One-Minute Fluency Measures Mixed Messages and Instruction Shahzana Merchant Vanessa Carter Mary Calderbank Zahra Bijarkhna

According to The Literacy Dictionary, Fluency has 4 components 1.Accuracy 2.Rate of speed 3.Prosody 4.Comprehension (Deeney, 2010)

Deeney suggests endurance be added as a fluency component Because: 1.Endurance is a stumbling block for struggling reader 2.It is a necessary component of a deeper view of fluency. 3.Some struggling readers have reasonable rate and accuracy for only a short time. 4.Some readers experience the opposite.

One-Minute Fluency Assessments only test for 3 components at the most 1.Accuracy 2.Rate of speed 3.Prosody

The Drawbacks of the One-Minute Frequency Assessments The title is misleading. It does not check for comprehension. The student may be given incorrect instruction due to the results of the assessments. The student may be put in the wrong level. Eventually, the construct of fluency may be reduced to what is tested: accuracy and rate.

What Deeney suggests Change the title of the test to One-Minute Accuracy and Rate Assessment. The teacher make a mark to indicate where a minute is up, then have the child finish the passage. The teacher record the type of mistake (miscue) instead of just making a slash mark. Incorporate endurance with other assessments, such as, oral reading assessments.

continued Teachers should occasionally use longer texts 4-5 minutes in assessments and informal reading inventories. Teachers should be aware of both endurance and fluency in instruction. Decrease readability levels until endurance is achieved. Get parents on board.

continued Have the child reread books. Have the child read interesting text. Gradually increase reading volume.I Increase expectations.