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An examination of the effects of repeated readings with secondary students

Rachel Jessica Valleley, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Abstract

Reading is a fundamental skill for success in school and as an adult. However, many children and adults experience difficulties reading. Previous research has demonstrated that repeated readings is an effective intervention for increasing both fluency and comprehension for readers of all skill levels. However, the impact of repeated readings on fluency and comprehension has not been examined with secondary students with reading deficits. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of repeated readings for increasing four secondary student's fluency on passages at their instructional level, at the ninth grade level, and on generalization passages from their school curriculum. Furthermore, the effects on comprehension were also explored. A comparison group of average readers served as an estimate for how fluently secondary students read. The results of this study demonstrated that fluency improvements were achieved for all of the participants with just ten additional hours of practice. Each participant read faster as compared to their own performance and the comparison group. Thus, the participants were able to close the gap between their reading fluency and average readers. Comprehension results were much more complicated. Some of the measures indicated that some of the participants experienced slight comprehension gains and even sometimes similar comprehension rates as the comparison group. However, a ceiling effect also occurred. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed. Overall, repeated readings seemed to be a viable intervention for secondary students with reading deficits.

Subject Area

Literacy|Reading instruction|Secondary education

Recommended Citation

Valleley, Rachel Jessica, "An examination of the effects of repeated readings with secondary students" (2001). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3016329.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3016329

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