“…Students who read slowly and laboriously read fewer words overall and often become reluctant readers who struggle to learn from text and do not read for pleasure, thus widening the gap between poor and proficient readers (Stanovich, 1986). Furthermore, the ability to read quickly and accurately is related to improved reading comprehension because students can devote more attention during reading to the mental processes involved in understanding text (Homan, Klesius, & Hite, 1993;Kuhn & Stahl, 2000; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2000;Reutzel & Hollingsworth, 1993;Shinn, Good, & Knutson, 1992).Evidence from intervention studies with older students who exhibit deficits in decoding and fluency suggest that these students benefit from receiving instruction in the basic elements of word reading, regardless of how old they are (Abbott & Berninger, 1999; NICHD, 2000). Research findings point to the use of systematic, explicit instruction in comprehension strategies and vocabulary, opportunities for practice in text geared to the students' reading level with corrective feedback, and explicit instruction in the use of strategies to read words quickly and accurately (Swanson, 1999;Vaughn, Gersten, & Chard, 2000).…”