Older-reader intervention works—but progress depends heavily on what is measured.
A meta-analysis of 106 controlled studies synthesized 586 effect sizes from 97,114 analyzed students with reading difficulties in grades 4–12. The robust overall effect was small (Hedges’ g = 0.21; 95% confidence interval 0.16–0.26), with vocabulary showing the largest domain effect (g = 0.42), followed by word recognition/decoding (g = 0.20) and comprehension (g = 0.19). Fluency gains were much smaller (g = 0.08), while spelling was not significant. The authors rated the evidence moderate to high, but heterogeneity was substantial, publication-bias signals were present, and researcher-made measures produced much larger effects than standardized measures. The population was broader than diagnosed dyslexia and interventions were school-based, so the exact magnitude may not transfer to a premium one-to-one educational-therapy setting.
Why it matters at edcahoots
Set goals and progress checks by domain. For an older student, meaningful vocabulary or comprehension growth can coexist with slower fluency change; report each honestly rather than collapsing them into a single success claim.
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