Development of Oral Reading Fluency in Young Children at Risk for Failure

The body of knowledge on critical components of reading instruction is broad and deep with phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension serving as building blocks for literacy. The importance of fluent reading (i.e., with speed, accuracy, and proper expression, as well as comprehension) in the formula for success is widely accepted. The purpose of this study was to evaluate oral reading rates in a sample of 2nd-grade children. Using growth curve analysis, we identified models for a combined sample of at-risk and not-at-risk children. Large and important differences in oral reading were evident, but the growth rates remained the same throughout the 2nd- grade; in fact, the gap between at-risk and not-at-risk students remained constant. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research and the improvement of practice.     

Using Peer Coaches to Build Oral Reading Fluency

Fluent oral reading is essential for success in elementary school. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of enhanced reading fluency instruction for struggling readers. The intervention was provided to small groups of students at risk for reading difficulties. Students were assessed on key early literacy skills. Second-grade students who were at risk for reading failure and who received supplemental intervention scored higher on measures of fluency than students who received only typical classroom instruction; the effects of enhanced fluency instruction were evident across different dosages for many children at risk for reading failure. In addition, statistically significant improvements and relationships were evident for oral reading fluency and comprehension. We discuss guidelines for developing and using the intervention in other classrooms.     

Children’s Reading Comprehension and Oral Reading Fluency in Easy Text

This study explored third-graders’ oral reading fluency (ORF) in easy text in relation to their third- and fourth-grade reading comprehension. It also examined the children’s performance on two different measures of text exposure, a self-report questionnaire and a title-recognition test. Although third-graders’ ORF related significantly to their reading comprehension, oral language comprehension accounted for most of the variance in reading comprehension, whereas single word reading speed accounted for most of the variance in ORF. Third-grade reading comprehension and ORF each predicted unique variance in children’s scores on a fourth-grade state-mandated reading comprehension assessment. Scores on the self-report questionnaire correlated significantly with third-grade ORF and fourth-grade reading; the self-report accounted for reliable variance in ORF even with all of the other reading ability variables entered first. Results are consistent with the viewpoint that text exposure affects reading fluency. They also demonstrate that ORF is a valuable predictor of middle-elementary children’s reading comprehension, even when the ORF measure employs very easy text in which children achieve near-perfect word accuracy.     

Relations Among Oral Reading Fluency,Silent Reading Fluency,and Reading Comprehension: A Latent Variable Study of First-Grade Readers

In the present study, we examined oral and silent reading fluency and their relations with reading comprehension. In a series of structural equation models with latent variables using data from 316 first-grade students, (a) silent and oral reading fluency were found to be related yet distinct forms of reading fluency, (b) silent reading fluency predicted reading comprehension better for skilled readers than for average readers, (c) list reading fluency predicted reading comprehension better for average readers than for skilled readers, and (d) listening comprehension predicted reading comprehension better for skilled readers than for average readers.     

Oral Reading Fluency as an Indicator of Reading Competence: A Theoretical,Empirical, and Historical Analysis

The purpose of this article is to consider oral reading fluency as an indicator of overall reading competence. We begin by examining theoretical arguments for supposing that oral reading fluency may reflect overall reading competence. We then summarize several studies substantiating this phenomenon. Next, we provide an historical analysis of the extent to which oral reading fluency has been incorporated into measurement approaches during the past century. We conclude with recommendations about the assessment of oral reading fluency for research and practice.     

Morphological Awareness: A Tool to Promote Reading Fluency and Accuracy in Hebrew in Students with Reading Disabilities

The effectiveness of a morphological awareness (MA) intervention program on reading fluency and accuracy performance was examined in 40 students with reading disabilities in fourth to sixth grade, ranging in age from nine to 12 years old (M = 10.51, SD = 0.89). The study used an experimental pre–post design consisting of a morphological intervention group and a comparison group. Students participating in the 15‐week intervention program showed an advantage over comparison group students in all measures. Their improvement in MA resulted in a better reading fluency and accuracy performance as well as a significant change in reading level according to national norms. The results suggest that disabled readers can benefit from morphological intervention and use morphological cues in reading.     

Modeling the Relationship Between Oral Reading Fluency and Performance on a Statewide Reading Test

This study examined the relationship between oral reading fluency and performance on a statewide reading test across Grades 3, 4, and 5. A curriculum-based measure of oral reading fluency was administered to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders who participated in the reading test from the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP). A cross-sectional design with individuals nested within classrooms and classrooms nested within grade levels was used. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed to analyze the relationships. Significant correlations were found between oral reading fluency and the CSAP for all 3 grades. The measure of oral reading fluency added unique information to predicting CSAP performance over and above the predictability of previous year CSAP testing. There was significant variation at the individual classroom level in the relationship between oral reading fluency and CSAP performance. Diagnostic efficiency statistics were used with cut scores to predict whether students would pass or fail the CSAP.     

