The Impact of Heterogeneous or Homogeneous Grouping on Improving Early Elementary Students’ Fluency Scores

3 Introduction . 4 Review of the Literature . 5 Methods. 20 Participants . 20 Data Collection.21 Findings. 23 Data Analysis.23 Discussion.28 Summary of Major Findings.28 Limitation of the Study.29 Further Study.30 Conclusion.31 References . 33 GROUPING IMPACT ON FLUENCY 3 Abstract The purpose of this action research was to determine the effect of the type of groups used on students’ fluency scores. The participants of the study were 18 2 grade students. Data was collected over a 16-week period of time using running records. The first eight weeks of the research students worked with a homogeneous partner and used strategies to work on improving their fluency scores. The second eight weeks students worked with a heterogeneous partner but used the same strategies to work on reading fluency. The data was then analyzed to determine ifThe purpose of this action research was to determine the effect of the type of groups used on students’ fluency scores. The participants of the study were 18 2 grade students. Data was collected over a 16-week period of time using running records. The first eight weeks of the research students worked with a homogeneous partner and used strategies to work on improving their fluency scores. The second eight weeks students worked with a heterogeneous partner but used the same strategies to work on reading fluency. The data was then analyzed to determine if working with a homogeneous partner or a heterogeneous partner had a greater impact on the students’ fluency scores. GROUPING IMPACT ON FLUENCY 4 The Impact of Heterogeneous or Homogeneous Grouping on Improving Early Elementary Students’ Fluency Scores Reading fluency is a child’s ability to read text with appropriate rate and accuracy. Fluency is a skill that will help students be able to understand a text better because they are not spending time trying to decode words but rather they can put their energy into remembering what they are reading. Fluency is a skill that students need to begin working on as soon as they learn how to read. There are many ways to help support reading fluency for students. One of the problems teachers often have is the amount of time it takes when there is so many other aspects of reading that are also required to be taught. One-way teachers can help solve the time issue is to partner students up and have them help each other work on fluency. Students can work together in two different types of pairs or groups, heterogeneous or homogeneous. In heterogeneous groups students work with other students who are at different reading levels than them. In a homogeneous group student’s work with students who are at the same reading level that they are. When students are partnered up, they can be taught various strategies to use with their partners to work on increasing their fluency. In this paper, the question of what impact does heterogeneous or homogeneous grouping have on improving early elementary students’ fluency scores will be researched. The literature review begins by providing further detail about what heterogeneous and homogeneous groups are and the impact of using them in the classroom. The content specifically looks at how using peers as a tutor in a heterogeneous setting can be beneficial in helping to improve reading fluency. The next section of the literature review discusses several different strategies that can be used in the classroom to improve reading fluency for students. Finally, the paper shows the GROUPING IMPACT ON FLUENCY 5 relationship between students working with a heterogeneous partner and a homogeneous partner and what impact that had on the students reading fluency scores. Review of the Literature “Fluent oral reading is essential for success in elementary school” (Marr, Algozzine, Kavel & Keller Dugan, 2010, p. 74). Fluency is a skill that will not only help students be successful in reading, but in every subject area. As students begin to engage in more complex text it is important that they can fluently read and understand what they are reading. Students who are fluent in their reading are able to read the text with speed, accuracy, and proper expression (National Reading Panel, 2000). Although fluency is a critical component of being a skilled reader, it is found to often be neglected in the classroom (National Reading Panel, 2000). Although teachers do not intentionally neglect fluency it happens due to all the other aspects of reading and other content that must be taught. It can also be difficult for teachers to know how to best teach students to read fluently. Hofstadter-Duke and Daly (2011), stated one reason teachers may neglect fluency is the pressure they feel to focus the time on other tasks such as comprehension. Therefore, it is crucial that teachers are able to find strategies to successfully help all of their students improve their reading fluency in the classroom that will not take time away from other skills they also need to be focusing on with their students. Heterogeneous Grouping Heterogeneous grouping is pulling and grouping students from different levels together rather than only putting students of the same ability level together. One benefit to heterogeneous grouping is being able to focus on the students’ interest or needs rather than their level (Bates, 2013). This allows the teacher more flexibility with reading group schedules. Rather than having to create a group for each level and only have a couple students per group, the groups can be of GROUPING IMPACT ON FLUENCY 6 students at all levels. Teachers can also keep students engaged by pulling books that appeal to the groups interest rather than level Bates (2013) pointed out this can be a great way to teach students of different levels who all may need to work on reading more fluently rather than word by word. This is a time when the teacher can provide modeling for how reading should sound and preview various text for the students. The teacher is able to pull students who lack the skill regardless of their reading level and provide a short mini lesson on phrasing and model what fluent reading should sound like for the students (Bates, 2013). Students are then able to take the skill they learned and practiced in their heterogeneous group and apply it to their own independent reading level (Bates, 2013). When students practice in a heterogeneous group, it is also likely they will have a fluent peer to assist them if they need it. Another way teachers have been able to help their students improve their reading fluency is through the use of peers. Using peer tutors can helps teachers solve the problem of time when trying to provide instruction to all students. According to Hofstadter-Duke and Daly (2011), the use of peers can be beneficial because it will “reduce the amount of direct instruction required by teachers, peers are readily available resources and have frequent contact with each other” (p. 641). Time is one of the biggest struggles many teachers have regardless of what they are trying to teach. If peers can be used to help improve fluency, the teacher can be working on teaching other skills during the same time. The use of peers to help support reading fluency is also beneficial because students are able to receive immediate feedback on their reading (Dufrene, Reisener, Olmi, Zoder-Martell, McNutt, & Horn, 2010). Struggling readers need to have immediate correction and feedback so they can make the correction rather than continuing to practice the skill incorrectly. If they have to wait until a teacher can get to each student, they could spend a significant amount of time practicing something wrong, if a peer is able to work GROUPING IMPACT ON FLUENCY 7 with them it can be corrected immediately. When peers are trained and used as tutors, students have the potential of receiving individualized instruction that does not require the teacher too much demand (Dufrene et al., 2010). A study completed by Hofstader-Duke and Daly (2011) paired a struggling reader with three peers in the classroom. The subject exceeded the average reading performance of the classroom and grade level. The intervention that was provided to the struggling reader included instruction and a reward. The instruction time of the intervention included a listening passage preview read by the tutor to model fluent reading for the struggling reader, repeated readings of the same passage and error corrections (Hofstader-Duke & Daly, 2011). By including the listening preview, it allows for the str