Assessing & Teaching This KEY Reading Skill: Fluency

FLUENCY
Assessing & Teaching this

KEY Reading Skill
Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D.

Seattle, WA
WHAT IS READING FLUENCY?
The ability to read
 accurately
 quickly
 with expression
WHO ARE THESE STUDENTS?
DESCRIPTORS:
 Read haltingly
 Slow, laborious readers
 Read word—by—word
 Uncertain of sight words
 Ignore punctuation
REAL TARGET:
Comprehension & Motivation
Multiple Causes of Comprehension Problems:
 Lack of sufficient background knowledge
 Lack of sufficient language foundation
 Fails to organize & use information to
understand--Does not realize when
s/he fails to understand
 Decoding/fluency skills poor
National Reading Panel (2000)
Five Key Instructional Components

 Phonemic Awareness
 Phonics
 Fluency
 Vocabulary
 Comprehension Strategies
WHY IS FLUENCY
SO IMPORTANT?
 Comprehension limited by labored,
inefficient reading (working memory)
 Lack of fluency = lack of motivation =

fewer words read = smaller vocabulary
= limited comprehension
(self-perpetuating)
 “There is no comprehension strategy

that compensates for difficulty reading
words accurately & fluently.”
(Torgeson, 2003)
Bridge to Comprehension
Fluency forms the bridge between
word recognition & comprehension
FLUENCY
Identifying Constructing
Words Meaning
MEASURING READING FLUENCY
the number of words in text read
correctly per minute (wcpm)
or…
letters, sounds, words
ASSESSING FLUENCY:
3 ROLES
#1 FINDING students who may need

intervention assistance in reading
#2 DIAGNOSING fluency problems
#3 MONITORING PROGRESS to
determine if reading skills are improving
OSPI Reading Fluency GLEs
 Grade 1: 50-65+ words correct per minute
 Grade 2: 90-100+ wcpm
 Grade 3: 110-120+ wcpm
 Grade 4: 115-125+ wcpm
 Grade 5: 125-135+ wcpm
 Grade 6 & up: 145-155+ wcpm
Unpracticed, cold reading by end of the year
Hasbrouck & Tindal Norms for
Oral Reading Fluency for Grades 2-5
Fall Winter Spring
Grade Percentile WCPM* WCPM* WCPM*
75 82 106 124
2 50 53 78 94
25 23 46 65
75 107 123 142
3 50 79 93 114
25 65 70 87
75 125 133 143
4 50 99 112 118
25 72 89 92
75 126 143 151
5 50 105 118 128
25 77 93 100
Upper grades: 150 wcpm/50th percentile

PROVIDING FLUENCY
INSTRUCTION or INTERVENTION
ON & BEYOND / APPROACHING

LEVEL In-class practice
opportunities
INTERVENTION
Explicit, systematic instruction/practice
Key Research Findings
• Guided reading practice

improves fluency for
“typical” students
• Independent practice
(silent reading) NOT
sufficient to
improve fluency
PASSAGE READING PRACTICES
TO IMPROVE FLUENCY
Traditional practice:
Round robin reading
from science, social studies,
literature, chapter books
Students take turns

reading parts of a text aloud
ALTERNATIVES TO ROUND ROBIN
 Choral Reading
 Cloze Reading
 Partner Reading
CHORAL READING
Whole class reads ALOUD & TOGETHER

from same selection
NON-THREATENING practice
PROCEDURE:
 Orally read with students
 Read at a moderate rate
 Use pre-correction procedures:
“Keep your voice with mine.”
CLOZE READING
ASSISTS students in reading difficult material

Provides GROUP PRACTICE & MAINTAINS
student ATTENTION
PROCEDURE:
 Orally read the material to students
 Read at a moderate rate
 Pause & have students say the next word
 Intentionally delete “meaningful words”
PARTNER READING
EASY & EFFECTIVE way to involve students
Increases instructional TIME ON TASK
PROCEDURE:
 Assign students partners (#1 is higher performing
student who readers first)
 Designate amount to read to partner
 When an error is heard, have students use the
“Ask, then Tell” procedure:
Ask “Can you figure out this word?”
Tell “The word is _________.”
“Read the sentence again.”
Establishing Partners
 Avoid pairing
highest and lowest
skilled readers
 Consider taking
lowest readers into a
small group for
practice with the
teacher
Establishing Partners
1. Ebonie 1. Michael 1. Quan
2. Jazmine 2. Andrea 2. Kyesha
3. Bobby 3. Ezra 3. Francisco
4. Celisse 4. Juan 4. Angelica
5. Marsha 5. Amy
6. Krishon 6. Hyun Ha
7. Sammy 7. Mari
8. Jamie 8. Harry
9. Orlando 9. Sarah
10. Miquel 10. Ashante’
PARTNER READING VARIATIONS
Side by Side- Reading to a Partner

