Interesting discussion by all.  I can't keep up.  Thanks.

I tend to be in favor of building automaticity/fluency in continuous
text and decoding/word recognition for students with needs in those
areas, as well as, not as a substitute for, other kinds of comprehension
instruction and (oral) language development such as vocabulary skills.
Yes, things work differently for ELL (and all the subtle varieties of
learners that term encompasses - high vs. low L1 skills, transparency
and distance of their L1 writing system to English, and so forth), and
for learners that may have more specific learning difficulties that may
or may not have been identified in their prior educational careers.
Still, all things considered, reading with fluency is the more typical
underlying performance one sees associated with skilled reading.

So, turning the discussion back to assessment, it can be helpful to have
a set of assessment techniques to identify relative strengths and
weaknesses and to monitor their growth or change over time.  As
mentioned in a prior post, there are a variety of ways of engaging
students in this assessment/monitoring process.  Thinking that way
reminds us of the notion of feedback - something we also all can use
productively when learning in any domain.  The convenient thing about
some of the types of component assessments that we administered as part
of the NAAL FAN is that the entire battery took about 10-20 minutes -
each task was only a couple minutes in length.  If it had been
administered by a trained, sensitive teacher, then there would have been
a lot of information about the learner's reading behaviors.  However,
sensitivities and adaptations need to be made for learner differences -
English language skills in particular.  

I do work from the model that says you shouldn't over-test students and
the main goal of reading instruction is improved comprehension.  A slow
reading, high ability comprehender is still a high ability comprehender.
Interestingly, such individuals - when they recognize they are reading
relatively slower than others at their ability level - sometimes look to
'speed reading' courses to find out if they can improve their reading
rate while maintaining their comprehension.  In many cases, that is
possible given appropriate practice and most importantly strategic
reading behaviors relative to reading purpose.  In the NAAL FAN, we
start by identifying reading ability based on the prose literacy scale,
then describe the proportion of students at different levels who have
different profiles of underlying skills.  At every level there are some
students who defy the pattern - slow readers who are high comprehenders,
and low comprehension readers who are relatively fluent.  But those
cases are not the majority based on the data we collected. 

Finally, writing is a promising and relatively unexplored (in the
research literature) instructional practice for building reading and
writing proficiency.  Despite the lack of solid research based, I know
no one in the research world who would argue against writing as a
critical part of instruction.

John



-----Original Message-----
From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of Mary Kelly
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 8:57 AM
To: The Assessment Discussion List
Subject: [Assessment 1908] Re: Fluency

Jean:  Thank you for this excellent post on fluency.  Fluency is vital
for reading comprehension.  One of the methods that can be used to
improve fluency is played back is helpful to some.  Also, timing the
reading and trying to improve the time is also useful.  I owuld not do
this in a group format.

Mary S. Kelly, PhD
Director, Fisher Landau Center for the Treatment of LD Albert Einstein
College of Medicine
1165 Morris Park Ave.
Bronx, NY 10463

At 11:50 PM 5/26/2009, you wrote:

>Reading fluency actually is a demonstration of the automaticity of the 

>student's decoding ability. One of the huge issues with our low 

>literacy learners is that they use all of their cognitive resources on 

>decoding, and there is nothing left for comprehension. When we see our 

>lowest literacy learners begin to develop fluency in their reading, we 

>know one of two

>things: a) they are recognizing the words more automatically or b) they



>have memorized the text if the book is overly familiar (and I am not 

>going

>there!) When the learner starts to phrase in their reading, they grasp 

>a cognitive chunk and the brain can make sense of that information. We 

>know that the working brain can only manage 7 +/- 2 bits of information



>at a time. When the words get grouped into a chunk, they count as 1 

>unit, rather than several individual bits. When the chunks combine into



>an idea, they reform into 1 bit again, leaving room for new 

>information. Sweller's theories of cognitive overload come into play 

>here. Our lowest literacy learners have the hardest time because their 

>brains are stuffed too full with decoding of individual words that they



>can't recall the content for comprehension.

>

>

>

>In my dissertation work one of the clearest threads to come from the 

>low literacy learners was that the goal of reading was about saying the



>words correctly, NOT about getting meaning from the text. If you 

>consider the concept of cognitive overload, and their struggles with 

>decoding words, this makes sense. However, if we can cause these 

>learners to interact with text with words they are familiar with, we 

>can teach them to group the words and "read it like you would say it". 

>The best way to create this scenario is with material that is very easy



>for the learner to read, using material that is at their independent

reading level, rather than instructional level.

>Using different "voices" allows the learner to play with the language 

>and practice it, having fun with the process. By asking them to read it



>like a very old man, or a giant football player, or a squeaky mouse 

>focuses them on the character and the voice, and they talk the part, 

>using the language to communicate. This is the same with story books 

>where there are different voices. A tape recorder is an effective way 

>for the learner to self critique their reading. As we partner with them



>on their improvement, sometimes that distance helps.

>

>

>

>Fluency also helps us teach them about the pauses for punctuation and 

>the other signals that we automatically use to help make sense of what

we read.

>Early readers word call single words and need to transition to fluent 

>reading to help the brain process it as received language. Our 

>observations of their fluency can help us assist them in their 

>metacognitive processing if we help them talk through what they are 

>hearing and thinking as they are reading.

