Chapter 9: Fluency Assessment

By Kayla Matich

Introduction“Fluency assessment consists of listening to students read aloud and collecting information about their oral reading accuracy, rate, and prosody.” (Page 328). Assessments should be…

reliableconsistent scores validmeaningful source of data efficient in administration, scoring, and

interpretation quick and easy

What? Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)

measured by curriculum-based measurement (CBM) identifies students who are at risk for reading failure identifies which students are not progressing identifies students’ instructional level identifies students who need additional evaluation and

instruction Assessing ORF using CMB

time students for one-minute students read an unpracticed, grade-level reading

passage teacher follows along on his/her own copy of the

passage stop assessing when the minute is over number of words read – errors = ORF score

ORF score is words correct per minute (WCPM)

What? ORF Norms

The national norms are based from numerous one-minute timings that students read out loud at their grade level.

Referencing the norms can give you a good indication on whether a student is performing where he/she should be.

The norms give scores from First Grade to Eighth Grade as well as from Fall, Winter, and Spring.

From the data collected, you can determine what percentile your student is reading at when compared nationally. The percentile scores are 10, 25, 50, 70, and 90.

The Oral Reading Fluency Norms can be found on Page 331. Weekly Growth Rates

As students development throughout the year, their reading should as well. Below are the weekly growth rates for ORF CBM: WCPM that are found on Page 332. Grade 1: 2 to 3 words Grade 2: 1.5 to 2 words Grade 3: 1 to 1.5 words Grade 4: 0.85 to 1.1. words Grade 5: 0.5 to 0.8 words Grade 6: 0.3 to 0.65 words

What? MAZE CBM

Since comprehension depends more on content knowledge and vocabulary in the older grades, the MAZE assessment might be more essential in data collection.

MAZE is a passage at grade level in which every seventh word is missing.

The student is required to choose a word that best fits in the sentence.

This assessment is done independently and administered for two minutes.

This assessment is available from Fourth Grade and above. Prosody Reading

Prosody reading is difficult to assess since it is based on the assessor’s judgment.

This can be assessed by using a rating scale or rubric. The Prosody Assessment Rating Scale can be found on Page

334.

What? I have this data collected; now what?

If you find that a student is not progressing in reading like he/she should, teachers need to gather more information in detail to determine what the weakness area is.

Common causes for dysfluency are… phonemic awareness decoding language syntax vocabulary content knowledge

A child’s accuracy speed might occur because… he/she is too concerned with accuracy so they slow down. they are reading so fast that they are making mistakes

A possible cause for dysfluency checklist can be found on Page 335.

Why? Fluency assessment is essential because is gives educators a good estimate of students’ reading level as well as their comprehension. The data collected from CBMs can lead to necessary instructional decisions that will benefit the student and his/her success. ORF assessments can be helpful to find…

students’ instructional groupings monitor students’ progress identify students who are not making progress

in reading Research findings and suggested reading can be located on pages 336 and 337.

When? Screening and Administering

All students, except First Grade, should be assessed at the beginning of the year or when they enter the school in order to determine what their instructional level is.

Students should be assessed three times throughout the academic year. This is generally done in the Fall, Winter, and Spring.

At each assessment, three different unpracticed, grade level reading passages will be given to the students.

Students who are struggling should be monitored at least once a month if not more.

How? Getting reading to assess reading fluency

Have the student sit across from you or next to your nonwriting hand. Inform the student they will be reading from the left to the right and then

demonstrate the sweeping motion used to begin reading the next line. You will begin the one minute timing when the child reads the first word. While the student is reading, you will mark the errors made. When the minute is up, make a bracket (]) after the last word read. If the student is in the middle of a sentence when the timer beeps, allow

the child to finish the sentence but do not count the words read after the timer went off.

Non Errors are…(found on Page 342)

Correct pronunciationsSelf-corrections InsertionsRepetitionsDialect or accent differences

Errors are…(found on Page 342)MispronunciationsMispronunciation of a

HeteronymOmissionsSubstitutionsTranspositionsHesitations

How? ORF Score

The ORF score is expressed as words correct per minute (WCPM). To calculate the score, use the following formula.

Total words read – errors = ORF score (WCPM) After assessing the three passages and calculating the score,

disregard the highest and lowest score. The median score will give you a better indication of how your students’ reading fluency is.

If the student finishes the passage before the one minute is completed. Use the following prorated formula to score your student’s fluency.

For example, if the student were to read 150 words in 50 seconds the formula would look like this. 60 seconds x 150 / 50 seconds = 180 WCPM

How? How do I know what percentile my student is in?

If your students’ median score is within ten points, plus or minus, of the 50th percentile they are considered to be meeting the expectations of that particular grade level.

If a student score is more than ten points below the 50th percentile, he/she needs to be further assessed to determine what the child needs to succeed.

Progress Monitoring It is essential to record student progress on a type of visual form. Graphing points on a graph gives the educator and student both a

visual and numerical breakdown of the progress being made. Steps to set up a graph can be located on Page 345. Sufficient progress can be evident if the student’s scores fall on

or above the aim line. Progress can also be assessed by comparing the students’ weekly

rate to the target weekly rate. When the student’s weekly rate is equal or greater, the student is making sufficient progress.

How? Scores from fluency assessments can be beneficial in the Response to Intervention model. Digital graphing can be done through the Growth Calculator.

Steps for completing the Growth Calculator can be found on pages 349 – 353.

Assessing Prosodic Reading You assess prosodic reading by circling any mispronunciation

and words that are stressed as well as indicating pauses in the student’s reading. Making additional notes and comments are helpful.

Use the Prosody Assessment Summary Form to determine the students’ score.

Nonprosodic reading is indicated by a score of 1 or 2. Prosodic reading is indicated by a score of 3 or 4. If the student is a nonprosodic reader , use the interpretation

and instructional options chart on page 358 to establish your next steps.

Conclusion

Reading passages can be found within AIMSweb. AIMSweb is a benchmark and progress monitoring system based on direct, frequent and continuous student assessment. (http://www.aimsweb.com/).

“The ability to measure students’ levels of achievement and monitor their progress is key to successful fluency teacher.” –Rasinski, 2004. (Page 336).