The ability to read quickly greatly affects reading fluency. Automaticity, in regard to speed, refers to a person's ability or inability to recognize words rapidly with little attention required to the appearance of the words. When this skill is acquired, a reader is likely to read text at a steady pace, neither increasing nor decreasing speed due to syllable variance.
Accuracy is another important aspect of reading fluency. When reading a text, it is important for an individual to demonstrate that he can effectively decode the different words he is reading. If a person can accurately decode words, he is more likely to comprehend sentences and entire paragraphs. When a reader must stop at a word in order to try to sound it out, he is generally said to have a lower reading fluency than someone who does not have to stop at the same word.
Prosody, or expression, is an aspect of reading fluency that is most recognizable during out-loud reading. Prosody is important because it enables readers to emotionally comprehend text that is filled with expression. For example, to understand how expression can influence comprehension, read the following sentence without any expression: "How dare you steal from me!" As you can see, the sentence loses much of its meaning when it is not read with emotion. When read properly (with expression), the entire phrasing of the sentence changes, which also changes the reader's interpretation of what the sentence ultimately means.
A reading fluency assessment is primarily dependent upon a person's speed, accuracy and prosody. Speed and accuracy skills can be determined by counting the amount of words a person correctly reads in one minute. In order to consider adequate prosody, an assessor should record and play back the reading so that he can focus on whether or not the reader appropriately phrased sentences.
After determining a student's reading rate, an assessor can compare that rate with the average rate of a school grade equivalent. If the rate is higher and prosody was adequately included, then the student has an above-average reading fluency. If the words per minute are lower or the student failed to demonstrate adequate prosody skills, then the student has a below-average reading fluency.