Educator Researched Methods and Interventions That Increase Below Level Readers’ Fluency and Comprehension

A student walks into a classroom multiple grades below grade level and already on day one that student is behind and will most likely be behind their entire school year. Many teachers are faced with this scenario year after year. Students entering their classrooms unprepared for the on-level content they need to be on. Reading below grade level is just the beginning of the learning gap that exists in today’s classrooms. Teachers work hard to close that gap, but by upper elementary is it too late? What can teachers do to help these students grow and become successful learners? This research project will address the interventions and methods that upper elementary school teachers have found to be most successful in increasing student reading fluency and comprehensions leading them to the ability to read on grade level. Through teacher interviews of varying upper elementary grades, races, and years teaching, researchers will get a firsthand look at what teachers at a Georgia elementary school are doing to promote growth in reading. Through the utilization of thematic analysis, this study will present the most commonly used, teacher tried and true, in classroom research-based methods that have shown success and work to streamline the interventions and methods used to enhance student reading abilities within the elementary school setting so that all teachers and students will be successful