Preteaching unknown key words with incremental rehearsal to improve reading fluency and comprehension with children identified as reading disabled

Research has consistently demonstrated that strategic preteaching activities led to improved reading fluency, but lacked studies examining the effect on reading comprehension. The current study investigated the effect of teaching unknown key words as a preteaching strategy with 20 students identified as learning disabled in basic reading skills and reading comprehension. This strategy led to improvement in reading fluency and comprehension with effect sizes of .38 and 1.76, respectively. Future research is needed to examine the effect of preteaching frequently occurring words, using additional control and experimental passages, using a time delay between administrations, and the role this strategy could play in a consultative model. Limitations of the current study are discussed.