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A historical narrative review of paired oral reading practices in elementary classrooms
Abstract
Paired Reading (PR), Neurological Impress Method (NIM), Dyad Reading (DR), and Read Two Impress (R2I) share a fundamental trait – paired synchronous oral reading between a higher‐level tutor and a lower‐level tutee. Collectively, we refer to these practices as Synchronous Paired Oral Reading Techniques (SPORT). This historical narrative review investigates the origin, development, and current state of SPORT. Five academic databases were searched for reports of SPORT from the years 1960–2021. This process yielded 3972 results, from which 456 full‐text articles were assessed for eligibility. Finally, 77 publications were reviewed to inform this historical narrative. Four distinct waves of SPORT research dating back to 1966 were identified in the review. These waves are characterised by popularity in the United Kingdom and United States, evolving theoretical frameworks, varying configurations and implementations, and concerted focus on reading achievement. Consistently positive outcomes are reported in the SPORT literature, specifically in oral reading fluency and reading comprehension. The theory and practice of SPORT have evolved significantly throughout its extensive history. We call for a fifth wave of SPORT research to consolidate the findings of the last 60 years, develop new lines of inquiry, and implement novel and varied applications of SPORT. What is already known about this topic Paired Reading, Neurological Impress Method, Dyad Reading, and Read Two Impress are popular methods for tutoring developing readers. These practices each involve tutor and tutee synchronously reading connected text aloud. The literature supporting these practices consistently reports positive academic tutee outcomes. What this paper adds This paper is the first publication to consider these methods as a family of related practices (Synchronous Paired Oral Reading Techniques; SPORT). SPORT research from the last 60 years reveals a dynamic, evolving literature, with a current, heightened interest in SPORT. These evolutions are characterised as ‘waves’. Tutee outcomes in the SPORT literature are generally positive with fluency and comprehension highlighted as commonly measured variables. This paper calls for a fifth wave of SPORT research that consolidates previous outcomes while developing new lines of inquiry. Implications for theory, policy, or practice Practitioners should be familiar with each of the SPORT methods in order to customise and adapt SPORT applications to meet specific needs of learners Future SPORT research should test the validity of grouping these four techniques. Future SPORT research should consolidate the reported quantitative outcomes of the last 60 years. Future SPORT research should use the extant literature to drive new lines of inquiry and practice.
... The lineage of Read Like Us is rooted in Synchronous Paired Oral Reading Techniques (SPORT; Downs et al., 2023;Downs & Mohr, 2024) and includes the Neurological Impress Method (NIM; Heckelman, 1969), Repeated Readings (Samuels, 1979), Read Two Impress (R2I; Young et al., 2015), and Read Like Me (Young et al., 2020). Arguably, all these approaches are theoretically grounded in the theory of automaticity in reading (LaBerge & Samuels, 1974). ...
Students are regularly expected to engage with connected text during the school day. However, for some readers, these demands can be overwhelming, particularly when reading fluency is still developing. In this article, we highlight Synchronous Paired Oral Reading Techniques (SPORT) as one approach that teachers can use to help striving readers access connected text. Discussion includes who may benefit, how to select peer or adult tutors, and using SPORT to more productively consume existing classroom text or increase the amount of text students read.
The use of individual tutoring as a method of educational instruction has been prevalent for several decades. One popular tutoring practice is Paired Reading, a reading support technique specifically designed for non-professionals. The accessible nature of Paired Reading makes it an attractive option for schools who wish to capitalise on support offered by community members. This paper reports a multi-faceted evaluation of a Paired Reading programme with primary school children experiencing reading fluency and comprehension difficulties as tutees and university students as volunteer tutors. Tutees engaged in one-on-one reading support sessions with tutors for either 5 or 8 weeks, with each session including 20 min of reading. Although there was no evidence to suggest that Paired Reading improved tutee's reading performance, feedback from tutees and tutors indicated the programme was an extremely positive experience. School staff also welcomed the subjective benefits of the programme. Parents of Paired Reading tutees reported a range of positive observed changes in the reading behaviours and attitudes of their children. This study builds on and contributes to work in the reading support literature, highlighting Paired Reading as a wide-ranging experience offering both tutees and tutors a variety of benefits spanning academic, social, and leisure domains.
