The periodic monitoring of education levels showed that a quarter of pupils left elementary school with inadequate technical reading skills. It is therefore of great importance to improve the...Show moreThe periodic monitoring of education levels showed that a quarter of pupils left elementary school with inadequate technical reading skills. It is therefore of great importance to improve the technical reading skills of pupils in primary education. Indeed, pupils who struggle with these reading skills early on had a significantly poorer prognosis in later grades than their peers with good reading skills. This study had the potential to contribute to slowing the decline in technical reading skills among elementary school students. This study compared the Universal Reading Intervention (UIL) program with a read-aloud (RA) and a control condition. The UIL is a supplemental reading program for children needing additional instruction, focusing on technical reading skills and comprehension. Unlike reading-along instruction, UIL includes Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI), which has proven effective for improving student reading achievement, especially for those with reading deficits. The current study investigated the extent to which instruction, class, and motivation differentiated the effects of the UIL on children’s technical reading in grades six and seven. Technical reading was operationalized by word list reading and reading aloud. A total of 51 children participated in this study and they were randomly divided over three conditions. The children followed reading instruction twice a week for four weeks. A Mixed Repeated Measures ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference in word list reading scores between the UIL, RA and the control group. In addition, there was no significant difference between children in grade six versus seven in their growth on reading aloud and word list reading. Finally, a Multiple Regression showed that both motivation and class were found to have no significant effect on the growth score. The results of the current study shed new light on the interaction between instruction, student class, and motivation in improving students' technical reading skills. In future research, it is important to evaluate an intervention with a larger and robust sample.Show less
