Relating Reading Comprehension to Oral Reading Performance in the NAEP Fourth‐Grade Special Study of Oral Reading

Abstract

In this secondary analysis study, the authors explored the relations between reading comprehension and oral reading performance in fourth‐grade students, using a data set from the U.S. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) special study of oral reading. The data set consisted of 1,713 students randomly selected from the 140,000 fourth graders who participated in the 2002 main NAEP reading assessment. Oral reading was measured by word‐reading accuracy, rate, and prosody. The authors investigated how these variables related to NAEP comprehension across the ability distribution, with a focus on students with low comprehension scores. The results add to the literature in several ways. First, indicators of oral reading fluency continue to explain variation in reading comprehension, even when students had been given multiple opportunities to familiarize themselves with the passage that they read aloud. Second, word‐reading accuracy and reading rate independently explained comprehension scores. Third, the authors observed qualitatively different profiles of fourth‐grade readers with low comprehension scores. Nearly all students with reading rates lower than one standard deviation below the mean also had problems with word recognition, as evidenced by the relatively higher number of word‐reading errors and low prosody ratings. The authors interpret these findings in light of the lexical quality hypothesis and the verbal efficiency theory, which emphasize the importance of word‐level accuracy and automaticity to reading comprehension.

Cross‐Lagged Relations Among Linguistic Skills in European Portuguese: A Longitudinal Study

“…According to the National Reading Panel (), oral reading fluency is a multidimensional construct that includes speed, accuracy, and prosody. This finding suggests that oral reading fluency requires not only decoding words accurately but also reading with speed and appropriate phrasing, intonation, and expression, which necessarily involves the construction of meaning that is necessary for text comprehension (Sabatini, Wang, & O'Reilly, ). Consequently, when word‐reading accuracy is mastered, oral reading fluency will have a determinant role on the reading comprehension levels of the readers.…”

Characteristics of Students Identified With Dyslexia Within the Context of State Legislation

“…The NAEP assesses reading comprehension. A student’s ability to comprehend passages on the NAEP and similar high-stakes tests of reading achievement is influenced by reading accuracy and efficiency (Sabatini et al, 2018; Wang et al, 2019), highlighting that the nexus of difficulties comprehending written language can be rooted in the failure to develop the requisite ability to integrate orthographic and phonological information to achieve accurate and efficient word reading (Harm & Seidenberg, 2004; Perfetti, 2007; Perfetti & Stafura, 2014).…”

Improving Reading Instruction and Students’ Reading Skills in the Early Grades: Evidence From a Randomized Evaluation in Haiti

“…The impact of Read to Learn on letter name and sound knowledge, decoding, and sound recognition bodes well for participating students’ future literacy gains. Studies across various contexts have linked these gains in emergent literacy skills to reading comprehension and future literacy achievement (Sabatini, Wang, & O’Reilly, 2019). A study in Kenya showed the positive effects of receiving basic literacy interventions in early grades through the Primary Math and Reading Initiative, particularly in low‐income contexts (Piper, Jepkemei, & Kibukho, 2015).…”

“…The impact of Read to Learn on oral reading fluency is particularly important because of the strong relation between reading fluency and reading comprehension. Research has shown that fluency in foundational skills, including grade‐level decoding and word recognition, are strongly associated with prosody and reading comprehension (Sabatini et al, 2019). Oral reading fluency predicts both current and future (longer term) reading comprehension (Klauda & Guthrie, 2008; Roehrig, Petscher, Nettles, Hudson, & Torgesen, 2008; Valencia et al, 2010).…”