
Scruggs, T.E., & Mastropieri, M.A. (1996). Teacher perceptions of mainstreaming inclusion, 1985-1995: A research synthesis. Exceptional Children, 63, 59-74.
29.
Semmel, M.I., Abernathy, T.V., Butera, G., & Lesar, S. (1991). Teacher perceptions of the Regular Education Initiative . Exceptional Children, 58, 9-23.
30.
Sindelar, P.T., Monda, L., & O'Shea, L. (1990). Effects of repeated readings on instructional- and mastery-level readers. Journal of Educational Research, 83, 353-363.
31.
Snow, C., Bums, M. , & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children . Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
32.
Stanovich, K.E. (1993-1994). Romance and reality. ReadingTeacher, 47, 280-291.
33.
Tindal, G., Germann, G., & Deno, S.L. (1983). Descriptive research on the Pine County norms: A compilation of findings (Research Rep. No. 132). Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities.
34.
Tindal, G., Marston, D., & Deno, S.L. (1983). The reliability of direct and repeated measurement (Research Rep. No. 109)Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities.
35.
Topping, K.J., & Lindsay, G.A. (1992). The structure and development of the paired reading technique. Journal of Research in Reading, 15(2), 120-136.
36.
Torgesen, J.K., Wagner, R.K., Rashotte, C.A., Rose, E., Lindamood, P., Con-way, T., & Garvan, C. (1999). Preventing reading failure in young children with phonological processing disabilities: Group and individual responses to instruction . Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 579-593.
37.
Utley, C.A., Mortweet, S.L., & Greenwood, C.R. (1997). Peer-mediated instruction and intervention. Focus on Exceptional Children, 29(5), 1-24.
38.
Vaughn, S., Hughes, M.T., Schumm, J.S., & Klingner, J.K. (1998). A collaborative effort to enhance reading and writing instruction in inclusion classrooms. Learning Disability Quarterly, 21(1), 57-74.
39.
Vaughn, S., & Klingner, J.K. (1999). Teaching reading comprehension through collaborative strategic reading. Intervention in School and Clinic, 34, 284-292.
40.
Vaughn, S., & Schumm, J.S. (1996). Classroom ecologies: Classroom interactions and implications for inclusion of students with learning disabilities. In D. L. Speece & B. K. Keogh (Eds.), Research on classroom ecologies: Implications for inclusion of children with learning disabilities (pp. 107-124). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
41.
Vellutino, F.R., Scanlon, D.M., Sipay, E., Small, S., Pratt, A., Chen, R., & Denckla, M. (1996). Cognitive profiles of difficult-to-remediate and readily remediated poor readers: Early intervention as a vehicle for distinguishing between cognitive and experimental deficits as basic causes of specific reading disability. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 601-638.
42.
Weinsten, G., & Cooke, N.L. (1992). The effects of two repeated reading interventions on generalization of fluency. Learning Disability Quarterly , 15, 21-28.
Young, A., & Bowers, P.G. (1995). Individual difference and text difficulty determinants of reading fluency and expressiveness. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 60, 428-454.
45.
Zigmond, N., Jenkins, J., Fuchs, L.S., Deno, S., Fuchs, D., Baker, J.N., Jenkins, L., & Coutinho, M. (1995). Special education in restructured schools: Findings from three multi-year studies. Phi Delta Kappan,76, 531-540.
