Efficacy of Strategic Incremental Rehearsal in a Word List
Trade your flash-cards for a single word list—same Strategic Incremental Rehearsal steps, zero prep time.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Lewis et al. (2025) tried a new way to run Strategic Incremental Rehearsal. Instead of flipping flash-cards, they printed all words on one sheet.
Kids with reading deficits read down the list each session. The teacher still mixed known and new words in growing sets.
The team tracked how many words each child could read right away and again two weeks later.
What they found
Most kids learned the new sight words and still read them two weeks later.
The single-page list worked as well as the old flash-card version, but prep time dropped to almost zero.
How this fits with other research
Kupzyk et al. (2011) first showed that Strategic Incremental Rehearsal beats plain incremental rehearsal when you use flash-cards. Lewis keeps the same steps, just swaps the medium.
Coleman et al. (2025) asked fourth-grade tutors to give the flash-card version to second graders and it still worked. Together these papers show the procedure is sturdy no matter who hands it out or what it is printed on.
Chotto et al. (2023) found that mixing up first letters across sets speeds learning. You can fold that tip into the word-list format to make the method even faster.
Why it matters
You can ditch the card shuffle. Print one list, slip it into a page protector, and start teaching. Less prep means more trials per session and fewer materials to lose. Try it on Monday for any learner who needs quick sight-word growth.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Strategic incremental rehearsal (SIR) involves the systematic introduction of targets during instruction. Specifically, SIR includes an incrementing set size such that correct responding to a subset of targets is required before additional targets are included during instructional sessions. Prior research has arranged SIR using flashcards, although the features of SIR that are likely responsible for its efficacy may not be restricted to flashcards. In the current study, we arranged SIR in a word list (SIR-WL), which includes the presentation of target words on a single page. Instruction using SIR-WL was effective across all evaluations during sight word instruction for children exhibiting reading deficits and resulted in durable responding during maintenance and generalization probes for most targets.Several trial interspersal methods have been described in the extant literature and may confer unique benefits for skill acquisition interventions in applied practice.SIR has been shown to be effective, likely due to the arrangement of an incrementing target set size and within-session prompt delay fading.These features of SIR might also result in fewer errors than static set sizes and across-session prompt delay fading procedures.Presentation modalities, such as word lists rather than flashcards, might improve the feasibility of effective instructional methods by reducing material management. Several trial interspersal methods have been described in the extant literature and may confer unique benefits for skill acquisition interventions in applied practice. SIR has been shown to be effective, likely due to the arrangement of an incrementing target set size and within-session prompt delay fading. These features of SIR might also result in fewer errors than static set sizes and across-session prompt delay fading procedures. Presentation modalities, such as word lists rather than flashcards, might improve the feasibility of effective instructional methods by reducing material management.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2025 · doi:10.1007/s40617-024-00999-x