Comparing the Efficiency of Repeated Reading and Listening-While-Reading to Improve Fluency and Comprehension

An alternating treatments design was used to compare the effects of two reading fluency interventions on the oral reading fluency and maze accuracy of four fourth-grade students. Also, by taking into account time spent in intervention, the efficiency of the two interventions was compared. In the adult-mediated repeated reading (RR) condition, students read a grade-level passage aloud to an adult. The adult provided the students with error correction of oral reading miscues. In the listening-while-reading (LWR) condition, students read along aloud with audio recorded readings of passages using an MP3 player. The RR and LWR conditions had similar effects on reading fluency for three participants and the RR was more effective for one participant. When accounting for instructional time, the LWR condition was more efficient at improving reading fluency for three of the four participants. The same pattern of results was evident in Maze comprehension data. Discussion will emphasize the need to consider instructional time when selecting interventions.