There is strong evidence that peer tutoring, as a form of cooperative learning, has a positive impact on tutor and tutee outcomes. However, little previous research has been reported as to the differential effects of engaging in cooperative learning in dyads for peer tutors and peer tutees, respectively. A randomised controlled experimental study was undertaken involving 295, 11- to 13-year-old students, drawn from 12 classrooms, across three secondary/high schools situated in areas of low-socio-economic status, in the north east of England. In total, 146 students engaged in cooperative learning for a period of 12 weeks, and 149 students served as a comparison group. Gains were significantly greater on independent standardised reading comprehension tests for those engaged in cooperative learning than those in comparison classes, and greater for tutors than tutees. The results are explored by critically reflecting on the underlying theories of education that may be at play in classrooms using this form of cooperative learning.
Dyad reading involves a lower level reader paired with a higher level reading partner who models proficient oral reading while providing access to challenging texts. Previous research has reported increased reading fluency and comprehension for participants of dyad reading; however, to date no research has investigated how dyad reading may influence student attitudes toward reading. Using mixed effects linear modeling, this quasi-experimental study of third graders investigated the academic and attitudinal outcomes for students who read in dyads for 15 minutes daily for 90 school days. Results indicated that dyad readers experienced mixed outcomes in improving reading proficiency and a pattern of decline in reading attitudes compared to students in the control group. While lower level dyad readers demonstrated significant gains on a measure of comprehension, there were no differences between groups on several other measures of reading. Recommendations target how to maximize the use of dyad reading to support students’ reading development without eroding their perceptions of themselves as readers.
The current study reports on a reading intervention method titled Read Like Me. The intervention utilizes a stacked approach of research-based methods, including reading aloud, assisted reading, and repeated reading. The student involved was a second-grade boy reading below grade level who was identified as dyslexic and diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Using a single-case experimental design, the intervention was monitored in four phases, including a baseline, intervention coupled with regular schooling, intervention only, and a return to baseline. The results indicated that the intervention combined with regular schooling improved his reading expression and rate and also his decoding skills, word knowledge, and reading comprehension. In conclusion, the authors offer Read Like Me as one more intervention that may be a viable option for teachers in their effort to support developing readers.
Dyad reading is a modified version of the Neurological Impress Method in which a lead reader and an assisted reader sit side by side and read aloud a shared text in unison. This cooperative peer-assisted reading strategy has been shown to be effective in helping English-proficient and English-learning children. What is unclear is how dyad reading is applied and experienced by children and if and how it varies with different genres. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the experiences of two second-grade English Learners (ELs) as they participated in dyad reading with English-proficient partners using both fiction and nonfiction texts. Adaptations made during the study that improved the experience included holding daily class discussions about dyad reading, implementing book logs to increase student accountability, refreshing the classroom library often, and encouraging more discussion between partners about texts. Results indicated that participant attitudes and relationships improved and their self-perceptions were positive. ELs evidenced confidence as readers and a sense of satisfaction and success. The participants, who had limited exposure to nonfiction texts prior to the study, indicated a clear understanding of and appreciation for both fiction and nonfiction. Of these two major genres, nonfiction provided more opportunities for partners to interact and have discussions during dyad reading.
Fifty 2nd- and 3rd-grade students identified as experiencing difficulty reading were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. In the experimental group, students received a reading intervention called Read Two Impress for a total of 360 min. Students in the control continued to receive regular instruction from their teacher. A 2 × 3 repeated measure analysis of variance revealed significant main effects, and a post hoc analysis of mean difference effects size showed that students who received the intervention experienced a medium effect (d = .71) on their independent reading levels, whereas the control group experienced a small effect (d = .40). Both groups showed a slight decrease 2 months after the completion of the study. Implications for instruction are also discussed.
This seven-week study examined the effects of the Neurological Impress Method and Read Two Impress on reading comprehension, fluency, and students’ attitude toward reading. The 57 first-, second-, and third-grade students were randomly assigned to three conditions and were pre- and posttested on eight reading measures. Several 3 × 2 factorial analyses of variance revealed significant interaction effects on retell, comprehension questions, and the multidimensional fluency scale as well as time effects on words read correctly per minute and word recognition accuracy. Moreover, a comparison of mean difference effect sizes favored the treatment groups on all reading fluency and comprehension. The interventions, however, had little effect on students’ attitude toward reading. Practical implications and future research directions are also discussed.
