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Proficiency, accuracy and fluency in reading is an essential part of nurturing a disposition towards learning growth and continued education for any student who wishes to be successful in school. Many studies have assessed the efficiency and success of various reading programs that have been developed to improve these areas of reading proficiency. The REWARDS® Program is one such example. This program works to increase a student's ability to decode multisyllabic words using specific strategies including vowel sound, word part, and prefix and suffix recognition. REWARDS® can be used as intervention elementary to high school, and with students in both general and special education settings. This study was performed by two undergraduate students at a high school in the Pacific Northwest and assesses the progress of a 14-year-old female participant who was diagnosed with a specific learning disorder in reading skills. The study tracks the development of the participant's reading skills through the use of the REWARDS Program. Through this study, there was clear evidence that the REWARDS Program had a positive impact on the student's ability to decode multisyllabic words.
Fluent reading is a starting point for any person wishing to further their learning and be successful and school and later life (Adams, 1990; Archer, Gleason, & Vachon, 2003; Sanzo, Clayton, & Sherman, 2011). However, reading is not merely a skill important for the school environment but is applied in most activities, work environments, and everyday life (Sanzo, Clayton, & Sherman, 2011). This is why reading is one of the most important skills to be taught and developed in a child's early education and must be a focal point of growth in order for the student to succeed (Archer et al., 2003). Finally there is a strong correlation reading success future learning throughout other content areas. As students progress through school, proficient reading is a required skill in most, if not all, other classes.
There is strong evidence showing that if a child does not read by third grade, they often fail to catch up and are more likely to drop out of school, take drugs, or become incarcerated (Greenwood, 1996). Therefore, the need for developing early reading skills, as well as an enthusiasm for reading and fostering these skills throughout a...