Exploring change in word reading accuracy as a predictor of oral reading fluency above concurrent word reading accuracy

Purpose: Individual differences in oral reading fluency exist beyond what can be explained byindividual differences in word reading accuracy. Yet there are still many unknowns about what contributes to these differences. The purpose of this study was to explore whether change in word reading accuracy from fall to winter explained additional variance in winter oral reading fluency after controlling for winter word reading accuracy.Method: Fall and winter word reading accuracy and winter oral reading fluency data were collected from 215 first grade students and 119 third grade students.Results: Multiple regression showed that change in isolated word reading accuracy from fall to winter was a significant predictor of winter oral reading fluency above concurrent word reading accuracy in both first and third grade. Change in word reading accuracy from fall to winter was negatively associated with fluency after controlling for winter word reading accuracy such that for a given current word reading accuracy score, students were faster readers if they had smaller change from fall to winter.Conclusion: These results suggest that for a given word reading accuracy score, it is more beneficial to reading fluency if they had been consistently achieving at that accuracy level since fall rather than showing large gains from fall. The influence of historical change even after accounting for current scores suggests the importance of early word reading accuracy proficiency in the development of automaticity above simply current accuracy levels. Future research is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying this association.