Prompted by the advent of new standards for increased text complexity in elementary classrooms in the USA, the current integrative review investigates the relationships between the level of text difficulty and elementary students’ reading fluency and reading comprehension. After application of content and methodological criteria, a total of 26 research studies were reviewed. Characteristics of the reviewed studies are reported including the different conceptualizations of text, reader, and task interactions. Regarding the relationships between text difficulty and reading fluency and comprehension, for students’ reading fluency, on average, increased text difficulty level was related to decreased reading fluency, with a small number of exceptions. For comprehension, on average, text difficulty level was negatively related to reading comprehension, although a few studies found no relationship. Text difficulty was widely conceptualized across studies and included characteristics particular to texts as well as relationships between readers and texts. Implications for theory, policy, curriculum, and instruction are discussed.
Paired Reading is a peer tutoring programme in secondary schools which trains teachers to support
and encourage the regular tutoring of Year 7 pupils (aged 11-12 years) by Year 9 pupils (aged 13-14
years). The Paired Reading programme aims to improve pupils’ general literacy in addition to
speaking and listening skills. This is achieved by pupils working together to follow the Paired Reading
steps to choose the material to read, and discuss this, together with the older pupil (tutor) supporting
the reading, correcting errors and praising the younger pupil (tutee) throughout.
The 16-week programme is intended to take place during normal school hours in timetabled sessions,
for 20 minutes each week. Teachers in participating schools received training from the delivery team,
a detailed programme manual and extensive digital resources.
The impact of Paired Reading on 2,736 pupils in 120 classes in ten participating schools (1,370 in
Year 7 and 1,366 in Year 9) was tested using a cluster randomised controlled trial design with 58
classes randomly allocated to receive the programme and 62 classes allocated to the control
condition. Schools from the North Tyneside local authority (LA) and in neighbouring LAs of South
Tyneside and Sunderland took part in the trial over the 2013/14 academic year.
The article describes a reading fluency intervention called Reading Together that combines the method of repeated readings (Samuels, 1979) and the Neurological Impress Method (Heckelman, 1969). Sixteen volunteers from various backgrounds were recruited and trained to deliver the Reading Together intervention to struggling readers in third through fifth grade. The differences on the outcome measures between the treatment (n = 29) and comparison (n = 23) were statistically significant. Thus, students in the treatment demonstrated increased reading expression, reading rate, and overall reading scores. Results suggest that Reading Together is a feasible method of increasing students’ reading proficiency and can be delivered by trained volunteers.
Repeated reading is an evidenced-based strategy designed to increase reading fluency and comprehension. The author conducted a meta-analysis to ascertain essential instructional components of repeated reading and the effect of repeated reading on reading fluency and comprehension. This analysis indicates that repeated reading can be used effectively with nondisabled students and students with learning disabilities to increase reading fluency and comprehension on a particular passage and as an intervention to increase overall fluency and comprehension ability. Essential instructional components of repeated reading varied as a function of the type of repeated reading (i.e., whether effectiveness was evaluated reading the same passage or different passages). Implications for future research are also presented.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Paired Reading (PR) method using a competency-based training program with parents of children who are poor readers. PR consists of two phases: simultaneous and independent reading. The PR method focuses on parent modeling, practice, praise and a positive atmosphere. Fifty-two parents of second and third graders receiving Chapter 1 services and fourth graders who received Chapter 1 services in the year prior were recruited for this study. Participants were assigned to either the experimental (PR) condition where they were trained to use the PR Program through a competency-based training format or to a wait-list control condition. Twenty-four of the 26 parents in the PR condition participated in the training. Parents were asked to read with their child using the PR method five times a week, for 10 to 15 minutes, across eight weeks and to tape record their reading sessions. Seven of those 24 parents returned all eight audio recordings of the reading sessions. Eight participants returned no tapes and 9 subjects returned between one and seven tapes. Overall reading improvement based on reading accuracy, rate and comprehension was assessed in the children, using difference scores obtained on the Paragraph Reading subtest of the Gray Oral Reading Test-Diagnostic. Child and parent perceptions of the child's reading skills and reading habits were also assessed. Comparisons were made between participants in the trained PR and untrained control conditions. Significant attrition effected the analysis of the data and an intent-to-treat-analysis was conducted. Children in the PR condition did not improve more than children in the control condition on overall reading scores. The small subset of children who completed the program did, however, improve more in their overall reading scores than their matched controls. A post-hoc analysis indicated that second and third graders who were receiving Chapter 1 services in school improved significantly in their overall reading scores and that the fourth graders, who no longer were eligible for Chapter 1 services in their school, did not show improvement over the course of this study. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Purpose – This chapter argues that classroom teachers need to be more effective and efficient in order to meet the needs of all students and support their grade-level achievement. Given the challenges of contemporary schools – mandated curricula, intensive monitoring and intervention, high-stakes testing, and increased student diversity – teachers are expected to incorporate research-based practices in sophisticated ways. This chapter challenges teachers to assess and enhance their instructional effectiveness.
