Let's look at 2 examples of administering fluency assessments with adult learners. The reading coordinator following along on a teacher copy of passages is using passages from the BADER Graded Reader's Passages. They were selected from the BADER Reading & Language Inventory, 7th Edition (2003). Because the passage texts cannot be shared electronically, you will need to listen "holistically" to the students' oral readings and score them as 1 (poor), 2 (fair), or 3 (good).

Fluency Scoring Scale

1	A poor reading with many word errors or repetitions, at a slow or choppy rate, and with little to no phrasing
2	A fair reading with some word errors or repetitions, at an uneven rate, and with some awkward phrasing
3	A good (but not perfect) reading with few word errors or repetitions, at an efficient rate, and with appropriate phrasing

Fluency Student Male.PNG

Click on the links below to watch and listen to the YouTube videos of Student A reading the first two paragraphs of both passages. As you listen, answer these questions: How would you score his oral reading? What do the scores mean?

Results

It was the opinion of several ABE reading teachers that Student A read both Level 7 and 8 passages equally well. As for the Level 6 passage, he had few, if any word errors, read smoothly and steadily, in meaningful phrases, and tried to use expression (vocal rise and fall).

What do the scores mean?

Because this student read Levels 6-8 well (all scored as 3 or good), his Fluency Instructional Level is 8+. This means he does not need reading fluency instruction or support through Level 8 passages. However, he may need some teacher or tutor modeling and guided practice with reading and understanding passages at Levels 9-12, especially if they are of academic context or use complex text structures.

Fluency Student Female.PNG

Click on the links below to watch and listen to the YouTube videos of Student B reading the first two paragraphs of both passages. As you listen, answer these questions: How would you score her oral reading? What do the scores mean?

Results

It was the opinion of several ABE reading teachers that Student B struggled to read the Level 1 and 2 passages well.

On Level 1, she had 5-6 word errors (the same errors were only counted once). This is beyond the acceptable range for accuracy, but she made it through the passage. Her text reading was uneven--sometimes word by word--but she read with some feeling. They agreed her score was 2, a fair oral reading.
On Level 2, she had 8 errors (the same errors were only counted once). This is also beyond the acceptable range for accuracy and she struggled repetitively with the title Mrs., which is key to understanding the text's meaning. Her text reading again tended to be uneven, more word by word, but with some feeling. They agreed her score was 1, a poor oral reading.

What do the scores mean?

Student B's Fluency Instructional Level for Accuracy is GLE 2. This is the highest level she received a score of 1. Her Fluency Instructional Level for Rate & Prosody is GLE 1. This is the highest level she received a score of 2. She will benefit from teacher or tutor modeling and guided practice with a variety of text passages at GLE 1-2. Her difficulties with the Level 3 passage support this range because Level 3 proved to be too frustrating.

Click "Next" to go to the Individual Assignment for Module 4.