Grade-Level Invariance of a Theoretical Causal Structure Predicting Reading Comprehension With Vocabulary and Oral Reading Fluency

This research investigates the relative importance of vocabulary and oral reading fluency as measurement dimensions of reading comprehension as the student passes from elementary to high school. Invariance of this model over grades 4 through 8 is tested using two independent student samples reading grade-level appropriate passages. Results from structural equation modeling indicate that the model is not invariant across grade levels. Vocabulary knowledge is a significant and constant predictor of overall reading comprehension irrespective of grade level. While significant, fluency effects diminish over grades, especially in the later grades. Lack of grade level invariance was obtained with both samples. Results are discussed in light of vertically linked reading assessments, adequate yearly progress, and instruction.     

Using Word Identification Fluency to Monitor First-Grade Reading Development

This study assessed the effects of sampling breadth on technical features of word identification fluency (WIF), a tool for screening and monitoring the reading development of first graders. From a potential pool of 704 first-grade students, the authors measured both a representative sample (n = 284) and 2 other subgroups: those with low reading achievement (n = 202) and those with high/average achievement (n = 213). Data were collected weekly on broadly and narrowly sampled WIF lists for 15 weeks and on criterion measures in the fall and spring. Broad lists were developed by sampling words from 500 high-frequency words, whereas narrow lists were created by sampling from the 133 words from Dolch preprimer, primer, and first-grade word lists. Overall, predictive validity for performance level, predictive validity for growth, and commonality analysis showed narrow sampling was better for screening the representative group and the high/average subgroup. Broad sampling was superior for screening the low-achieving subgroup and for progress monitoring across groups.     

An Oral Reading Fluency Assessment for Young Adult Career and Technical Education Students

Educators confront a difficult challenge of quickly and efficiently identifying students with literacy skill deficits in academically diverse career and technical education classes. A statistical examination of oral reading fluency (ORF) of 296 at‐risk students participating in Job Corps tests the hypothesis that a 2‐minute, two‐dimensional ORF task is a useful tool for differentiating the basic literacy skills of these students. This study formed four student groups on this basis and statistically demonstrated the groups were distinct in terms of standardized assessments of reading and cognitive processing: phonological processing, processing speed, memory, and integrated and fluent reading with comprehension. We discuss the implications of these findings for further diagnostic reading assessments and instructional planning.     

Using Complexity Metrics to Assess Silent Reading Fluency: A Cross-Sectional Study Comparing Oral and Silent Reading

Reading typically undergoes a qualitative shift around Grade 4, becoming more fluent and silent, but there is no established measure for fluency in children’s silent reading. The present study presents a measure of self-paced reading in children, examining the use of complexity measures for time-series analyses recently established with adults. Cross-sectional groups of adults and children in Grades 2, 4, and 6 read the same passage of a Grade 2-level story, either silently or aloud. The dynamical structure of fluency in reading times was explored with fractal and recurrence quantification analysis. Results revealed that more fluent reading (with increasing age) was marked by greater structure and stability and that oral reading compared with silent reading showed less fractal structure, indicating silent reading as a more flexibly stable, adaptive coordinated behavior. The complexity metrics show promise for an alternate way to characterize reading fluency.     

Self-Determination to Increase Oral Reading Fluency Performance: Pilot and Replication Single-Case Design Studies

We report findings from multiple baseline design studies examining the effects of a program (“Data Mountain”) to improve the oral reading fluency (ORF) performance of 12 third-grade students with significant reading difficulties. The Data Mountain program guided students through self-monitoring, goal setting, and motivation training related to their reading performance. In the pilot study, these components were introduced across two experimental phases (self-monitoring and goal setting, followed by motivation training) to observe potential additive effects. In the replication study, the full Data Mountain program was introduced in one experimental phase. Between-case standardized mean difference effect sizes yielded moderate effects across studies (ES = 0.53, 0.63). Visual analyses of data revealed that students demonstrated increased levels of words read correctly per minute (wpm). In the pilot study, students’ fluency increased to an average of 22 wpm in the self-monitoring and goal-setting phase, and to a further 9 wpm in the motivation training phase. In the replication study, students increased an average of 18 wpm with the Data Mountain program. These results provide evidence to suggest that self-determination and motivation training have the potential to support the ORF performance of students with significant reading difficulties in the elementary grades.     

Building Reading Fluency in Developmental Readers

An increasing number of college students enrolling with poor reading fluency and comprehension skills pose a significant challenge to the college reading field in the absence of a strong understanding of the construct of reading fluency and its instruction. In order to contribute to this area of college reading, this article discusses instructional components that have been found to be effective in previous research in terms of their effectiveness and applicability for building fluent reading skills in struggling college readers.     

