By Eric Stevick

Herald Writer

MUKILTEO — The faster a student is able to read aloud in the third grade, the better they do on high-profile statewide reading exams the following year, according to a Mukilteo School District study.

The district found that almost all of its fourth-graders, nearly 94 percent, who read 135 words per minute as third-graders passed the reading portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

But as reading rates dropped, so did scores on the statewide test. Children able to read 100 to 135 words per minute had only a 60 percent pass rate. And only 50 percent of students who read under 100 words per minute passed.

The correlation was discovered over the last three years as the Mukilteo district closely monitored oral reading fluency, measured through the number of words students correctly read per minute, in the first through third grade.

As a result, the district has placed increased emphasis on boosting oral reading skills.

This year, 72.1 percent of Mukilteo’s fourth-graders passed the reading portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Statewide, 66.1 percent passed.

"It’s only one (indicator) but it’s a pretty good one," said Don Schmitz, director of assessment and technology for the Mukilteo School District.

"Your reading fluency skills are highly related to comprehension, and we found that oral reading fluency is also highly related to meeting the state reading WASL, which measures higher-level thinking skills," Schmitz said.

State officials point to national research that finds students with a reading rate of at least 130 words per minute tend to do well on most "literal comprehension" assessments, such as the nationally standardized Iowa Tests of Basic Skills taken annually by Washington’s third-graders.

The state reading exam measures more "critical thinking skills," which makes the direct correlation between reading fluency and WASL results "a little more difficult to make," said Kim Schmanke, a spokeswoman for the state Office of the Superintendent Public Instruction.

Even so, "it’s an amazing statistic," Schmanke said, referring to the 94 percent of Mukilteo fourth-graders passing the WASL who could read 135 words per minute as third-graders.

Four years ago, the state began requiring Washington’s school districts to do reading fluency assessments with second-graders. The purpose of the law is to provide information to parents, teachers and administrators about each child’s reading accuracy and oral fluency skills.

Mukilteo expanded on that requirement and gives its students in the early grades three to four reading fluency assessments each year. In the last four years, it has seen increasing fluency among its second and third graders.

For instance, during the 1998-99 school year, the average number of words a third-grader read in May was 118; last May it was 141.

You can call Herald Writer Eric Stevick at 425-339-3446 or send e-mail to stevick@heraldnet.com.