Validating the Instructional Hierarchy

Efficiently and reliably identifying the most effective intervention is critical to timely remediation of reading difficulties. This study will utilize basic reading data and the Instructional Hierarchy (IH) to identify effective reading fluency interventions. This study will focus on the first two stages of the IH: acquisition and fluency. Students were recruited from first, second and third grade classrooms because students at this age are generally learning how to read fluently. Baseline words correct per minute (WCM) were obtained by reading three grade level passages for 1 minute each. Then, students were exposed to two repeated reading interventions targeting the acquisition and fluency phases, respectively. The students received each intervention twice, and their average reading fluency gains within each intervention, from the first read to the final read, were calculated. The intervention which results in the greatest average reading fluency gain was identified for each student. We then investigated whether initial fluency and accuracy according to baseline WCM is a reliable predictor of the most effective intervention. We then discuss the extent to which a brief reading assessment is a good predictor of the type of reading intervention from which students may benefit