How can teachers assess students' reading fluency?

Assessing students' reading fluency is best accomplished through conducting timed readings and measuring words per minute. This method directly evaluates a student's ability to read text smoothly and accurately, which is a crucial component of fluency. By timing the reading, teachers can quantify how many words a student reads in a specific timeframe, providing a clear metric of fluency. This assessment can reveal not only the speed of reading but also the student's ability to decode words and maintain comprehension while reading.

Other methods, such as spelling tests or analyzing handwriting, focus on different skills within literacy—like spelling accuracy or fine motor skills—but do not directly measure fluency in reading. Group discussions can provide insights into comprehension and engagement but do not effectively gauge a student's reading speed or fluidity. Therefore, using timed readings allows teachers to assess the critical aspects of reading fluency accurately.