Page 31 - ABCTE Study Guide_Neat
P. 31
Question
Which of the following statements is true?
A It is reasonable to begin formal assessments of reading fluency halfway into the first
grade.
B It is necessary to begin formal assessments of reading fluency in order to build
automaticity.
C It is typical for students to reach a plateau in reading fluency that spans across
differently leveled texts.
D It is important to emphasize fluency in reading connected text in order to improve a
student’s understanding of phonics.
Answer
Choice A is the correct response. Many students are able to read connected text with about 90%
accuracy by the middle of the first grade. If a student hasn’t yet attained that milestone, you may need
to continue phonics exercises to build his or her decoding skills
The Language of Assessment
Leveling students with regard to fluency takes many shapes (by grade level, age, socioeconomic
status), and research is always in progress. To give you an example of one rubric, the chart below
shows the language used by the National Center for Education Statistics, a federal body that
measures a variety of academic subject. Here are their four levels of fluency:
Level 4 Reads primarily in larger, meaningful phrase groups. Although some
regressions, repetitions, and deviations from text may be present,
these do not appear to detract from the overall structure of the story.
Preservation of the author's syntax is consistent. Some or most of the
story is read with expressive interpretation.
Level 3 Reads primarily in three- or four-word phrase groups. Some smaller
groupings may be present. However, the majority of phrasing seems
appropriate and preserves the syntax of the author. Little or no
expressive interpretation is present.
Level 2 Reads primarily in two-word phrases with some three- or four-word
groupings. Some word-by-word reading may be present. Word
groupings may seem awkward and unrelated to larger context of
sentence or passage.
Level 1 Reads primarily word-by-word. Occasional two-word or three-word
phrases may occur, but these are infrequent and/or they do not
preserve meaningful syntax.
You may also encounter other ways of grouping students according to their fluency. The table below is
another typical way of classifying fluency levels:
