Abstract:

This study was undertaken to see whether the student efforts to accelerate their reading growth was accompanied by similar growth in their scores on two standardized reading tests, the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT-III) and the Gates-MacGinitie. The WRAT-III measures sight word recognition, while the Gates-MacGinitie measures Vocabulary and Comprehension.

The charts provide a daily statement of reading growth. Some students aim to pass each day so that the change lines crowd the chart as in Max's Daily Chart in Figure 1. Others, like Nic, (Figure 2) take much more time to pass from level to level, reading about once per day. If the daily charts correlate with standard reading measures, they can be useful in providing an immediate projection of growth, rather than waiting for the yearly testing to take place. Thus modifications that might accelerate growth rate can be immediately instituted and students and teachers will not have to wait for the changes until the end of the school year. When each student first enters the Academy, he is tested on the Wide Range Achievement Test (Decoding), and is assigned a Reading Fluency Book or Passage based on the WRAT score.
	Figure 1: Max's Daily Chart of Reading Passages
	The materials are designed with lists of words that are introduced in the passages. The student reads the list of words aloud to a coach for one minute. At the end of the minute, the student counts the words read. The coach points out any words that were misread (learning opportunities), and any skipped words. The learning opportunities and skips are written on a Hard Word List for later study by the student. If the student has read the list at a rate of 70 words per minute (after learning opportunities have been subtracted), he is promoted to the next list. The student then reads the passage aloud. Passing speed for passages is 150 words per minute. No attempt is made to check comprehension during the fluency sessions. Comprehension is addressed in the regular reading and content classes.
Figure 2: Nick is taking much longer to pass a Passage.

Students describe reaching criterion as 'passing a level.' Generally a student is considered well placed in the reading materials if it takes between 3 and 7 sessions to pass each level. Since students practice their fluencies three or more times per day, some students, like Max (Figure 1) aim for passing a level each day, voluntarily increasing the number of practice sessions.

Description of the Population

Ben Bronz Academy is a school for learning disabled students in grades three through twelve. The school provides remedial programs in reading, writing, mathematics, language, study skills, and cognitive problem-solving techniques, together with content courses in science, social studies and literature where these basic skills are applied. The goal of the school is to help students attain skills needed to achieve a normal rate of progress in public or private high school and college.

Students come to the Academy because they have not succeeded in other schools. Most are identified in first grade, but they seek help outside the public schools in later grades, when it becomes clear that their needs are not being met. Although the students are of average integlligence, they all have been formally diagnosed as seriously learning disabled, primarily in the area of language processing.

The students in this study attended Ben Bronz Academy from school year 1996-97 through school year 1998-99, a total of 98 students over a period of 3 years. They ranged in age from 8 to 19, with a mean of 12, S.D. 1.8. Entry Grade averaged 6.38 with the youngest student entering Grade three, the highest Grade ten. They were of average IQ (Mean 98.89, SD. 13.07). Around 40% of the students had secondary label of Attention Deficit Disorder. Language Disorder and Dyslexia were the most frequent co-occurring diagnoses.

The Reading Materials

The materials that the students read were chosen because of our familiarity with them. From the Great Falls, Montana, Precision Teaching project, we used the Bucks County series of worksheets which took us from Grades K to 4. From Englemann's SRA Corrective Reading Decode series, we used Decode B1 and 2, and Decode C (Grades 4 to 7). Beyond that, we chose the Jamestown Series that takes us past Grade 12.

These three series are not continuous. The Bucks materials use a common sight word approach. They have taken all of the sight words that are used by writers of childrens' books for each grade and presented them in isolated word arrangements, short sentences, and passages. There are 8 or more sheets for each grade until Grade 3, after which there are two per grade up to Grade 6. The Jamestown series also uses a Sight Word approach, providing 50 stories at each grade level. The Jamestown Series does not present the words in isolation.

The SRA series utilizes a phonics approach, introducing pure short vowel sounds in the first book, and gradually introducing the more complex sounds. The new words in each story are introduced in isolation in boxes above the stories.

The Tests

Decoding progress was measured on the Reading Section of the Wide Range Achievement Test, Third Edition (WRAT). Vocabulary and Comprehension were measured on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Third Edition (Gates). The WRAT is a test of word recognition and decoding. The Gates is a test of vocabulary and comprehension. These tests were given to all students on intake and annually thereafter, in May. The reading section of the WRAT consists of a single test with alternate forms. The Gates battery is composed of several different levels, each with alternate forms. Levels were assigned to students according to each student's age-grade level at the time of testing, not according to achievement. The tests were not timed: students were given as much time as necessary to finish them. Students received alternate test forms in successive years. The test scores are here reported as Grade Equivalents.

The Fluency Measures

About 5 years ago we began systematically having all of our students enter their daily reading fluency scores on the computer immediately after a Practice Session, so that they and we could read their charts of progress and use them to make pedagogical decisions. Data collected included the date, time of day, Story Number (which is called the Level), number of correct words (in a minute), and the number of learning opportunities. Since the computer instantly plotted a chart on demand, teachers and students used the charts to decide whether modifications should be made in individual reading programs. When students were having difficulties, modifications included practicing more frequently each day, pre-reading as a warm-up, attending special Reading Lab activities, etc. When they were finding the reading too easy, the charts showed this, and modifications included 'jumping' ten stories ahead, and sometimes discontinuing the fluency activity.

The fluency Grade Level for all materials is that stated by the author. Bucks County materials are listed with Grade levels. SRA Corrective Reading Decode B1 is at a Grade 4 level. We have arbitrarily said that a student has completed Grade 4 fluencies when he passes from that book to the Decoding B2 book. Grade 5 is the end of Decode B2. Grade 6 is half-way through the stories in Decoding C, and Grade 7 the completion of that book. In Jamestown materials, a student has reached the end of the Grade when he passes out of the book.

The Results

Fluency Reading Levels were compared to year-end testing on the WRAT and Gates-MacGinitie using the Spearman-Rho non-parametric correlation. A non-parametric measure was used because the Reading Materials have not been put together with a purpose of providing a measured set of samples that become consistently more difficult from Grades K through 12. We looked for correlations between Reading Fluency grade level and decoding grade level at entry to the Academy, after one year, and (for a smaller N), after two years. As can be seen in Table I and Figure 3, the correlation remains strong between Fluency Levels and Decoding throughout the two years. The correlations between Fluency Levels and Vocabulary, and Fluency Levels and Comprehension are much weaker.

Category Entry Year Year 1 (N = 98) Year 2 (N = 66) (Fluency Level and) Rho P-Value Rho P-Value Rho P-Value Decoding .803 < .0001 .745 < .0001 .763 < .0001 Vocabulary .73 < .0001 .684 < .0001 .54 < .0001 Comprehension .692 < .0001 .575 < .0001 .424 .0006

Table I: Spearman-Rho correlations between Reading Fluencies and Decoding remain high through two years. Correlations for Vocabulary and Comprehension are not strong.

Figure 3: This scattergram shows the association between Reading Fluency grade level and Decoding (WRAT-III) Grade level at the end of year one. Note that the regression line shows an almost exact one-to-one correspondence. (Fluency level 2 corresponds to the Decoding level 2, etc.)

	The children for whom we are most concerned are those who entered the Academy 2 or more grades behind in reading, as measured on the WRAT. At their point of entry to the Academy, the students decoding scores averaged 2.24 years below grade level, (S.D. 2.55) with a few behind 6 or 8 grades. Figure 4 shows this distribution.
Figure 4: At the time of admission, 48 students were two or more years behind grade level in decoding.

As shown in Table II, 85 of the 98 students were below grade level, and 48 of those were 2 or more years behind. As two years pass, both the on-grade Decoding and on-grade Fluency groups increase. However, more striking are the ratios for the students who succeed in bringing their fluencies up to Grade level. At the time of admission, 8 out of 13 students score on grade level. By the end of the first year the odd in favor of being on grade level have increased to 16 out of 24 (2 out of 3.) By the end of the Second year, they have again increased to 14 out of 19.

If we examine the entry level Decoding scores for the 24 students who are on or above grade level at the end of the first year, we see (Figure 5) that as a group they were on grade level (S.D. 2.48), with half of the group below grade level. By the end of year one, the group is an average of 1.4 grades above (S.D. 2.28.)

Figure 5: Twenty-four students who began the year two years below grade level in both fluencies and Decoding brought themselves up to grade level in fluencies during the year. their Decoding scores also rose.