Approach – This chapter explores ways for teachers to make literacy assessment and instruction more appropriate, productive, and successful, which requires that teachers expand their repertoire of methods and consider ways to deliver instruction expeditiously.
Content – Examples of inefficient practices preface a discussion of some common hindrances to more streamlined instruction. The chapter demonstrates the use of literacy assessment to support more flexible instructional activities, focusing on literacy delivery modes that align with increasingly more difficult text. Subsequent discussion details numerous literacy experiences, including variations of teacher-led, collaborative, guided, partner, and student-led reading. Seven guidelines are presented. The conclusion summarizes an example of how a reading coach used assessment to synthesize an effective intervention to support the marked improvement of a third-grade reader.
Implications – The chapter's goal is that teachers consider ways to combine experiences that increase effectiveness, efficiency, and engagement. Readers can explore ways to use assessment to improve their instruction. Numerous suggestions and activities accompany the discussion.
Value – The chapter content challenges teachers to streamline and sophisticate their literacy instruction and demonstrates ways to combine literacy experiences that foster student achievement and engagement.
The authors review theory and research relating to fluency instruction and development. They surveyed the range of definitions for fluency, primary features of fluent reading, and studies that have attempted to improve the fluency of struggling readers. They found that (a) fluency instruction is generally effective, although it is unclear whether this is because of specific instructional features or because it involves children in reading increased amounts of text; (b) assisted approaches seem to be more effective than unassisted approaches; (c) repetitive approaches do not seem to hold a clear advantage over nonrepetitive approaches; and (d) effective fluency instruction moves beyond automatic word recognition to include rhythm and expression, or what linguists refer to as the prosodic features of language. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study replicated, with modifications, previous research of dyad reading using texts at various levels of difficulty (Morgan, 1997). The current project measured the effects of using above–grade-level texts on reading achievement and sought to determine the influences of dyad reading on both lead and assisted readers. Results indicate that weaker readers, using texts at two, three, and four grade levels above their instructional levels with the assistance of lead readers, outscored both proficient and less proficient students in the control group across multiple measures of reading achievement. However, the gains made by assisted readers were not significantly different relative to the various text levels. When all assessments were considered, assisted readers reading texts two grade levels above their instructional levels showed the most robust gains in oral reading fluency and comprehension. Lead readers also benefited from dyad reading and continued their respective reading developmental trajectories across measures.
This article describes how one second-grade teacher implemented Follow the Reader, her term for dyad reading. Common Core expects students to read increasingly complex texts. Teachers can implement dyad reading with this end in mind. It is a modified version of the neurological impress method in which a lead reader and an assisted reader sit side by side and read a shared text aloud in unison. As this article demonstrates, this strategy can be implemented successfully with small groups or an entire class and is effective with both English-proficient and English-learning children. She included fiction and nonfiction texts, daily class discussions, book logs to maintain student accountability, and discussion between partners about texts. She provided modeling for students and gave them time to practice procedures.
Fluency is an important part of comprehension, but how can teachers make sure they're providing the support that all readers need? Tiered Fluency Instruction: Supporting Learners in Grades 2-5 will help teachers meet this challenge. This resource will provide fluency support for all students, including disfluent readers. Chapters are included on RTI Tiers, assessment and ways to integrate technology.
This study explored the impact of paired reading, when delivered by a peer, on the reading ability and school connectedness of looked-after children (LAC). Relevant theory and research in three main areas is discussed: the under-achievement of LAC, reading development and difficulties and school connectedness. It is well understood that LAC are at risk of underachievement in reading (Department for Education, 2013), however they are an under-represented group in intervention research. Additionally, despite research illustrating the potential impact of school connectedness on a range of social, emotional and academic factors (Shochet et al, 2006 & Catalano et al, 2004) few studies have explored this with the LAC population. The present study attempted to address this by implementing a reading intervention using a peer approach with LAC.
