Repeated Reading That Is Not Moving Accuracy
Jasmine is an eight-year-old third grader with a specific learning disability in reading. She reads 38 words correct per minute on grade-level passages with 86% accuracy; her comprehension is 40%. The IEP team allocated 20 minutes of daily small-group intervention. Her teacher has been using repeated reading with leveled trade books and asking her to reread each passage three times. After eight weeks, Jasmine’s fluency has increased by 3 words per minute and accuracy has not changed. The teacher wants to add a comprehension graphic organizer and continue the same protocol for another eight weeks. Jasmine’s error pattern shows omissions of medial vowels, confusion of b/d, and guessing at multisyllabic words. She can decode CVC words but not vowel teams. The principal asks the team to justify the intervention and use data to decide next steps.
1. What does the progress data suggest about the intervention, and what is the instructional priority?
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The data suggest decoding is the bottleneck, not fluency alone. 86% accuracy is below the 95–97% needed for fluency practice to improve comprehension; repeated reading with grade-level trade books likely overwhelms her with unfamiliar words. Her error pattern - vowel teams, b/d confusion, and multisyllabic guessing - points to gaps in phonics and word recognition. Adding a comprehension organizer while continuing the same protocol would layer on more text without addressing accuracy. Eight weeks of flat accuracy is a signal to change the intervention, not simply extend it.
2. Describe the intervention you would implement and justify the design.
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Prioritize explicit, systematic phonics for vowel teams and multisyllabic decoding in 15 of the 20 minutes, with 5 minutes of connected decodable text. Use modeling, guided practice, error correction, and cumulative review. Teach a decoding strategy for multisyllabic words, such as syllable division. Keep repeated reading only when accuracy on the passage is at least 95%. This aligns with Jasmine’s SLD and the error data. Continue comprehension through oral language and controlled text rather than grade-level trade books.
3. How would you monitor progress and decide whether to continue?
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Use weekly curriculum-based measurement: words correct per minute and accuracy on decodable and grade-level passages, plus a phonics inventory every four weeks. Set a goal such as accuracy at or above 95% on vowel-team lists and fluency growth of 1.5 words per week. Review after six weeks. If accuracy improves but fluency does not, add fluency building. If neither improves, intensify or change the program and consider additional evaluation.