Preliminary validation of FastaReada as a measure of reading fluency

Abstract

Fluent reading is characterized by speed and accuracy in the decoding and comprehension of connected text. Although a variety of measures are available for the assessment of reading skills most tests do not evaluate rate of text recognition as reflected in fluent reading. Here we evaluate FastaReada, a customized computer-generated task that was developed to address some of the limitations of currently available measures of reading skills. FastaReada provides a rapid assessment of reading fluency quantified as words read per minute for connected, meaningful text. To test the criterion validity of FastaReada, 124 mainstream school children with typical sensory, mental and motor development were assessed. Performance on FastaReada was correlated with the established Neale Analysis of Reading Ability (NARA) measures of text reading accuracy, rate and comprehension, and common single word measures of pseudoword (non-word) reading, phonetic decoding, phonological awareness (PA) and mode of word decoding (i.e., visual or eidetic versus auditory or phonetic). The results demonstrated strong positive correlations between FastaReada performance and NARA reading rate (r = 0.75), accuracy (r = 0.83) and comprehension (r = 0.63) scores providing evidence for criterion-related validity. Additional evidence for criterion validity was demonstrated through strong positive correlations between FastaReada and both single word eidetic (r = 0.81) and phonetic decoding skills (r = 0.68). The results also demonstrated FastaReada to be a stronger predictor of eidetic decoding than the NARA rate measure, with FastaReada predicting 14.4% of the variance compared to 2.6% predicted by NARA rate. FastaReada was therefore deemed to be a valid tool for educators, clinicians, and research related assessment of reading accuracy and rate. As expected, analysis with hierarchical regressions also highlighted the closer relationship of fluent reading to rapid visual word recognition than to phonological-based skills. Eidetic decoding was the strongest predictor of FastaReada performance (16.8%) followed by phonetic decoding skill (1.7%). PA did not make a unique contribution after eidetic decoding and phonetic decoding skills were accounted for.

The Contribution of Phonological Awareness to Reading Fluency and Its Individual Sub-skills in Readers Aged 9- to 12-years

“…Further evidence of criterion related validity has been shown in strong positive associations between FastaReada performance and performance on the established Dyslexia Determination Test (DDT) measures of eidetic ( r = 0.81) and phonetic ( r = 0.68) decoding skills (Elhassan et al, 2015). …”

The Contribution of Oculomotor Functions to Rates of Visual Information Processing in Younger and Older Adults

“…Preliminary assumption testing was conducted to check for normality, linearity, homogeneity of variance and multicollinearity, with no violations noted. Saccade duration during the reading task was chosen as the covariate given that it can be considered the most automatic and ecologically valid cognitive task with the least cognitive load 55 . After controlling for saccade duration, results still demonstrated a significant large effect of age-group on time required to process visual information on the IT, F(2, 57) = 13.713, p < 0.001, η 2 = 0.329.…”

“…They were what the children had wanted for a long time. www.nature.com/scientificreports www.nature.com/scientificreports/ using the FastaReada, which is a customized computer-generated task 55,92 , designed to measure reading fluency by determining the number of words an individual can accurately read per minute. Results demonstrated no significant differences on FastaReada scores between age-groups, (t (65) = 1.899, p = .346, η 2 = 009).…”

Reading Fluency As a Predictor of School Outcomes across Grades 4–9

“…Reading fluency is defined as the ability to read rapidly, accurately, and with the proper expression, and includes three main components, reading rapidity, accuracy, and prosody (Kuhn and Stahl, 2003 ; Álvarez-Cañizo et al, 2015 ; Elhassan et al, 2015 ). Although all three components play an important role for school achievement, the first two ones (i.e., rapidity and accuracy) are most commonly assessed, in both educational and clinical contexts.…”

“…Regarding these two skills, reading fluency has been neglected by studies, especially in later school levels. However, reading fluency is an important topic area of longstanding interest, and it is currently receiving considerable attention (Tichá et al, 2009 ; Ari, 2015 ; Elhassan et al, 2015 ). Reading fluency represents a crucial point for teachers to help struggling students meet school standards.…”