A single case experimental design was used with five participants. Weekly data was collected on reading accuracy, reading fluency and self-reported school connectedness. Pre and post data was also collected from teachers using two scales from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): peer problems and pro-social behaviour. The results indicated a positive effect of paired reading on percentage reading accuracy, as shown in four of the five cases. Reading fluency did not significantly improve during the intervention for any of the participants. Similarly, school connectedness did not improve in three of the participants, although increased ratings were seen when paired reading was replaced with a non-reading intervention in three of the five participants. A significant difference in SDQ data was not observed.
The study provides further evidence for the impact of paired reading on reading accuracy and suggests the potential for peer interventions to improve school connectedness. The discussion considered the generalizability of the findings and the nature of the measures used as potential limitations of this research. The study indicates the need for further research into school connectedness with LAC and highlights the potential role for EPs in recommending and supporting both academic and social interventions with this population.
The initial vignette outlines some of the complexities of the use of Paired Reading (PR) in a real
situation. A description of PR is followed by a brief summary of evaluation evidence. A number of
related techniques are briefly described and the evidence for them considered. The utility of PR in
relation to fluency is then discussed. The advantages of PR are then listed. Further questions such as
“How does PR work?” and “How are gains to be sustained?” are then raised. A conclusion specifically
about the effect of PR on fluency is offered.
Evidence from existing literature suggests that the decoding and reading comprehension skills of poor readers can be improved by assisting them to read material that is too difficult for them to read fluently by themselves. The study examined the reading achievement effects of reading in dyad groups (also called buddy reading groups), a strategy designed to assist poor readers in the second grade to read difficult material. The 32 poor readers used in the study were second graders from five elementary schools who could not independently read the second-grade basal reader. The 32 low achievers were matched by sex and pretest reading achievement measures with low achievers in control classrooms in the same schools. We used a pretest-posttest control group research design. Reading comprehension and vocabulary were measured using the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Level B, Form 1. We administered the Gates test to all students, both experimental and control, in the fall of 1985 and in the spring of 1986. Students involved in the dyad reading experiment made greater achievement gains on reading comprehension and vocabulary than the matched control students. We speculated that dyad reading might help poor readers focus on the important aspects of text, free them from the decoding burden, and speed up the decoding process so that readers can give the needed attention to the text message.
This paper synthesizes and analyses the research on the technique for non‐professional tutoring of reading known as paired reading. Data from many extant small‐scale studies are compared with the very large quantity of new data available from multi‐site field trials in the Kirklees Local Education Authority.
In this column, we focus on increasing text complexity during scaffolded, small group instruction. We begin with a discussion about the need to adjust expectations for leveled texts for older readers and then focus on the ways in which teachers can accomplish this.
Background: Large-scale randomised controlled trials are relatively rare in education. The present study approximates to, but is not exactly, a randomised controlled trial. It was an attempt to scale up previous small peer tutoring projects, while investing only modestly in continuing professional development for teachers.Purpose: A two-year study of peer tutoring in reading was undertaken in one local education authority in Scotland. The relative effectiveness of cross-age versus same-age tutoring, light versus intensive intervention, and reading versus reading and mathematics tutoring were investigated.Programme description (if relevant): The intervention was Paired Reading, a freely available cross-ability tutoring method applied to books of the pupils’ choice but above the tutee's independent readability level. It involves Reading Together and Reading Alone, and switching from one to the other according to need.Sample: Eighty-seven primary schools of overall average socio-economic status, ability and gender in one council in Scotland. There were few ethnic minority students. Proportions of students with special needs were low. Children were eight and 10 years old as the intervention started. Macro-evaluation n = 3520. Micro-evaluation Year 1 15 schools n = 592, Year 2 a different 15 schools n = 591, compared with a comparison group of five schools n = 240.Design and methods: Almost all the primary schools in the local authority participated and were randomly allocated to condition. A macro-evaluation tested and retested over a two-year period using Performance Indicators in Primary Schools. A micro-evaluation tested and retested within each year using norm-referenced tests of reading comprehension. Macro-evaluation was with multi-level modelling, micro-evaluation with descriptive statistics and effect sizes, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).Results: Macro-evaluation yielded significant pre–post gains in reading attainment for cross-age tutoring over both years. No other differences were significant. Micro-evaluation yielded pre–post changes in Year 1 (selected) and Year 2 (random) greater than controls, with no difference between same-age and cross-age tutoring. Light and intensive tutoring were equally effective. Tutoring reading and mathematics together was more effective than only tutoring reading. Lower socio-economic and lower reading ability students did better. Girls did better than boys. Regarding observed implementation quality, some factors were high and others low. Few implementation variables correlated with attainment gain.Conclusions: Paired Reading tutoring does lead to better reading attainment compared with students not participating. This is true in the long term (macro-evaluation) for cross-age tutoring, and in the short term (micro-evaluation) for both cross-age and same-age tutoring. Tutors and tutees benefited. Intensity had no effect but dual tutoring did have an effect. Low-socio-economic status, low-ability and female students did better. The results of the different forms of evaluation were indeed different. There are implications for practice and for future research.
