An Investigation of the Effects of Passage Difficulty Level on Outcomes of Oral Reading Fluency Progress Monitoring

Within multitiered instructional delivery models, progress monitoring is a key mechanism for determining whether a child demonstrates an adequate response to instruction. One measure commonly used to monitor the reading progress of students is oral reading fluency (ORF). This study examined the extent to which ORF slope predicts reading comprehension outcomes for fifth-grade struggling readers ( n = 102) participating in an intensive reading intervention. Quantile regression models showed that ORF slope significantly predicted performance on a sentence-level fluency and comprehension assessment, regardless of the students’ reading skills, controlling for initial ORF performance. However, ORF slope was differentially predictive of a passage-level comprehension assessment based on students’ reading skills when controlling for initial ORF status. Results showed that ORF explained unique variance for struggling readers whose posttest performance was at the upper quantiles at the end of the reading intervention, but slope was not a significant predictor of passage-level comprehension for students whose reading problems were the most difficult to remediate.

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Form Effects on DIBELS Next Oral Reading Fluency Progress- Monitoring Passages

Assessment for Effective Intervention ◽

10.1177/1534508412447010 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 91-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Kelli D. Cummings ◽

Yonghan Park ◽

Holle A. Bauer Schaper

Keyword(s):

Reading Fluency ◽

Oral Reading ◽

Oral Reading Fluency ◽

Progress Monitoring ◽

Dibels Next

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Variability in DIBELS Next Progress Monitoring Measures for Students at Risk for Reading Difficulties

Remedial and Special Education ◽

10.1177/0741932517713310 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (5) ◽

pp. 272-283 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Breda V. O’Keeffe ◽

Kaitlin Bundock ◽

Kristin L. Kladis ◽

Rui Yan ◽

Kat Nelson

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Reading Fluency ◽

Oral Reading ◽

Oral Reading Fluency ◽

Progress Monitoring ◽

Reading Difficulties ◽

Average Growth ◽

Dibels Next ◽

Lower Variability ◽

Linear Growth Model

Previous research on curriculum-based measurement of oral reading fluency (CBM ORF) found high levels of variability around the estimates of students’ fluency; however, little research has studied the issue of variability specifically with well-designed passage sets and a sample of students who scored below benchmark for the purpose of progress monitoring. We examined the variability in oral reading fluency score slopes due to passage and student characteristics using DIBELS Next progress monitoring passages over 4 weeks using a hierarchical linear growth model. Participants included second-, third-, and fourth-grade students identified as at risk for reading difficulties. The results showed an average growth rate of approximately 1 correctly read word per minute per week, with considerably lower variability than shown in previous research with less controlled passage sets and/or higher performing student samples. Implications for practice are discussed, including procedural recommendations for administrators and teachers.

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Evaluating Passage and Order Effects of Oral Reading Fluency Passages in Second Grade: A Partial Replication

Assessment for Effective Intervention ◽

10.1177/1534508417741128 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 44 (1) ◽

pp. 3-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Erin A. Chaparro ◽

Mike Stoolmiller ◽

Yonghan Park ◽

Scott K. Baker ◽

Deni Basaraba ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reading Fluency ◽

Oral Reading ◽

Empirical Bayes ◽

Oral Reading Fluency ◽

Progress Monitoring ◽

Second Grade ◽

Order Effects ◽

Curve Modeling ◽

Tiered Support ◽

The Impact

Progress monitoring has been adopted as an integral part of multi-tiered support systems. Oral reading fluency (ORF) is the most established assessment for progress-monitoring purposes. To generate valid trend lines or slopes, ORF passages must be of equivalent difficulty. Recently, however, evidence indicates that ORF passages are not equivalent, potentially hindering our ability to generate valid student trend lines for decision making. This study examines passage and order effects on the estimation of ORF scores using a set of second-grade passages. A single group with counterbalancing design was employed to randomly assign 156 second-grade students to three different orders of passages. Scores from the passages were examined using growth curve modeling and empirical Bayes estimates. Results indicate that passage effects were substantial, but order effects were small but significant. The impact of passage and order effects on research design, equating methods, and measure development is considered.

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