Effectiveness of Two Reading Programs Examined

The WWC has released two reports that review the research on programs designed to improve reading skills, Read Naturally and Fast ForWord®.

Read Naturally is a supplemental reading program designed to improve the reading fluency, accuracy, and comprehension of elementary and middle school students using a combination of books, audio CDs, and computer software. The WWC found that Read Naturally has potentially positive effects on general literacy achievement for adolescent readers. Read the full WWC report at
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid=625.

Fast ForWord® is a computer-based reading program intended to help students develop and strengthen the cognitive skills necessary for successful reading and learning by adapting the nature and difficulty of the content based on individual student’s responses. The WWC found that Fast ForWord® has positive effects on alphabetics, no discernible effects on reading fluency, and mixed effects on comprehension for beginning readers. Learn more about the studies that contributed to this rating at
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid=172.