An explanation for reading therapists and classroom teachers on the use of the Neurological Impress Method
"I'm getting their word recognition skills developed, but what about their comprehension skills? What do I do now?" Does this sound familiar?
The authors investigated how far above a poor reader's instructional level dyad reading should be used to promote the greatest growth in reading level, word recognition, comprehension, and rate. Fifty-one poor readers were identified and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental groups: (a) dyad reading at their instructional reading level, (b) dyad reading 2 grades above their instructional reading level; and (c) dyad reading 4 grades above their instructional reading level. For 95 days/sessions, all groups read 15 min daily during their classroom recreational reading time. They all improved with dyad reading regardless of the difficulty levels of materials. Results suggest that the difficulty level of materials used for dyad reading may make a difference in student progress.
Many elementary school teachers have always encouraged children to help each other. However, in the United Kingdom, interest is currently growing in 'peer tutoring', which takes the simple notion of cooperation between children and lends it more purposeful structure. The organization of peer-tutoring projects has come to be seen as an important option in the repertoire of British educational psychologists.
Two basic requirements for paired reading (PR) process studies are that they should observe PR tutoring behaviours in an unintrusive fashion, and that they should relate tutoring to outcome in a way that takes account of other independent variables being studied. The author finds these requirements are lacking in much of the PR process research. The Winter (1996) study, published in a recent issue of this journal, is an exception.It is argued that PR projects organised under typical conditions of training and supervision are commonly characterised by low tutor compliance, and that variations between tutors in terms of tutoring behaviours do not appear to have any direct impact on outcomes. Instead outcomes appear to depend on a selection of student characteristics and, for tutees at least, the sheer amount of reading that gets done.This last factor, content coverage, is closely related to a range of instructional time variables such as allocated time, exposure time, academic responding time and academic learning time. Research worldwide confirms the importance of these variables ‐‐ beyond PR and beyond reading instruction. Indeed, they go some way to explaining the great differences in achievement between East Asian and Western societies.
The purpose of these two studies was to redirect interest to the Neurological Impress Method, a multisensory approach to reading instruction that occurs between a teacher and a student, which has been largely forgotten in mainstream and special education circles over the past decades. In addition to its emphasis on oral reading, we included a comprehension component that we call the plus (+) to NIM Plus. In our first study, third through sixth-grade below-level readers in a San Diego county school participated in NIM tutoring. On each of the three measures—oral reading fluency, silent reading fluency, and comprehension—students performed statistically better after the five-week (3.3 hours) NIM training than they had at the beginning of the training. In oral reading fluency, the students' scores significantly increased from an average of 96.7 words correct per minute to 112 words correct per minute (p < .0001). In silent reading fluency measure, students' scores increased from an average of 132 words per minute to 154 words per minute (p < .002). On the comprehension assessment, students' scores increased from an average of 3.2 questions correct to 4.5 correct (p < .001). In our second study, which was conducted in an urban San Diego school, similar results were found; the students scored significantly higher on all three measures. In this second study, however, we focused on “glimpses” into the reasons why NIM Plus was so effective. The tutors who provided the NIM Plus training reported that NIM Plus helped both teacher and student to focus on prior knowledge, making connections between and among texts and the world, and overall construction of comprehension. Our findings support the idea that the NIM Plus is adaptable and that it requires further investigation, in experimental settings, as well as in schools and clinics.
