Examining the effects of fluency interventions on student progress towards grade-level goals

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of two different fluency-based reading interventions as determined by fluency progress monitoring rates of participants and teacher-perceived usefulness toward the progression towards the participants' grade-level goals as measured on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAPs) standardized test. This study was precipitated by the recent adoption of a Response to Intervention (RtI) approach in the school setting. This approach is designed to increase student achievement of students who are "below," "at," or "beyond" grade level expectations. This study specifically looked at students who are categorized as "below" grade level in reading achievement. The Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) intervention was utilized with 6th and 7th grade students during the first research period (Study 1) and "The Six-Minute Solution" was used with a group of 5th and 6th grade students during the second research period (Study 2). Results indicated the interventions did have an overall positive effect on the fluency rates and the standardized tests scores achieved by the students in this study.