Intensity vs. Duration: Comparing the Effects of a Fluency-Based Reading Intervention Program, in After-School vs. Summer School Settings

Two versions of RAVE-O, a fluency-based reading intervention were examined over a 2-intervention period: a 9-month, 44-hour afterschool intervention program, and a month long, 44-hour summer intervention program. 80 children in grades 1-3 were tested on the two subtests of the Test of Word-Reading Efficiency and were assigned to one of 6 groups compromising of different combinations of one vs. two intervention packets. Results show that while both programs showed gains after a single intervention, a significant difference was seen between intervention groups, with the afterschool intervention showing larger pre-post intervention difference scores. All groups who received a 2-package intervention either increased or maintained performance after the second intervention, suggesting that an additional intervention is beneficial. Moreover, the afterschool group who received a consecutive summer intervention group showed significant gains as compared to the other 2-intervention groups. Results from this study indicate the overall number of intervention hours may not be the indicator of a successful intervention. Instead, in the first intervention, a longer period of skill introduction may be needed for information consolidation; the second intervention may require an intense period for skill rehearsal. Implications for future reading interventions and scaling-up are discussed.