Title: Exploring a guided, silent reading intervention: Effects on struggling third-grade readers’ achievement

Authors: D. Ray Reutzel, Yaacov Petscher, and Alexandra N. Spichtig

Publication: The Journal of Educational Research (in press)

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of a supplementary, guided, silent reading intervention with 80 struggling third-grade readers who were retained at grade level as a result of poor performance on the reading portion of a criterion referenced state assessment. The students were distributed in 11 elementary schools in a large, urban school district in the state of Florida. A matched, quasi-experimental design was constructed using propensity scores for this study.

Students in the guided, silent reading intervention, Reading Plus®, evidenced higher, statistically significant mean scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) criterion assessment measure of reading at posttest. The effect size, favoring the guided, silent reading intervention group was large, one full standard deviation, when comparing the two comparison groups’ mean posttest scores. As such, this study indicates a large advantage for providing struggling third-grade readers guided silent reading fluency practice in a computer-based practice environment.

Title: Comprehension-Based Silent Reading Rates: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know?

Authors: Elfrieda Hiebert, S. Jay Samuels, and Timothy Rasinski

Publication: Literacy Research and Instruction Vol. 51, No. 2, March 2012, pp. 110-124

Abstract: This paper uses a review of research to consider a fundamental aspect of reading instruction that has been marginalized in policies and practices over the last decade: the development of silent reading habits that involve strong comprehension and optimal reading rates. The review of research attends to typical development and performances of students at different levels and of varying proficiencies, the relationship between oral reading and silent reading comprehension, and typical instruction. Three studies are also summarized that illustrate growing attention to how comprehension-based silent reading can be supported through instruction. Finally, the paper raises critical questions that require research evidence if students are to be brought to the optimal comprehension-based silent reading rates needed for the digital-global age. (Excerpt from http://textproject.org)

Link to Article: http://textproject.org/assets/library/papers/Hiebert-Samuels-RasinskiComprehension-Based-Silent-Reading-Rates-PREPRINT.pdf

Title: The Relationship Between a Silent Reading Fluency Instructional Protocol on Students’ Reading Comprehension and Achievement in an Urban School Setting

Authors: Timothy Rasinski, S. Jay Samuels, Elfrieda Hiebert, and Yaacov Petscher

Publication: Reading Psychology, Vol. 32, No. 1, January 2011, pp. 75-97

Summary: The study examined a large-scale implementation of Reading Plus® to validate the effects as well as the feasibility of deployment of Reading Plus® within a wide range of school settings. A total of 16,143 students from grades 4 through 10 in 23 schools in Regions II and III in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools participated in the study.

Findings: Results indicated that students participating in Reading Plus® for a minimum of 40 or more lessons over approximately six months made significantly greater gains on both the criterion-referenced and norm-referenced reading tests that are part of the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) than students who did not participate in the program. Positive results also were demonstrated for various subpopulations often considered at risk for reading difficulties. African-American, Latino-American, special education, and learning disabled students who participated in the Reading Plus® intervention demonstrated significantly and substantially greater gains in measures of reading achievement on both the CRT and NRT portions of the FCAT than students not participating in the intervention.

Title: What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction (Fourth Edition)

Editors: S. Jay Samuels and Alan E. Farstrup

Publication: International Reading Association, Inc. (2011)

Abstract: The new edition of this classic research review offers a broad and balanced perspective of the latest theory, research, and practice to provide a solid foundation for the important work of teaching students to read. Chapters such as “Implementing a Response to Intervention Model to Improve Reading Outcomes for All Students,” “Integrating Reading Strategies and Knowledge Building in Adolescent Literacy Instruction,” and “Reading Engagement Among African American and European American Students” reflect changes and current thinking in the field. Others focus on core and timeless elements of reading instruction, such as word recognition, fluency, and comprehension. Following in the tradition of previous editions, the editors give readers the opportunity to learn from the experts, with contributions from today’s most influential scholars. (Excerpt from http://www.reading.org)

