Fluency

Definition: Fluency is Accurate reading of connected text at a conversational rate with appropriate prosody or expression (Honig et al., 2018, p. 

Research Findings--- Fluency

• For students at all levels--- but particularly for students at the beginning stages of learning to read--- oral reading rate is strongly correlated with students’ ability to comprehend both simple and complex text. (Torgesen & Hudson, 2006)

• … while fluency in and of itself is not sufficient to ensure high levels of reading achievement, fluency is absolutely necessary for that achievement because it depends upon and typically reflects comprehension. (Pikulski & Chard, 2005)

• A fluent reader doesn't have to stop and "decode" each word. Rather, most of the words can be read automatically. This means the reader can focus his attention on what the story or text means. For that reason, fluency is critically important — it is the bridge between decoding words and understanding what has been read. (https://www.readingrockets.org/article/fluency-matters )

Foundational Literacy Standards