The Influence of Student Characteristics on Early Elementary Oral Reading Fluency

Abstract

Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) is a widely-used index of reading ability in early elementary grades; however, little information exists on predictive value of student characteristics on ORF scores (Wang, Algozzine, Ma, & Porfeli, 2011). A three-step sequential model was used to analyze the influence of student characteristics on scores (N = 2649) on an end of year ORF measure. Results indicate gender, race, lunch status, and English Language Learner status explained 7% of the variance in scores after controlling for grade and school characteristics (?R[superscript 2] = 0.07, F[subscript 8,2626] = 35.93, p = < 0.001), and Special Education (SPED) status explained an additional 5% (?R[superscript 2] = 0.05 F[subscript 9,2625] = 59.45, p = < 0.001). The predictive value of several student characteristics changed depending on SPED status, and this was also a significant moderator on grade level (?R[superscript 2] = 0.002 F[subscript 2,2623] = 4.12, p = 0.016). The use of these results in subsequent research is discussed.