Effects of explicit timing on elementary students’ oral reading rates of word phrases

An ABAB withdrawal design was used to investigate the effects of explicit timing on accurate oral reading rate of sight word phrases of four elementary students demonstrating difficulty with reading. During baseline, the students were exposed to flash cards with sight word phrases and asked to read them out loud and were not made aware that they were being timed. The explicit timing condition was conducted the same except students were told that their performance was going to be timed and to do the best that they could. Students were told how many phrases they read correctly at the end of 3 minutes in both conditions. Results demonstrated that explicit timing increased accurate response rates. Discussion focuses on directions for practice and future research.