To group or not to group – that is the question for reading fluency interventions.  One-on-one reading interventions tend to be the most effective, but working with one student at a time is time-intensive.  Is there a better way to do it?

Begeny and Silber (2006) looked at smaller and less time-consuming group interventions and compared them separately and in combination to determine how best to efficiently meet struggling readers’ fluency needs.  Their study grouped together third grade students with below grade level fluency skills and limited instructional sessions to approximately 7 to 12 minutes. (Begeny and Silber, 2006, p. 185-86).  The following interventions were used in combinations of 2-3 components: word list training (WLT), listening passage preview (LPP), repeated readings (RR). The word list training used words from the daily training passage that was also used for the other components. Reading retention also was tested immediately after reading a passage and again two days later.  (Begeny and Silber, 2006, p.188).

The study data confirmed the following:

• The intervention with all components, WLT, LLP and RR was the most effective for increasing immediate and retained fluency gains.

• Each student read substantially more words correct per minute (WCPM) after receiving any of the intervention groupings versus receiving no interventions.

• Group-based reading fluency interventions using all or a combination of the components appear to be a workable choice to one-on-one fluency intervention model. (Begeny and Silber, 2006, 190-192).

The implications for instruction from the study are encouraging:

• Effective interventions can serve more students in less time, on average approximately 9 to 12 minutes.

• Using an effective multi-component package may eliminate the time needed to determine which intervention works best with which students. (Begeny and Silber, 2006, p. 193).

There were several limitations to the study, namely, all of the students were in the same grade and from the same school. Even so, Begeny and Silber give initial credence to the idea that teachers can do more with less – and that grouping for fluency interventions may be the answer.

Here is the link to the article:

https://ezproxy.western.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=19481520&site=ehost-live

APA citation:

Begeny, J., & Silber, J. (2006). An examination of group-based treatment packages for increasing elementary-aged students' reading fluency. Psychology in the Schools, 43(2), 183-195.