Eighteen inner-city first and second grade boys participated in a pilot study on the effect of sex of reading teacher on boys' attitudes toward and performance in reading. Each boy participated with either male or female research assistants in a 22-week Paired Reading intervention using texts shown to be of high interest to boys. Findings suggest that these contexts yield significant increases in boys' reading performance, sense of physiological well-being while reading, and their sense of reading progress regardless of the sex of their reading teacher. Copyright © 2005 by the Institute of Urban Studies All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
This study investigated the effects of a cooperative peer-assisted reading strategy, dyad reading instruction, on the reading achievement of Hispanic third-grade English language learners (ELLs). Specifically, dyad reading is unison reading of a “lead reader,” who reads well, and an “assisted reader,” who does not read well, simultaneously reading aloud at a normal rate (Eldredge, 1995). The participants in this study came from colonias, which are characterized as poverty-stricken semi-rural areas where people settle and live (Sharp, 1998). The participants were 80 third-grade ELLs with 40 in the experimental group and 40 in the control group. A quasi-experimental nonrandomized pretest-posttest control group research design was employed. An analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data obtained. The results yielded by two portions of the instrument were statistically significant on reading fluency and reading comprehension; however, the third portion of the instrument did not yield statistically significant results for reading comprehension. It is suggested that through a cooperative peer-assisted reading strategy such as dyad reading, students will learn from one another in this social context of reading.
The report of the U.S. National Reading Panel identified oral reading as a method for developing reading skills and improving achievement. The authors explore the role of oral reading in instructional practice, primarily among young children who struggle in reading. They examine current research and theory in oral reading, and comment on implications for classroom practice.
Outcomes for methods to accelerate thinking skills involving some peer interaction have been more consistently positive than those for purely teacher‐directed or materials‐led methods. However, methods involving mainly or only peer interaction are rare. This paper describes and evaluates such a method for peer tutoring in thinking skills, which scaffolds interactive discourse based on a differentiated real book the tutorial pair has chosen to read together. This pilot study aimed to partial the impact on quality of thinking of a peer‐tutored thinking intervention from that of a peer‐tutored reading intervention, controlling for time on task and amount of peer interactivity. Experimental peer tutees were a whole class (n=28) of seven‐year‐olds; experimental tutors a whole class (n=31) of 11‐year‐olds. Comparison tutees were a whole class (n=27) of seven‐year‐olds; comparison tutors a whole class (n=30) of 11‐year‐olds. Classes/teachers within the same school were randomly assigned to conditions. In Phase 1, a paired reading intervention was implemented for six weeks for all groups. In Phase 2, the experimental classes of tutors and tutees engaged in the “paired thinking” (PT) method for 10 weeks, while the comparison group continued with paired reading. Both treatments involved one 20‐minute session weekly. Pre‐ and post‐test assessment of thinking skills and attitude to reading for all participants was conducted and post hoc subjective feedback gathered from participants. The experimental (PT) tutees showed significantly better performance in thinking skills than comparison (PR only) tutees, and some evidence of improved attitudes to reading. However, this was not true for the experimental (PT) tutors. Subjective feedback was very positive from the PT tutees and class teachers, but less positive from the PT tutors. Given the brevity and low cost in time and resources of the treatment, the finding of significant differences in measured thinking skills for the PT tutees is considered encouraging. Recommendations for refining organizational aspects of the implementation of PT and for future research are made.
An action research project implemented a program for improving the reading skills of at-risk middle school students. The targeted population consisted of fifth- and seventh-grade students in a rural, middle class community located in northeastern Illinois. Evidence for the problem includes teacher observation, checklists, standardized tests, and student questionnaires. Analysis of probable cause data revealed that reading achievement could be affected by curricular and structural changes in the elementary school, inadequate teacher training and support, and demographic changes. The problem may be compounded by a lack of early reading intervention, a poor attitude toward reading, a lack of parental involvement, a poor school environment, and low self-esteem. A review of solution strategies suggested by knowledgeable others, combined with an analysis of the problem setting, resulted in the selection of the Paired Reading Program using parental involvement with daily oral reading and an incentive program. Post intervention data indicated an increase in students' reading comprehension scores, a decrease in their vocabulary scores, and in increase in the participants' speed and accuracy reading scores. (Contains 33 references and 11 figures of data; appendixes contain tests and survey instruments, an overview of the Paired Reading Technique, a participant/parent contract, a weekly reading log, and checklists.) (Author/RS)
Previous research in paired reading (PR) suggests that while many tutors do not use the technique as trained, they nevertheless prove to be as successful in tutoring as those who do. The implication in that where PR works, it is because of factors other than the tutoring procedures that are being applied. New research is reported that reveals an important role for content coverage in determining PR reading outcomes, with tutoring procedures only important insofar as they impact on the amount covered, and with compliant tutors actually doing a disservice to their tutees. Beyond these factors, student characteristics at pre‐test and post‐test appear to influence reading outcomes.
