The Fluency Factor

Reading fluency has been identified in the Common Core Standards as a foundational competency for reading proficiency. This resource provides teachers with approaches to fluency instruction that are effective, engaging, and easy to implement. The authors begin with a comprehensive definition of reading fluency, a discussion of why fluency has fallen out of favor in recent years, and evidence of its importance to literacy instruction. They follow up with authentic approaches to reading fluency that teachers and literacy interventionists can immediately use to improve students’ overall proficiency in reading. A unique feature of the book are the participation sections “What do you think?” and “What we think,” which challenge the reader to engage in issues related to fluency—from concept, to assessment, to instruction—and then check their views against those of the authors. This important new book updates and adds to Timothy Rasinski’s classic text, The Fluent Reader. Book Features: Vignettes of teachers implementing research-based fluency instruction. Teaching strategies and classroom activities to help struggling readers. Full descriptions of the authors’ original, highly successful approaches to improving fluency. Resources for assessment and instruction of reading fluency. A new concept of reading instruction as an art as well as a science. “How delighted I was to find . . .wonderfully doable assessments and classroom activities that would truly teach children to read fluently and develop expressive reading as the bridge between word identification and comprehension.” —Pat Cunningham, Wake Forest University

This book provides a comprehensive overview of fluency as a construct and its assessment in the context of curriculum-based measurement (CBM). Comparing perspectives from language acquisition, reading, and mathematics, the book parses the vagueness and complexities surrounding fluency concepts and their resulting impact on testing, intervention, and students' educational development. Applications of this knowledge in screening and testing, ideas for creating more targeted measures, and advanced methods for studying fluency data demonstrate the overall salience of fluency within CBM. Throughout, contributors argue for greater specificity and nuance in isolating skills to be measured and improved, and for terminology that reflects those educational benchmarks. Included in the coverage: Indicators of fluent writing in beginning writers. Fluency in language acquisition, reading, and mathematics. Foundations of fluency-based assessments in behavioral and psychometric paradigms. Using response time and accuracy data to inform the measurement of fluency. Using individual growth curves to model reading fluency. Latent class analysis for reading fluency research. The Fluency Construct: Curriculum-Based Measurement Concepts and Applications is an essential resource for researchers, graduate students, and professionals in clinical child and school psychology, language and literature, applied linguistics, special education, neuropsychology, and social work.

In one volume, this authoritative reference presents a current, comprehensive overview of intellectual and cognitive assessment, with a focus on practical applications. Leaders in the field describe major theories of intelligence and provide the knowledge needed to use the latest measures of cognitive abilities with individuals of all ages, from toddlers to adults. Evidence-based approaches to test interpretation, and their relevance for intervention, are described. The book addresses critical issues in assessing particular populations—including culturally and linguistically diverse students, gifted students, and those with learning difficulties and disabilities—in today's educational settings. New to This Edition*Incorporates major research advances and legislative and policy changes.*Covers recent test revisions plus additional tests: the NEPSY-II and the Wechsler Nonverbal Scale of Ability.*Expanded coverage of specific populations: chapters on autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, sensory and physical disabilities and traumatic brain injury, and intellectual disabilities.*Chapters on neuropsychological approaches, assessment of executive functions, and multi-tiered service delivery models in schools.

This approach to teaching basic math facts, grounded in years of research, will transform students' learning of basic facts and help them become more confident, adept, and successful at math. Mastering the basic facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division is an essential goal for all students. Most educators also agree that success at higher levels of math hinges on this fundamental skill. But what's the best way to get there? Are flash cards, drills, and timed tests the answer? If so, then why do students go into the upper elementary grades (and beyond) still counting on their fingers or experiencing math anxiety? What does research say about teaching basic math facts so they will stick? In Math Fact Fluency, experts Jennifer Bay-Williams and Gina Kling provide the answers to these questions—and so much more. This book offers everything a teacher needs to teach, assess, and communicate with parents about basic math fact instruction, including The five fundamentals of fact fluency, which provide a research-based framework for effective instruction in the basic facts. Strategies students can use to find facts that are not yet committed to memory. More than 40 easy-to-make, easy-to-use games that provide engaging fact practice. More than 20 assessment tools that provide useful data on fact fluency and mastery. Suggestions and strategies for collaborating with families to help their children master the basic math facts. Math Fact Fluency is an indispensable guide for any educator who needs to teach basic math facts.

Originating in a recent CIERA conference held at the University of Michigan, this book brings together the nation's most distinguished researchers to examine how readers understand text and how comprehension is assessed. The first part provides both national and historical contexts for the study of reading comprehension. The second part examines how vocabulary, motivation, and expertise influence comprehension, and it includes analyses of the developmental course and correlates of comprehension. Chapters in the third part consider how schools focus on comprehension for instruction and assessment. The fourth part includes chapters on large-scale assessment that analyze how test formats and psychometric characteristics influence measures of reading comprehension. At the end of each part is a commentary--written by an expert--that reviews the chapters, critiques the main points, and synthesizes critical issues. Key features of this outstanding new book include: *Integration of Research and Practice--provides a bridge between conceptual issues studied by researchers concerned with reading comprehension theories and practical issues addressed by educators concerned with classroom instruction and assessment. *Comprehension Focus--provides a thorough history and rigorous research-based analyses of reading comprehension. *Assessment Focus--provides innovative approaches to comprehension assessment that include the influences of vocabulary, decoding, and motivation. *Synthetic Commentaries--provides periodic summaries that analyze and synthesize research, practices, and issues discussed in each part. *Expertise--contributing authors and commentators are highly respected authorities on reading comprehension (see table of contents). This text is appropriate for educational and psychological researchers, reading educators, and graduate students in education and psychology. It is part of the CIERA series, which includes the following volumes: Taylor and Pearson: Teaching Reading: Effective Schools, Accomplished Teachers (2002) Van Kleeck, Stahl, and Bauer: On Reading Books to Children: Parents and Teachers (2003) Hoffman and Schallert: The Texts in Elementary Classrooms (2005)

Instructional-Design Theories and Models, Volume III: Building a Common Knowledge Base begins the daunting task of developing a common knowledge base that underlies and supports the vast array of instructional theories, models and strategies that constitute the field.