Fluency in Oral and Silent Reading: Creating a Balanced Foundation for Reading Comprehension

Abstract

Fluency is a critical skill in many theories of reading development. This is because a hallmark of fluency—automatic word recognition—is theorized to facilitate the ability to read grade-level text with comprehension. Too many US children, however, are struggling to demonstrate adequate levels of fluency in oral and silent reading, and ultimately to comprehend grade level texts. Consequently, critical theoretical and practical questions for the field are: what text-matching approach is most effective for improving young children’s reading fluency, what levels of fluency are needed to succeed on grade-level reading comprehension tests, and where should educators focus to ensure children matriculate with the fluency skills needed to undergird grade-level reading comprehension? This dissertation responds to these questions in three thematically related papers that address the role of fluency in children’s reading comprehension. Paper 1 meta-analyzes the literature on fluency interventions to consider whether children should practice with texts that align to their grade level or to their individual ability. It compares the benefits of exposure to grade-level versus reader-matched texts. Paper 2 examines the role of fluency during silent reading and investigates the relationships between silent reading rate, stamina, and reading comprehension. It provides important insights pertaining to adequate fluency in the silent mode, which is essential for success on silent reading comprehension tests. Paper 3 integrates the findings in the first two papers and offers a practical guide to educators who provide targeted reading intervention support. It presents a revised model for identifying the primary need in reading intervention, explicitly attending to silent reading rate and stamina, and provides recommendations for supporting silent reading comprehension in Grade 3. Together, these studies increase our understanding of the factors that influence fluency acquisition in oral and silent contexts. In doing so, they contribute to our understanding of how to create a balanced foundation for reading comprehension and support children who fail grade-level silent reading comprehension tests due to inadequate fluency.Educatio