NAEP - Percentage of Students, by Number of Words Read in the First Minute of Oral Reading and Average Number of Words Read Per Minute

Percentage of students, by number of words read in the first minute of oral reading and average number of words read per minute, grade 4: 2002

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. The oral reading study passage comprises 198 words.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2002 Oral Reading Study.

Major Findings

• Twenty-three percent of the participating students read between 105 and 129 words in the initial minute of their oral reading.
• Approximately 56 percent of the participating students read 130 or more words in the initial minute of their oral reading.
• When rate was measured across the reading excerpt, 27 percent of the students read at an average rate of 105 to 129 words per minute, and 38 percent of the students read at least 130 words per minute.

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