Why Fluency Matters: Insights from Dr. Tim Rasinski

In this webinar with LevelUp Reader, Dr. Tim Rasinski highlights a critical finding from the National Assessment of Educational Progress: a strong and consistent link between oral reading fluency and reading comprehension. Fluency, often overlooked in classrooms, consists of two key components—automaticity in word recognition and prosody. Automatic word recognition frees up mental energy, allowing readers to focus on understanding what they’re reading. Dr. Rasinski illustrates this with a simple exercise, showing how automatic word recognition indicates fluency and supports comprehension.

Fluency is sometimes reduced to reading speed, but Dr. Rasinski explains that true automaticity is built through meaningful and consistent reading practice—not stopwatch drills. For example, while third graders should progress from reading 83 to 112 correct words per minute over the school year, the increase in reading speed is just one benchmark for growth. This and other fluency norms, integrated into the LevelUp Reader program, help educators track student progress. Dr. Rasinski stresses that fluency instruction must be systematic, intentional, and frequent to be effective. With LevelUp Reader, educators have access to research-based tools that support both fluency and comprehension, and young readers have authentic, engaging texts to practice with.

To explore more strategies and view the full discussion on prosody and fluency development, click the View Webinar button below.