Districts are an important unit for administrative purposes, but they vary little in their impact on students' attainment, at least in the UK. Further, government attempts to raise attainment are often disappointing. The project described in this article aimed to engage schools in reform to change students' attainment and attitudes in schools across a whole district. The intervention, peer tutoring, has a good research pedigree in small-scale studies, but scaling it up to district-level implementation has not been rigorously evaluated. Over 2 years, 129 elementary schools in 1 Scottish district were randomly assigned to different interventions. The implementation was not perfect, but the results were positive with respect to cross-age tutoring, which had effect sizes of about 0.2. Despite limitations, the study demonstrates that it is possible to carry out a clustered randomized controlled trial (RCT) on a large scale working with districts and suggests that peer tutoring has promise when scaled up.
This paper considers the relationship between process tutoring behaviours and outcomes in terms of reading‐test gains, with specific reference to the paired reading (PR) technique. Process X outcome studies from England, Scotland, New Zealand, the USA and Hong Kong are reviewed. The evidence on the relationship between reading practice time and reading gains is discussed. Studies comparing PR to other techniques are briefly appraised and meta‐analytic comparative evidence evaluated. A typology of factors underpinning tutoring behaviours is presented, suggesting avenues for further research. It is concluded that PR compliance rates vary greatly from study to study. Only two out of seven studies convincingly relate compliance to outcome. It is suggested that future research should consider a more macro level of analysis of tutoring behaviour or organisational factors such as training and follow‐up structure and quality, and the nature of reading material and outcome measures.
A peer tutored Paired Reading (PR) project was organised involving 10 and 11 year old pupils at two primary schools. Outcome was assessed by reading age. Tutor and tutee behaviour during PR was analysed by sessional tape recordings. The study indicates that many of the tutors involved in this project failed to follow PR procedures closely, that all tutors employed reinforcement at very low rates, that many important errors were left uncorrected, and that tutors were consistent in their adherence to (or neglect of) the procedures in which they had been trained.There appeared to be no influence of tutees’ initial reading age on either tutee or tutor behaviour during PR sessions. No aspect of either tutee or tutor behaviour during PR was associated with size of reading gain.Mechanisms underlying the apparent effectiveness of PR (and a number of other tutoring techniques for oral reading) are discussed in the context of the apparent absence of any relationship between tutor adherence to PR and tutee reading gains.
Abstract A double‐blind controlled study of the effects of Paired Reading was carried out with 33 failing readers and their parents. The children were aged 8 to 11 and had reading delays of at least 18 months. After a mean time of 7.6 hours of Paired Reading at home, spread over six weeks, the children made gains of 2.43 months for reading accuracy and 4.36 months for reading comprehension compared with a control group which experienced respective gains of 0.81 months and 1.69 months. The differences were statistically significant for accuracy but not for comprehension. The conclusions of previous Paired Reading studies are discussed in the light of these results and suggestions are made for the evaluation of future, similar projects.
Parents of 22 students with acute or chronic reading difficulties (mean age 10 yrs 1 mo) were instructed to read with their children for 20 min each night for 6 wks. Each S was pretested using Form A of the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability (NARA) and the Full Range Picture Vocabulary Test. Ss showed gains of 7 mo to over 1 yr in accuracy and comprehension when posttested on the NARA. Findings show that gains in both accuracy and comprehension were not significantly related to the total time spent on paired reading. A 6-mo follow-up showed that Ss had maintained the progress made during paired-reading. Results are explained within the framework of a model of the reading process in which the child's self-esteem is seen as an overriding inhibitory or facilitative mechanism capable of stimulating the various psycholinguistic aspects of reading. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Evaluated the effectiveness of R. Morgan's (see record
1977-02011-001) home tutoring program, Paired Reading (PR), using a multiple baseline time-series design. PR, which consists of 2 phases (simultaneous and independent reading), provides children with a model (the parent), and focuses on the use of positive reinforcement. In the study, 13 nonrelated parents of 2nd–4th graders were taught to implement PR at home. Results indicate that parents were able to implement the PR procedures with relatively high accuracy. A significant improvement in the children's reading skills, however, was not observed. At the completion of the intervention, parents and children reported having a positive perception of the PR program. Parents reported that they observed the greatest change in the children's self-confidence and attitude toward reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)