Student fluency data reveals that fluency scores do not correlate correctly to student’s instructional reading levels causing a misrepresentation of students’ instructional reading level. Therefore, students’ who are pushed at a higher reading level that read at a low pace tend to read word for word or slothfully at suggested levels as determined by a benchmark system. Furthermore, questioning if a student has decoding deficiencies, a reading disability, or is just a “slow reader.”
Benchmark systems, such as Fountas and Pinnell (F&P), provide educators with a 3 point rubric to score students’ fluency abilities. Additionally, the F&P benchmark system requires teachers to provide the Words Per Minute (WPM) rate for students
