Evidence of a limited relationship between reading fluency and reading comprehension of academic language

This study examined the relationship between reading fluency and reading comprehension of grade-level academic language. The CUBED Narrative Language Measures: Reading (NLM:R) subtest was used to assess the reading fluency and reading comprehension performance of 605 second- and third-grade students. The Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) reading assessment was also used to assess students' reading comprehension. Results indicated that reading fluency was not significantly correlated with reading comprehension across any of the deciles in both grade levels when measured using the NLM:R. Reading fluency also was not significantly correlated with MAP results for second- or third-grade students. Partial correlation analyses controlling for race/ethnicity, gender, and soci-economic status did not result in meaningfully different outcomes. Students whose reading fluency was at the 10th percentile did not exhibit significantly different comprehension performance when compared to students reading more fluently. The results of this study suggest that outcomes from oral reading fluency assessments that focus on rate and accuracy may not be valid indicators of reading comprehension when passages include complex, academic language. School psychologists and other educators may need to interpret reading fluency data with caution when developing comprehension-related instructional recommendations and identifying students for whom comprehension intervention is warranted.