Assessment 3. Workbook Assessment Task Example

Assessment 3. Workbook Assessment Task Example Assessment 3. Workbook Assessment Task â€" Assignment Example > WHAT IS THE GENDER DIFFERENCE IN MINIMUM RAPIDITY OF READING FLUENCY NECESSARY FOR ABOVE AVERAGE COMPREHENSION PERFORMANCE IN SECOND AND THIRD GRADE STUDENT? Conceptualising Research QuestionVarious past studies that have focused on reading comprehension and the fluency in reading have mainly sought to analyse the impact that reading fluency has on reading comprehension, the level of reading fluency growth rate and how such skill is predictive of future capabilities in reading achievement (Kim, Petscher, Schatschneider, and Foorman 662; Tannenbaum, Torgesen, and Wagner 389). Few have focused on the minimum reading fluency that is required for average comprehension (Burns et al 130), and non so far known to the author that focuses on gender difference in rapidity of fluency and word recognition necessary for above average comprehension performance. The research question in this research therefore is “What are the gender difference in minimum rapidity of reading fluency and word r ecognition necessary for above average comprehension performance in second and third grade students? ”Literature reviewDefinitionsReading comprehension is noted as one of the key literacy competencies in early childhood development and education. Reading comprehension has been defined as the ability to interactively recognise, understand and decode various words (van Kraayenoord et al 51-52). On the other hand Oakhill, Cain Byrant (451) posit that reading comprehension is the ability to make sense of the meaning of sentences, words, and given text using various reading strategies, knowledge and as a result of a successful interaction between the text and the reader of the text. On the other hand, Burns et al (124) define reading fluency as the speed level at which readers are able to read words quickly and accurately, and be able to recognise such words with the sentence constructs and texts. Looking at the two above definitions it can be noted that the two are closely related since the ability to read fluently and recognise the words that have been read positively impacts the ability to comprehend the words, sentences and text being read. This literature review presents past researched work on reading fluency and comprehension and the gender differences in performance. Reading comprehension and FluencyOver the past two decades there have been numerous studies that have researched reading comprehension in relation to reading fluency. Notably most of the studies have focused on the impact of reading fluency to reading comprehension performance. Burns, Tucker, Hauser, Thelen, Holmes, and White (5) and Berninger et al (345) found in their research that indeed there is strong positive correlation between reading comprehension and fluency. Indeed other studies have found reading fluency to have a unique variance in the assessment of comprehension that allows greater accuracy in assessment (Spear-Swerling, 215; Alber-morgan et al 25). Kim, Petscher, Schatschne ider, and Foorman (654) used a sample of 12,536 kindergartens to third grade children and various tests including Stanford Achievement Tests and Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills subtests to study the growth rate of reading fluency over a four year period relative to the performance and achievement in reading comprehension over the same period. Kim, Petscher, Schatschneider, and Foorman (665-665) concluded in their findings that while for the first graders it was vocabulary skills and growth rate of fluency that impacted comprehension performance for the higher grades such as the second and the third grade it was an a successful earlier performance in reading fluency during the kindergarten and first grade levels that had a stronger impact in the performance and achievement of their reading comprehensions. Such conclusions imply that the earlier a reader is able to read fluently from the lower grades, the higher their chances of higher performance in reading compre hension.