The Effects of Reading at Home on Reading Fluency

John Schneider

Research Problem• Statement of the problem: This study will determine if the amount

of time spent reading at home substantially increases a student’s reading fluency.

• Significance of the problem: The research will show if there is a relationship between the amount of time a student reads at home and the fluency gains that the student makes. If I can show this relationship, it will be proof for the importance of independent reading outside of school.

• Research Questions and Hypothesis: Does the amount of time spent reading at home substantially increase a student’s reading fluency as assessed by the DIBELS reading assessment?

• Researcher’s Hypothesis: Students who do read more at home will have a substantial increase in reading fluency.

Background

• Reading fluency is defined as the ability to read text with appropriate speed and accuracy (Hasbrouck, 2005).

• Fluent readers also read with good expression. When children who are fluent read, they read automatically, decoding words quickly and accurately.

• They also read with appropriate pitch, pace, phrasing, and expression.

• Reading fluency is one of several critical factors necessary for reading comprehension.

• If children read out loud with speed, accuracy, and proper expression, they are more likely to remember the material than if they read with difficulty and in an inefficient way (National Reading Panel, 2000).

Research on Reading • Many studies have looked at the relationship between the home

environment, parental roles, reading motivation, and the resulting student reading achievement.

• A study by Aulls and Sollars (2003) found that young children living in homes where the amount and variety of print is rich, where they are highly active agents and where there are many opportunities to participate in events dealing with literacy, have a significant increase in print awareness and book and code knowledge compared to home environments where there are moderate or low opportunities.

• Their study concluded that upon entry to grade 1, children from different home literacy environments possess significantly different knowledge of print awareness and book and code knowledge which are related to word reading accuracy, fluency, and use of strategies.

• The results of the study even suggest that a kindergarten curriculum is insufficient to bridge the gap between the literacy ability acquired by children from rich literacy environments to those of moderate home literacy environments.

• In a similar study, Darling (2005) also found that children with richer home environments demonstrated higher levels of reading skills and knowledge when they enter kindergarten than do children with less literacy rich environments.

• Baker and Scher (2002) conducted a study involving first grade students.

• They found that parents who believe that reading is pleasurable

convey a perspective that is appropriated by their children, either directly through their words or indirectly through the nature of the literacy experiences they provide.

• This foundation of viewing reading as a source of pleasure appears to contribute positively not only to reading motivation but also to the child’s developing reading skills and choice of literacy activities.

• In fact the most consistently negative response by first graders to any item on a survey conducted by Baker and Sher (2003) was for looking at books by oneself.

• The results of the overall study demonstrate the importance of the home environment in literacy development and that educators should be aware that efforts to promote reading motivation are incomplete unless parents are included in the process.

• Kim (2006) found that measures of voluntary reading (e.g., number of books read and time spent on daily leisure reading) explained a larger proportion of the variation in reading than other recreational and enrichment activities.

• Kim’s research also suggests that voluntary reading would specifically benefit students in the upper elementary grades who can decode words but need additional reading practice to improve their reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

• On the other hand, Kim explains that there is no reason to believe that a voluntary reading intervention would work if students were given free books but were unable to decode the words.

Research on Reading Fluency• There have also been articles and studies that have looked

specifically at reading fluency.

• According to Darling (2005), parents can support the development of fluency by doing the following things:

- Read aloud often, encouraging their child to read aloud; - Let their child choose books to read and reread favorite books; - Model reading for fun and pleasure; - Act out a book or story; - Read aloud a sentence and then invite their children to read the

same sentence; - Help their child read new words and talk about the meaning; and - Talk with their child when they go to the library about how to pick

out books of interest at an appropriate reading level.

• In a study by Kelly-Vance and Schreck (2002), parents were encouraged to increase the amount of time they spent reading with their children at home and the school also provided easily accessible reading materials, suggestions for encouraging reading at home, prizes and special activities.

• Students whose parents participated in the study demonstrated a higher increase in reading rate and accuracy than the matched peers.

• Although research demonstrates the positive effect parents have on their children’s reading, parents depend on schools to provide them with instruction and assistance.

• Further review of the research suggested that more specific strategies were needed for parents to be effective in listening to their children read at home.

• By increasing the amount of time that motivated parents are involved in the process of reading with their children, increased gains will most likely be observed in reading rates and accuracy at school.

• It cannot be surmised, however, whether the increased time or method impacted the results more.

• According to the National Reading Panel (2002), two instructional approaches have typically been used to teach reading fluency.