How hard do these students work to make gains in fluency? Figure 6 shows 26 students who made two or more years gain in fluency in their first year. Most read at least twice per day, while some read three times per day. One student read well over 4 times per day.
	Figure 6: Students who make two or more years gain in Fluencies in one year practice an average of two sessions per day. None practice fewer times than once per day.

Conclusions:

Reading Fluencies and Decoding skills advance together in an orderly way. Students who reach their grade level in Reading Passages will have a 2 to 1 or better chance of being on grade level in Decoding as well. Students who have advanced two or more years in Fluencies in one year generally practice an average of two times per day every day, including vacations and holidays.

Vocabulary and Comprehension skills generally improve with Decoding skills, but not in an orderly or predictable way.

Discussion:

It is not yet possible to say that Reading Fluencies cause improvements in reading. However, the strong correlation with Decoding and the positive trends associated with the Fluencies are all indicators that they are a useful component. We will continue to use them and gather data to test the findings in this paper.

Reading Fluencies are functional in that they provide practice, focus, motivation, and measurement at the same time. The charts are a necessary component because they provide a visual picture of progress and allow the student or teacher to make an immediate course corrections.

Shown on the chart, the daily measure has predictive value as early as one or two weeks from the beginning of the activity, so the child or his mentors can make immediate adjustments to the fluencies or the curriculum. Nic's chart (Figure 2) showed that Sheet 188 was possibly too difficult for him, or required some kind of sliceback. Max's chart (Figure 1) showed that he was correctly placed in the curriculum, because he could pass a level within a day or two, but was earning learning opportunities at an average of 1 to 2 per session.

Fluencies also increase the amount a student reads per day. Our students are the ones who have shunned reading except when it was forced on them by teachers or parents. They now do the reading fluencies on an average of three times per day on weekdays, and at least once per day on weekends. Since the fluencies are short timings, they quickly adapt to them, and see them as an easier part of their homework. Over time we hear amazed parents tell us that their child actually picked up a book on his own. We had a Reading Marathon a few weeks ago as a fundraiser, and were delighted that many of our 'reading avoiders' signed up and excitedly participated in the event!

Fluencies are one of very few situations in school where the student can decide to move ahead at his own pace. James provides us an excellent example of this. In November 1998 he reviewed his chart with his advisor. He was reading Grade 5 material and passing regularly about twice per week. They figured out that at that rate he would be reading mid Grade 6 by June (at which time he would be finishing Grade 7.) He figured out that he would have to pass a level every other day to be on Grade level. He resolved to pass a level every day and be ahead instead. As Figure 7 shows, he met his target immediately and sustained it to the end of the year. He was reading at a Grade 8.8 level, and tested Grade 7.8 in Decoding.

Another important indicator that is revealed by the chart is a student's ability to acquire Sight Word vocabulary. We ask our students to always do their 'first read' of a passage without prior skimming. This yields a score that lets us know whether he is building a sight word vocabulary that is appropriate to his grade. Jared, Figure 8, has not been able to build a sight word vocabulary. This shows on the chart in the form of his low score each time he reads a new passage. He has tried valiantly to build his sight word vocabulary, with almost no improvement. He is now working on the alternate strategy of being able to decode efficiently. Jimmy had sight word difficulties in September 1998 but improved with direct studying of sight words on flash cards. He again had to build up his vocabulary once he began fluencies on Grade 8 materials. In our severe dyslexic group we have noted that one in ten students has this sight word difficulty, and some, like Jared, need to use alternate strategies.

While we need more studies, one desirable goal will be to replace the present Norm Referenced Tests such as the WRAT with results from daily fluencies. A problem with the Norm Referenced tests is that they are given once each year. They are subject to motivational variations, strangeness or fear of the task, etc. The fluencies are truer indicators because they occur daily, and the average or median of their scores is accurate.

Another area that requires further study is to determine how many reading passages are needed to practice at each grade, and to standardize the number and quality so that they provide a continuous measure of progress. We may find it necessary to provide only 30 passages for some students, and 60 or 70 for others. The chart will likely be the indicator that allows this kind of decision making.

Future Research must tease out what factors seem to make fluencies powerful. Is it the practice itself, the one to one attention, the personalization of the curriculum, or the incremental difficulty, or the fact that there is instant feedback, or some combination of these? The record keeping method that we have established will make it easier to carry out this kind of research in the next few years. If other schools and learning places keep and share similar data, we will be able to make these discoveries sooner.