Using Retrospective Miscue Analysis to Revalue Reading: A Case Study

Abstract

This case-study focused on a sixth grade female student who attended a suburban school district in Western New York. The student participated in Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA) for a period of eight weeks. She was identified as at-risk for failure in reading in fourth grade and received pull-out support at school for almost three years. She experience many perceived failures at school and did not enjoy reading. As a result of participating in RMA she improved her ability to monitor fluency and comprehension and revalued reading. She realized that reading was an interactive process and miscues in oral reading are not always bad. By engaging in conversations about high-quality and low-quality miscues she improved her awareness of the three cueing systems, Meaning, Syntax and Visual (MSV), used when reading, As the study progressed she began integrating all three cueing systems while she read. Her fluency and comprehension improved and she revalued reading and herself as a reader. She began reading for pleasure; she was excited about reading and gained confidence in reading. This research shows that Retrospective Miscue Analysis is a powerful tool to use with adolescent students who have been identified as at-risk for failure in reading.