Students sit next to each other with one book between
them. One partner reads & points to the words; the
other partner follows along.
Shoulder to Shoulder- Reading to a Partner

Students sit facing opposite directions with shoulders
aligned. Each partner has a book.
Reading WITH a Partner

Students sit side to side with one book between them.
Both partners read at the same time as partner one
touches the words.
INSTRUCTION for
INTERVENTION
(a) FOLLOWING A MODEL
Reading along with a model of accurate
reading from an audio tape/CD OR a skillful
reader
(b) REPEATED READING
Students reread passage orally to
themselves or a partner — until predetermined
goal achieved (30-40 words above baseline)
(c) MONITORING PROGRESS

Students graph their performance: “Cold”
reading first; then again after practice
PROVIDE FLUENCY INSTRUCTION AT A
CHALLENGING
INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL
 Model provides SCAFFOLDING;
 Students must WORK HARD
toward achieving goal
to see real progress
COMMERCIAL FLUENCY
PROGRAMS
 Read Naturally
Levels .8- 8.0
Audio tapes/CD or software
editions
 Six Minute Solution

160
passages Grades
1.0-8.0
Partner reading
Focus on
Fluency
Osborn & Lehr
www.prel.org
FREE!
Assessing
Fluency
Tim Rasinski
www.prel.org
FREE!
REFERENCES
 Chard, D., Vaughn, S., & Tyler, B.J. (2002).
A synthesis of research on effective
interventions for building reading fluency
with elementary students with learning
disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities,
36(5), 386-406.
 DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early

Literacy Skills).
http://idea.uoregon.edu/~dibels/
 Edformation http://www.edformation.com/
 Fuchs, L., Fuchs, D., Hamlett, C., Walz, L., &

 Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Hosp, M. K., &
Jenkins, J. R. (2001). Oral reading fluency as
an indicator of reading competence: A
theoretical, empirical, and historical analysis.
Scientific Studies of Reading, 5(3), 239-256.
 Hasbrouck, J.E., Ihnot, C., & Rogers, G. H.
(1999). “Read Naturally”: A strategy to
increase oral reading fluency. Reading
Research & Instruction, 39(1), 27-38.
 Hasbrouck, J.E., Woldbeck, T., Ihnot, C., &
Parker, R. I. (1999). One teacher’s use of
curriculum-based measurement: A changed
opinion. Learning Disabilities: Research &
 Hasbrouck, J. E. & Tindal, G. (Spring,
1992). Curriculum-based oral reading
fluency norms for students in grades 2-5.
Teaching Exceptional Children, 24(3), 41-
44.
 NATIONAL READING PANEL REPORT

(2000) www.nationalreadingpanel.org
 Osborn, J. & Lehr, F. A Focus on Fluency

www.prel.org (free booklet)
 Rasinski, T. Assessing Reading Fluency
www.prel.org (free booklet)
 READ NATURALLY “Reading Fluency

Monitor”
www.readnaturally.com 1-800-788-4085
info@readnaturally.com
 Shinn, M. R. (Ed.) (1989). Curriculum-
Based Measurement: Assessing Special
Children. NY: Guilford. ISBN: 0-
89862231X
 SOPRIS WEST “6 Minute Solution”
www.sopriswest.com 1-
Contact Information:
Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D.

Educational Consultant
Seattle, WA
www.jhasbrouck.com

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FLUENCY

Assessing & Teaching this

Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D.

Five Key Instructional Components

 Lack of fluency = lack of motivation =

 “There is no comprehension strategy

#1 FINDING students who may need

#2 DIAGNOSING fluency problems

Upper grades: 150 wcpm/50th percentile

ON & BEYOND / APPROACHING

• Guided reading practice

Students take turns

Whole class reads ALOUD & TOGETHER

ASSISTS students in reading difficult material

Side by Side- Reading to a Partner

Shoulder to Shoulder- Reading to a Partner

Reading WITH a Partner

(c) MONITORING PROGRESS

 Six Minute Solution

 DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early

 Fuchs, L., Fuchs, D., Hamlett, C., Walz, L., &

 NATIONAL READING PANEL REPORT

 Osborn, J. & Lehr, F. A Focus on Fluency

 READ NATURALLY “Reading Fluency

Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D.

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