Students who struggle to read text fluently (i.e., quickly and accurately) often receive supplemental reading instruction tailored to their specific skill needs. Some researchers contend that advanced phonemic awareness (Advanced PA) – the ability to perceive and manipulate phonemic sounds without referencing written text - is an important skill target for improving fluency. Advocates for Advanced PA training argue that verbal phoneme manipulation skills can facilitate readers' ability to consolidate words to memory which in turn facilitates automatic word recognition. Others conclude that evidence does not exist to support Advanced PA instruction among readers who can access text, for whom print-based instruction will be more valuable. With data from a statewide supplemental reading program, I used an inverse propensity weighting approach to compare reading gains among struggling second- and third-grade readers who received traditional fluency instruction with or without Advanced PA. Results suggest that students receiving Advanced PA experience significantly lower reading gains throughout an academic year than if they received more traditional supports.

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