The effect of Project Read on the reading fluency and comprehension of third grade students with special needs

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect Project Read has on the reading fluency and comprehension of third grade students with special needs. This study implemented a two group, pretest-posttest design. The participants were six students with special needs from a third grade inclusion classroom who scored about two grade levels below grade three. A pretest, intervention mid-test, and intervention posttest were utilized to collect data. The independent variables were the use of the Project Read Story Form Literature Connection materials. The dependent variable was the measure of the participants reading fluency and comprehension using the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). Overall, the study results showed Project Read to be an effective intervention in increasing students\u27 reading fluency and comprehension. Participants in this study made about a one year independent reading level gain. The mean scores from the pretest to the intervention posttest showed an increase in reading fluency and comprehension in both groups. These intervention strategies and methods have shown to increase test scores and increase students\u27 confidence to read. The results suggest that Project Read can be an effective instructional tool for improving the reading fluency and comprehension of students with special needs. This comprehensive, language arts program provides explicit instruction to benefit students with special needs in a small group setting with similar below grade reading levels