>

>

>

>Jean Marrapodi, PhD, CPLP

>

>Providence, RI

>

>

>

>From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] 

>On Behalf Of Sabatini, John

>Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 5:14 PM

>To: The Assessment Discussion List

>Subject: [Assessment 1900] Re: Basic Reading Skills Discussion Begins

Today!

>

>

>

>Hello,

>

>

>

>A few comments/observations regarding reading fluency.  Note that we 

>used reading aloud as an assessment technique, not as instruction, in

the NAAL.

>There's an entire discussion about why it is a useful and valid measure



>for a survey assessment like the NAAL, and how it can be used as a 

>classroom assessment that is helpful to the teacher and learners.  But 

>let me focus on the comment about reading fluency in instruction.

>

>

>

>First,  reading aloud in a public setting like a classroom can create 

>anxiety for any adult or child, especially if one is not good at it.  

>Also, one is often asked to read 'cold', that is, without having had a 

>chance to pre-read, rehearse or practice with the text.  So, just be 

>asked to read aloud without setting up a safe, constructive environment

is risky.

>

>

>

>Having said that, reading aloud is a useful reading subskill.  As 

>adults, there are a number of contexts in which reading aloud is quite 

>natural - reading to children, public speaking, rehearsing for a play 

>(even for leisure vs. professional acting).  It is a useful work skill,



>for example, in a phone customer service job, one might be expected to 

>look up information and read it aloud to the person at the other end of

the phone.

>Families also communicate to each other reading aloud at times.  It may



>not be a frequently used reading behavior, but it is a stretch to treat



>it as inauthentic or unnatural.  Skilled reading adults typically feel 

>comfortable reading aloud with fluency.  Developing readers should not 

>be denied the skill -- it is useful and typically a by-product of 

>skilled reading - though some practice always helps in any domain.

>

>

>

>So, giving adults with low literacy practice reading aloud in a safe, 

>pedagogical setting, can have benefits.  The instructional techniques 

>built around 'guided repeated reading' have been shown to have benefits



>for developing readers both in improving reading fluency and are 

>associated with comprehension gain.  In a study our team has been 

>conducting, we have had positive results with a one-on-one tutored 

>guided repeated reading program, as well as other structured programs 

>that had adults frequently reading aloud.  But again, this was one on 

>one with a trained teacher/tutor and a structured instructional program



>based on the best of what we learned about the techniques.  Adults 

>generally reported positive responses to the instruction and we saw 

>improvements in tests of skills, but we are still analyzing data, so

best to treat this as promising practice at this point.

>

>

>

>Finally, reading fluency is not a substitute for reading comprehension 

>instruction and skills.  One can read aloud a text with fluency and not



>have good comprehension of the same text.  As a skilled reader, I am 

>generally fluent with all but the most dense texts, but my 

>understanding is a function of other factors including my background 

>knowledge.  And it does require attention to perform a text by reading 

>aloud - I don't try to simultaneously read aloud and gain deep 

>understanding of a text.  When I seek understanding, I reread a text 

>and think about it, maybe discuss with others.

>

>

>

>I'd like to hear from others who have experience teaching guided 

>repeated reading with adults have to say about it.

>

>

>

>Best,

>

>

>

>John

>

>

>

>   _____

>

>From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Dianna Baycich

>Sent: Tue 5/26/2009 2:27 PM

>To: 'The Assessment Discussion List'

>Subject: [Assessment 1898] Re: Basic Reading Skills Discussion Begins

Today!

>

>In response to Marie's question, the report shows that there is a 

>continuing need for adult literacy, especially at the lowest levels. 

>With the current focus on transitions in adult education, there is a 

>concern that students at these lowest levels will be neglected.

>

>

>

>The report also highlights the importance of reading fluency. Adult 

>literacy teachers often neglect fluency, saying their students would 

>"rather die than read out loud". How can we help students improve their



>reading fluency in a non-threatening way?

>

>

>

>Dianna

>

>

>

>   _____

>

>From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] 

>On Behalf Of Marie Cora

>Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 9:28 AM

>To: Assessment at nifl.gov

>Subject: [Assessment 1897] Basic Reading Skills Discussion Begins

Today!

>

>Hello everyone, I hope this email finds you well.

>

>

>

>Today begins our discussion on

>

>

>Basic Reading Skills and the Literacy of the America's Least Literate

>Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy 

>(NAAL) Supplemental Studies

>

>

>I am pleased to welcome Dr. Sheida White and Dr. John Sabatini as 

>guests for this 4-day discussion.  Please visit the URL below for the 

>full announcement and information on accessing the report.

>

>

>http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/assessment/09readingskills.html

>

>

>

>I hope you have had the opportunity to read through the Executive 

>Summary of the report.  Please send your questions and comments about 

>the report to the discussion list now.

>

>

>

>I will start us off with a question for subscribers:  What does the 

>report tell you about the need for adult literacy services today, and 

>how might this affect your program practice?

>

>

>

>Thanks!

>

>

>

>Marie

>

>

>

>

>

>Marie Cora

>

>Assessment Discussion List Moderator

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

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