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CERI Prep Exam Study Guide.
Fluency - answer✔✔Basic definition: rate and accuracy of oral reading or proficiency in word
recognition. Other components often included in the definition: smoothness and automaticity of
oral reading; rapid, accurate decoding; correct prosody; anticipatory ability (P, intro section 4)
Fluency is reading at an appropriate rate, with accuracy and prosody. It is the ability to read
accurately yet quickly, with expression and comprehension. (L, ch 8)
Fluency is the rapid, prosodic flow with which a skilled later. When a fluent reader reads aloud,
it sounds as though he or she is speaking. The reading is fluid and accurate, with adequate speed,
appropriate phrasing, and correct intonation. (M, ch 6)
Why should students be told to "do their best reading" instead of to "read as fast as they can"? -
answer✔✔Readers may be reading inaccurately or they may read too quickly to think about what
they are reading. Reading fast is not the same as reading fluently. (L, ch 8)
What is the general consensus about the level of accuracy required for comprehension? -
answer✔✔Comprehension is impaired when text is read with less than 95% accuracy. (L, ch 8)
What can we learn about a reader by the way they use expression while reading? -
answer✔✔The extent to which a student uses correct expression while reading orally can
indicate how well they comprehend the text. (L, ch 8)
What is the relationship between working memory and reading fluency? - answer✔✔A rate of
reading that is appropriate to the task, neither fast nor too slow, in order for comprehension to be
facilitated because working memory overloads if too much information comes into the brain at
once, and working memory cannot devote sufficient attention to information coming into the
brain too slowly. (L, ch 8)
Why does appropriate reading rate change with different types of reading material? -
answer✔✔Interesting novels are typically read quickly and accurately, without thinking about
decoding individual words. A physics textbook, by contrast, would likely be read much slower,
taking time to decode difficult words and to contemplate the meaning. (L, ch 8)
What is considered "independent level text"? - answer✔✔
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What is considered "instructional level text"? - answer✔✔
What is considered "frustration level text"? - answer✔✔
How does the role of fluency change across the developmental stages of reading? -
answer✔✔For emergent readers, accuracy of reading, rather than the rate, should be the focus.
Accuracy plays the most important role in comprehending in kindergarten and early first grade.
Once students are reading connected text with reasonable accuracy, typically by the middle of
first grade, the rate and accuracy of their reading is strongly tied to their overall reading skill,
including comprehension. Some researchers have found that once a student's reading level is
around the sixth grade level, factors other than fluency become more important in the overall
reading process, including vocabulary and background knowledge. (L, ch 8)
What is the connection between Reading Fluency and motivation? - answer✔✔Assisting
students to become fluent readers plays a role in helping them become motivated readers who
enjoy the process of reading and who can understand and learn from what they read. (L, ch 8)
What is a good initial and informal assessment for evaluating reading fluency? -
answer✔✔Listening to the student read; do they sound like they're speaking? (L, ch 8)
What tool can be used to qualitatively note a student's reading expression or prosody? Name &
describe the levels of prosody in this tool. - answer✔✔Rubric from National Assessment of
Educational Progress. Level 4: reads with expressive interpretation. Level 3: reads primarily in
three- or four-word phrase groups. Level 2: reads primarily in two-word phrases that are
awkward and haphazardly grouped. Level 1: reads primarily word-by-word
How far below the 50th percentile score does a student's CBM ORF score need to be in order for
the student to be flagged for possible additional support? - answer✔✔More than 10 words below
the 50th percentile (L, ch 8)
+/- ....: (P, 4.?)
Why is it inappropriate for oral reading fluency standards to be set at the 75th percentile or a
similarly high range? - answer✔✔There is no research to support the idea that pushing student's
to read above the 50th percentile has any benefit. This can be frustrating for students and
teachers to achieve this level of reading. Students who read in the average range are on target to
become effective readers. (L, ch 8)
What are expected Reading fluency gains for students in grades one through six? -
answer✔✔*PER WEEK* Grade 1: 2 to 3 more words correct per minute; Grade 2: 1.5 to 2 more
words correct per minute; Grade 3: 1 to 1.5 more words correct per minute; Grade 4: 0.85 to 1.1
more words correct per minute; Grade 5: 0.5 to 0.8 more words correct per minute; Grade 6: 0.3
to 0.65 more words correct per minute. Students reading at the first grade level make more gains
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per week then older student. As students reach their optimal fluency rate, the number of words
gained levels off. (L, ch 8)
What are some false assumptions about reading fluency? - answer✔✔1. Students who read fast
are good readers. 2. Students who read slowly will become better readers overall if they are
simply taught how to read faster.
How should CBM be used to monitor progress of students receiving Tier 1 instruction? -
answer✔✔Systematic progress monitoring involves simply repeating the CBM screening
assessment that were conducted in the beginning of the school year. These should be done 3 to 4
times a year for all students, at least in primarily & intermediate levels of elementary schools.
Additional checks of prosody should be included periodically. For students above a 6th grade
reading level, using assessments other than ORF including multiple choice cloze or maze may be
more appropriate. (L, ch 8)
How should CBM be used to monitor the progress of students receiving Tier 2 or 3 instruction? -
answer✔✔These students should participate in the repeated benchmark assessments along with
their peers, & they will be evaluated closely in their instructional programs and through
observations of their daily reading and class work. But assessment data needs to be collected on
a more frequent basis than three times a year. Gains can be small and difficult to detect in
academically challenged students.
Using CBM assessments for progress monitoring in Tier 2 and 3 students has 4 main differences:
1. Students' performances are compared with individually set goals & previous performance
rather than a set of norms & benchmarks.
2. Prog monitoring occurs at more frequent intervals. Current suggestions: as often as once a
week, but more infrequent testing (as few as 2 passages every 3 weeks) may be more
appropriate.
3. Students' results are graphed.
4. Level of difficulty of the passage should be individualized; the level could be easier, harder,
whatever. Could be at "instructional level" or "goal level." (L, ch 8)
Why is it not safe to assume that if students read more, they will achieve adequate levels of
fluency? - answer✔✔Some students will require systematic instruction & teacher guidance in
order to be skillful & motivated fluent readers. (L, ch 8)
What is an important qualification to the understanding of RR as the gold standard of fluency
interventions? - answer✔✔Providing feedback or having the student reading along with a model
as part of RR is more effective than independent repeated reading. (L, ch 8)