Title: Revisiting Silent Reading: New Directions for Teachers and Researchers

Editors: Elfrieda H. Hiebert and D. Ray Reutzel

Publication: International Reading Association, Inc. (2010)

Abstract: Revisiting Silent Reading: New Directions for Teachers and Researchers brings together in a single volume current research and theory on silent reading practice, instruction, and assessment. Although correlational evidence demonstrates a robust relationship between volume of reading and students’ reading achievement, the empirical evidence showing a causal relationship between volume of reading and students’ reading achievement at the turn of the millennium was unconvincing and fragile. Building on and updating the conclusions and findings of the National Reading Panel (NRP; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000) that questioned the effectiveness of independent, silent reading to promote students’ reading fluency, achievement, and motivation, this new volume brings together scholars who for the past decade have focused their research and development of theory on understanding silent reading practice, instruction, and assessment to provide new directions for teachers and researchers. (Excerpt from http://www.reading.org)

Title: Poor Binocular Coordination of Saccades in Dyslexic Children

Authors: Maria Pia Bucci, Dominique Brémond-Gignac, and Zoï Kapoula

Publication: Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, Vol. 246, Issue 3, March 2008, pp. 417-428

Abstract: Eighteen children with dyslexia (11.4 +/- 2 years old) and 13 non-dyslexic children of matched age were studied. Horizontal saccades from both eyes were recorded. Binocular coordination during and after the saccade in dyslexics is worse than that of non-dyslexic children. Moreover, dyslexics do not show the stereotyped pattern of divergence during the saccade and convergence after the saccade. Poor quality of binocular coordination of saccades and drift of the eyes after the saccade, regardless of the task, indicate an intrinsic ocular motor deficiency. Such a deficiency could be related to immaturity of the normal ocular motor learning mechanisms via which ocular motor coordination and stable fixation are achieved. Learning could be based on the interaction between the saccade and vergence subsystems. Not only the cerebellum, but also cortical areas of the magnocellular stream such as the parietal cortex, could be the sites of ocular motor learning. (Excerpt from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Title: Latency of Saccades and Vergence Eye Movements in Dyslexic Children

Authors: Maria Pia Bucci, Dominique Brémond-Gignac, and Zoï Kapoula

Publication: Experimental Brain Research (2008)

Abstract: The goal of this study was to explore the latency of eye movements both in direction and in depth in dyslexic children. Sixteen dyslexic (mean age: 11.12 ± 1.08 years) and 14 non-dyslexic children (mean age: 12.08 ± 0.99 years) were tested. Two different paradigms (simultaneous and gap) were used to elicit pure saccades at far and at near distance, pure vergence (convergence and divergence) and combined saccade–vergence movements. The mean latency of saccades at far distance (pure or combined) is significantly longer in dyslexics, regardless of the paradigm used. For both dyslexic and non-dyslexic children, latencies in the gap paradigm are shorter. Moreover, the occurrence of express latencies for divergence (pure or combined) is significantly higher for dyslexics. Difficulties in both voluntary and reflexive control shifts of visual attention from near to far distance in dyslexics could be at the origin of these findings. (Excerpt from http://www.springerlink.com)

Title: Exploring Silent Reading Fluency: Its Nature and Development

Authors: Stanford E. Taylor, S. Jay Samuels, Timothy Rasinski, and Alexandra Spichtig

Publication: Charles C Thomas Publisher, 2011

Abstract: This research-based book provides vital information for reading specialists and curriculum developers as to the benefits of the use of computer technology to help students successfully develop silent reading proficiency. The book describes the basic visual/functional, perceptual, and information processing skills that constitute proficient reading and calls attention to the fact that these skills are not being addressed in today's core or basal reading programs. It also describes the process of eye movement recording, the only means of analyzing the dynamic activity of reading. In addition, it traces the history of instructional devices from which today's computer appraisal and reading fluency techniques have emerged. (Inside Look Preview)