ClassWide Peer Tutoring: Two Experiments Investigating the Generalized Relationship Between Increased Oral Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension

Abstract

We conducted two experiments designed to investigate the effects of ClassWide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) on oral reading fluency and the generalization to students’ rate and level of reading comprehension. First, an alternating treatment design was used to compare two sixth-grade, general education students’ rates and level of oral reading comprehension when tutored (experimental passages) to when not tutored (control passages). Significant differences were found on all dependent measures across participants favoring tutored passages. Two additional sixth-grade students with reading skill deficits participated in Experiment 2. Although Experiment 2 used the same design, students were exposed to only a portion of the passage during tutoring; thus, near generalization to the remainder of the tutored passage was assessed. Significant differences were not found in the direction of CWPT partially tutored passages across any of the measures. Limitations of this research and implications for future research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• reading comprehension
• reading rates
• reading fluency
• peer tutoring
• generalization

This article was accepted under the editorialship of Dr. Charles A. Maher.