Oral Reading Fluency and Prediction of Reading Comprehension in African American and Caucasian Elementary School Children

This study examined the differential predictive bias of CBM in reading across African American and Caucasian students in Grades 2 through 5. Participants included 136 students who were administered CBM oral reading fluency passages and the Reading Comprehension subtest of the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery—Revised. A series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that CBM neither over-or underpredicted reading comprehension skills controlling for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Results of this study suggest that CBM continues to appear to be a sensitive form of direct reading assessment in the local curriculum for both African American and Caucasian elementary-age students.