Chapter 4: Repeated Reading

Learning to read fluently is essential for all students, including students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Many students with EBD have comorbid learning disabilities, in particular, in the area of reading (Wagner, Kutash, Duchnowski, & Epstein, 2005). Students who leave school without learning to read face poor life outcomes such as limited employment opportunities, increased rates of poverty, and worse health outcomes (DeWalt, Berkman, Sheridan, Lohr, & Pignone, 2004). Core reading skills can be broken down into five components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). Reading fluency, the ability to read text with speed, accuracy, and proper expression (Therrien, Kirk, & Woods-Groves, 2012), is often viewed as a prerequisite for comprehension. In other words, if a student reads a passage in a slow, halting manner, mispronouncing many words, and reading without expression, then there is a high likelihood that student will not comprehend the passage. Therefore, providing students with EBD with effective instruction to improve their reading fluency is essential if we hope to ensure they graduate with the reading skills needed to be productive citizens.