The Relationship of Prosodic Reading to Reading Rate and Other Constructs of Reading Ability

This study reports how well the results of an adapted rating scale of fluent reading would correspond to objective measures of those same readings. A trained investigating team listened to taped recordings of fourth- and fifth-grade students reading fourth- and fifth-grade texts. The team used the adjusted rating scale to evaluate the prosodic quality of the reading. Results from the prosody rating scale produced distinct groups of fluent readers, from which descriptive profiles for each group were developed. In addition, statistical cluster analysis procedures were used to form fluency groups based on objective measures of reading rate, reading accuracy, and number of pauses. Discriminant function analyses revealed that all three measures predicted fluency group membership, but reading rate and pauses were much better predictors than reading accuracy. Comparisons between groups formed by subjective prosody ratings and groups formed from the cluster analyses showed a high degree of overlap and agreement, validating the prosody ratings. Results from this study suggest that rating scales can be used accurately and productively in measuring young readers’ fluency and prosody. In addition, the data reveal that the online measure of reading rate is a valid and reliable proxy measure for reading fluency.