Improved Learning Conditions in the Establishment of Reading Skills with Disabled Readers

Learning conditions were individually programed in a group setting to provide sequential arrangement of reading material and systematic presentation of reinforcing events to optimize each child's performance. Arrangements of reinforcing events were designed first to accelerate performance rate, then to maintain the high rate. When learning conditions were individually appropriate, each child averaged between 100 and 200 more correct responses every day and spent very few minutes avoiding reading. The students not only made more correct responses daily and worked longer, but also progressed in instructional reading levels from one and one-half to 4 years over 5 months of instruction.