• One is guided repeated oral reading, which encourages students to read passages out loud with systematic and explicit guidance and feedback from their teacher.

• The other is independent silent reading, which encourages students to read silently on their own, inside and outside the classroom, with little guidance or feedback from their teachers.

• The National Reading Panel determined that guided repeated oral reading has a significant and positive impact on word recognition, reading fluency, and comprehension for students of all ages.

• However, the National Reading Panel was unable to conclude that independent silent reading, as the only type of reading instruction, improves reading fluency.

• In general, the National Reading Panel’s review found little experimental support for the use of voluntary reading as an effective instructional policy (pp. 3-28).

• In particular, the National Reading Panel noted that the inconsistent and inconclusive findings on the effects of voluntary reading could stem from either: “deficiencies in the instructional procedures themselves or to weaknesses and limitations evident in the study designs” (pp.3-27).

• The Panel also stated that more research is needed to understand the specific influences that independent silent reading practices have on reading fluency.

• A study by Senechal (2006) also found that children’s reported frequency of reading for pleasure was not reliably related to spelling or reading fluency.

• The study showed that storybook exposure directly predicted kindergarten vocabulary and the frequency with which children reported reading for pleasure in Grade 4, whereas parent literacy teaching in kindergarten directly predicted kindergarten alphabet knowledge, Grade 1 reading, and Grade 4 reading fluency.

• It was the parent teaching, not the reading for pleasure, that was directly related to reading fluency.

Which leads us to…..

• So what effect does independent silent reading practices have on reading fluency? Does the amount of time spent reading at home substantially increase a student’s reading fluency? This study will attempt to determine if there is such a relationship.

Methods

• Participants.The participants of this investigation were twenty-four students of a second/third grade combination classroom at Banfield Elementary in Austin, Minnesota. The participants’ ages ranged from seven years of age up to nine. The class of twenty-four students could be further broken down to fourteen third graders and ten second graders. The sample was also evenly split with twelve females and twelve males participating. The ethnic composition of the sample group was twenty-two Caucasian, one Hispanic, and one African-American. One student was diagnosed with a learning disability in the area of reading and six others had been classified as “some risk” by the DIBELS reading assessment.

Materials.

• The DIBELS reading assessment was used to assess students’ reading fluency.

• The DIBELS reading assessment is a test to screen for whether students are at risk of reading difficulty, and to monitor student progress and guide instruction.

• Student reading logs were used to record the number of minutes a student read independently at home.

Procedures.• In September, the students were given the beginning of the year DIBELS

reading assessment to determine initial reading fluency. The test was administered by the classroom teacher. The second graders were given the second grade test and the third graders were given the corresponding third grade selections. Each student was given one minute to read a selection and the teacher then recorded the student’s score in Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM). WCPM is calculated by taking the total number of words read in the minute and subtracting the errors that are made. Each grade level test consisted of three reading selections and an average WCPM was taken from the three scores.

• At the beginning of the year the students are also given a monthly reading log in which they were to record the number of minutes they read independently at home each day. These logs were turned in weekly, minutes recorded and then passed back to students. At the end of the month the reading log was collected and a new one for the next month was passed out. This reading log procedure was carried out over the course of the entire school year.

• In May, the students were given the end of the year DIBELS reading assessment to determine end-of-year reading fluency. The test was once again administered by the classroom teacher. The second graders were given the second grade test and the third graders were given the corresponding third grade selection. Each student was given one minute to read the May selection and the teacher then recorded the student’s score in Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM). Each grade level test once again consisted of three reading selections and an average WCPM was taken from the three scores.

Data Analysis.• A gain score was used to determine each student’s

improvement in oral reading fluency. Students’ September and May scores on the DIBELS reading assessment were compared and an overall gain or loss in WCPM was calculated (May score – September score). The students’ gains were then arranged in order, with the students making the most gains at the top of the list and the students with the lowest gains or even a loss in WCPM at the bottom of the list.

• The overall total of minutes read was recorded for each student by adding up the totals of the students individual monthly reading logs. The students overall minutes were then arranged in order, with the students reading the most at the top of the list and the students with the fewest minutes at the bottom of the list.

• After all scores were compiled, a comparison was made to determine if the students who read the most minutes were indeed the students that made the most gains in reading fluency.

Conclusions:

• Even though I do not have findings at this time, I feel that my initial hypothesis may be incorrect.

• After the completion of the Literature Review, I now feel that it will be parent involvement in reading that will cause a significant increase in a student’s reading fluency, not independent reading at home.