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Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction. Chapter 3: Fluency 

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At the request of Congress, a national panel of experts in the field of reading was created in 1997, known as the National Reading Panel (NRP). The NRP held public hearings to help decide what topics would be addressed in its report to Congress on the state of reading research and instruction. The selected topics were: alphabetics (i.e., phonemic awareness instruction and phonics instruction); fluency; comprehension  (vocabulary instruction, text comprehension instruction, teacher preparation, and comprehension strategies instruction); teacher education as it relates to reading instruction; and computer technology and reading instruction. Each of these topics was addressed by a subgroup of the NRP and became a chapter in the final NRP report.

This abstract covers the report’s chapter on fluency. Reading fluency requires well-developed word recognition skills, but such skills alone do not equal fluency. Fluency includes the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. The NRP considered two instructional approaches to teaching fluency:

1. guided repeated oral reading; and
2. recreational reading, sustained silent reading programs, and various other incentive programs.

Insufficient data existed to conduct a meta-analysis of the recreational reading programs, so this abstract will focus on guided repeated oral reading practice. Repeated oral reading practice techniques include repeated reading, neurological impress, radio reading, paired reading, assisted reading, and a variety of similar programs aimed at developing fluent reading habits.

Recent approaches to guided repeated oral reading require students to read and reread a text until they reach some level of proficiency and often include carefully designed feedback on performance. Instruction of this sort can be achieved by enlisting the use of tutors, working one-to-one with students, using audiotapes, or assigning students to peer groups.

Due to the lack of quality data on recreational reading programs mentioned above, this meta-analysis focused on answering the following question:

1. How effective is guided repeated oral reading instruction on reading fluency performance?

Repeated guided oral reading procedures were found to be effective in improving reading fluency*, word recognition*, comprehension, and overall reading achievement for children at a variety of grade levels.

Guided repeated oral reading procedures are effective in improving reading fluency and overall reading achievement. This method of instruction also has a consistent and positive impact on word recognition, fluency, and comprehension as measured by various tests at a range of grade levels.

Strong readers often establish the majority of their fluency skills by 3rd or 4th grade and may not benefit from repeated oral reading procedures after the upper elementary school grades. However, repeated oral reading procedures can be useful in increasing fluency skills in readers who have a disability or who are at risk of a disability well beyond 4th grade.

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