Fluency and comprehension: How fast is fast enough?

• In Event: The inter-relationship between component skills and reading comprehension: How fast is “fast enough?”

Abstract

Reading fluency, as often measured by reading speed, is undoubtedly related to reading comprehension. But is the relationship as causal and/or as unidirectional as implied by a view of reading skill development that happens in stages? Much debate across the years has centered upon whether there is a universal or a minimum goal for reading speed. In conversations about early grade reading internationally, we often hear two things: that 45-60 words correct per minute is the lower range of acceptable reading speed; and that it is impossible to comprehend without reading “fast enough.” But how fast is fast enough? This paper uses data gathered across more than a dozen languages and countries – and often several times in the same language and country – to explore the speed at which children who comprehend read. In endline data of children followed over time, it also explores the rates of development across skills. The paper aims to begin a conversation about these interrelated skills driven not by theory and extrapolation, but by data.

Author

• Amy Jo Dowd, Save the Children