Using a Repeated Reading Program to Improve Generalization of Oral Reading Fluency

Three second-grade students at-risk for reading failure participated in an adult-directed repeated reading program that integrated isolated word reading practice, unison reading, error correction, and performance cueing and feedback procedures. During each intervention session, the participants practiced five difficult words key to a first-grade independent level passage, engaged in unison reading with the adult trainer, and repeatedly read the passage four or five times with error correction. The oral reading rate on second-grade, transfer passages (i.e., new passages that students have not practiced before) served as the primary dependent variable. Using a multiple probe across participants design, we showed that the repeated reading program improved all participants’ oral reading rates on the grade level transfer passages. Implications of the study are discussed.