A systematic review on quality indicators of randomized control trial reading fluency intervention studies

Although several studies have examined the effectiveness of reading fluency interventions, the methodological rigor of these studies remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of randomized controlled trial (RCT) reading fluency intervention studies using the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) standards. Twenty-six studies met the inclusion criteria for the review. All included studies met the four quality indicators for context and setting, participants, intervention agent, and data analysis. In addition, 22 out of the 26 studies met the quality indicators for internal validity and implementation fidelity, and 18 met the quality indicator for outcome measure. Finally, 16 of the studies met all eight quality indicators, and the majority of them also reported significant effects on reading fluency outcomes. Findings and future directions are discussed considering the quality indicators for methodologically rigorous reading fluency intervention studies.