Effects of peer-mediated intervention on the reading fluency of a fourth-grade student

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a peer-mediated intervention on improving the reading fluency of a fourth-grade student facing difficulties in reading fluency. The study was conducted in an elementary school in Saudi Arabia, within a general education fourth-grade classroom. It spanned two months, involving a student grappling with reading fluency issues, and he significantly underperformed compared to his peers. The study was carried out on single subject design. Participants included the target student and a proficient peer tutor, both sharing the same class, teachers, schedule, Arabic background, socioeconomic status, and urban living environment. Reading assessment employed a fourth-grade primary school reading book to ensure consistent evaluation throughout the baseline, intervention, and maintenance phases. The independent variable was the peer-mediated reading strategy, a well-established method for enhancing reading outcomes. The dependent variable measured the student’s reading fluency in terms of the number of correct words read per minute. Results demonstrated the effectiveness of the peer-mediated reading approach in significantly improving the struggling student’s reading fluency. Visual analysis revealed a consistent upward trend, indicating substantial improvements following the intervention, with an immediate peak observed after the first intervention point compared to the baseline. These findings highlight the positive impact of peer-mediated interventions on enhancing reading fluency in struggling students. Limitations, implications, and recommendations for future research were thoroughly examined and discussed in this study.