A study of the relationship between oral reading rate and comprehension

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between oral reading rate and comprehension of printed material and the relationship between oral reading rate and competency in reading sub-skills, using fifth-grade students. Oral reading rate was measured as words read correctly on a passage from a fifth-grade textbook. Comprehension was assessed using the comprehension section of a standardized reading test. Competency in reading sub-skills was measured by performance on three- and five-letter, mixed-vowel words. The data were correlated using a Pearson Product Moment Correlation and a multiple correlation procedure. Statistical analysis revealed that a significant positive correlation exists between both oral reading rate and comprehension and oral reading rate and competency in reading sub-skills.