Reaching the Top of Data Mountain: Postsecondary Students With Disabilities Use Data to Improve Fluency

Intervention studies focused on improving reading outcomes are scarce for postsecondary students with disabilities. Historically, comprehensive transition and postsecondary education programs (CTPs) for students with disabilities focused on employment, living, personal, and social skills over academic instruction. Recently, there is an emphasis to teach self-determination skills in postsecondary settings. For students in K–12, self-determination interventions positively impact academic outcomes. The present study tested the effects of a self-determination learning program—Data Mountain—on the oral reading fluency (ORF) of students with disabilities enrolled in a CTP. Using a feasibility study, 40 postsecondary students with disabilities were assigned to receive Data Mountain or progress monitoring activities only (comparison condition). Preliminary evidence from hierarchical linear modeling indicated Data Mountain students read an average of 20 more words per minute with a growth rate twice that of comparison students ( p < .01). Findings provide evidence that postsecondary students with disabilities exhibit continued improvement on ORF progress monitoring.