Exploring the Co‐Development of Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension: A Twin Study

This study explores the co‐development of two related but separate reading skills, reading fluency and reading comprehension, across Grades 1–4. A bivariate biometric dual change score model was applied to longitudinal data collected from 1,784 twin pairs between the ages of 6 and 10 years. Grade 1 skills were influenced by highly overlapping genetic and environmental factors. Growth in both skills was influenced by highly overlapping shared environmental factors. Cross‐lagged parameters indicated bidirectional effects, with stronger effects from fluency to comprehension change than from comprehension to fluency change.     

Text (Oral) Reading Fluency as a Construct in Reading Development: An Investigation of Its Mediating Role for Children From Grades 1 to 4

In the present study we investigated a developmentally changing role of text reading fluency in mediating the relations of word reading fluency and listening comprehension to reading comprehension. We addressed this question by using longitudinal data from Grades 1 to 4 and employing structural equation models. Results showed that the role of text reading fluency changes over time as children’s reading proficiency develops. In the beginning phase of reading development (Grade 1), text reading fluency was not independently related to reading comprehension over and above word reading fluency and listening comprehension. In Grades 2 to 4, however, text reading fluency completely mediated the relation between word reading fluency and reading comprehension, whereas it partially mediated the relation between listening comprehension and reading comprehension. These results suggest that text reading fluency is a dissociable construct that plays a developmentally changing role in reading acquisition.     

Measuring Gains in Reading Ability with Passage Reading Fluency

This study examined several aspects of Passage Reading Fluency (PRF) including performance variability across passages alternative designs for measuring PRF gain, and effects on PRF level from retesting with the same passages. Participants were 33 students from grades 2 to 10 attending a school for students with learning disabilities. PRF was measured at three test points. Time‐2 tests occurred 10 weeks after time‐1 tests, and time‐3 tests occurred 5 weeks after the time‐2 tests. At Test points 2 and 3, students read old passages (same‐passage design) and new passages (different‐passage design). Results showed substantial individual variation on concurrent PRF measures, smaller variation in gains measured with the same‐passage design, and no passage memory effects (i.e., from retested passages). Results are discussed in relation to measuring reading gains in Response to Intervention models.     

Influence of Verbal Working Memory Depends on Vocabulary: Oral Reading Fluency in Adolescents With Dyslexia

Most research on dyslexia to date has focused on early childhood, while comparatively little is known about the nature of dyslexia in adolescence. The current study had two objectives. The first was to investigate the relative contributions of several cognitive and linguistic factors to connected‐text oral reading fluency in a sample of adolescents with dyslexia (n = 77). The second was to test the hypothesis that the effect of verbal working memory on connected‐text oral reading fluency is moderated by word‐level skills and/or vocabulary knowledge. The results suggest that many deficits associated with childhood dyslexia remain prominent in adolescence, but the nature of the relationships between key cognitive and linguistic predictors (i.e., word‐level reading, vocabulary, verbal working memory) and reading fluency appear to be different in adolescence. For example, while word‐level skills remain a significant predictor, the strength of the effect is relatively weak. In contrast, the data support an increased role for vocabulary and verbal working memory, including an interaction between these factors. The presence of an interaction can be interpreted as evidence that the influence of verbal working memory on connected‐text oral reading fluency in adolescents with dyslexia depends on individual differences in vocabulary knowledge. These results offer support for the changing nature of dyslexia across development, and suggest that researchers should study dyslexia in adolescents on its own terms, rather than treating it as an extension of reading problems in early childhood.     

流畅阅读与大学英语阅读障碍克服

英语阅读能力是大学生应该具有的主要的大学英语综合运用能力,是打好语言基础,获取信息的重要手段。文章探讨了流畅阅读的特点,以及大学英语阅读存在的障碍,并提出克服大学阅读障碍的方法。     

Supplemental Fluency Intervention and Determinants of Reading Outcomes

This study replicates research on the efficacy of a repeated reading intervention with word-level instruction for students in Grades 2 and 3 with low to moderate fluency skills, examines differences between treatment implementers, and tests unique contributions of treatment-related variables on outcomes. Students from 13 schools were randomly assigned to dyads; dyads were randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Schools were matched into treatment implementer groups (teachers or paraeducators) at study onset. Tutoring occurred during school hours for 15 weeks (M = 25.5 hr). Multilevel model results showed treatment students (n = 98) gained more than controls (n = 104) on measures of letter-sound knowledge (d = .41), fluency (d = .37–.38), and comprehension (d = .30–.31); students tutored by teachers gained more than their paraeducator-tutored peers on word reading and fluency. Finally, dyads tutored with greater fidelity gained more in word reading and fluency; dyads that read more complex words in their texts gained less on letter-sounds, fluency, and comprehension.