Dysfluency: A Hidden Crisis in Middle and High School Literacy
Key Points
- When students struggle to make sense of text, there’s a good chance that dysfluency (the inability to read with sufficient accuracy, automaticity, and prosody) is a contributing factor—quite possibly the dominant one.
- Fluent readers recognize words “at the speed of sight” and read with proper expression and intonation.
- The path to stronger reading in middle and high school starts with refocusing on fluency by prioritizing shared, oral reading in class.
Introduction
The importance of fluent reading is routinely underestimated, especially as it applies to middle and high school students.
Far from a mere primary-grade issue, fluency is a prerequisite to reading comprehension at every level. Dysfluency is a hidden crisis in American schools, and the decline in recreational reading among children has compounded the problem.
In this report, I discuss why fluency is a prerequisite to reading comprehension, what we know about dysfluency in later grades, and what teachers can do to develop and improve students’ reading fluency.
What Is Reading Fluency?
Reading fluency is, in the words of Mark Seidenberg, the ability to read “at the speed of sight,” to recognize words and grasp their meaning almost as soon as your eyes land on the page, with little or no conscious effort.1 When a reader is not at this level, we call it “dysfluency.” The lack of conscious effort is important. Readers who can recognize words and phrases without thinking about them can allocate their working memories to higher-order tasks, like interpreting a text’s meaning or perceiving subtleties of word choice.
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More at bats for middle and high school students:
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2025-2026 Madison 4k-3rd grade Early Literacy Screener report: The bar moves faster than the kids.
Joe Gothard, Becky Kundert and Sonia Spencer Remarks on Madison’s K-12 Literacy Crisis.
2026-2027 Madison K-12 $pending continues to grow, fueled by a 9.7% (!) property tax increase. Total spending will be at least $706,000,000 for 25,003 students, or $28,236 per student.
May 2026 Madison School District Presentation: 7,095 adults for 25,003 students (3.52 students per adult!)
2024-2025 Early Literacy Screener Map.
Map: Foundations of Reading Results: 2015–2024
Where have all the students gone?
3,887 Madison 4 year old to third grade students scored lower than 75% of the students in the national comparison group.
Madison taxpayers have long supported far above average k-12 tax & $pending. This despite our long term, disastrous reading results. May, 2026: 7,095 Staff for 25,003 students; $pending > $26k per student!
Madison Schools: More $, No Accountability
The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…
The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic.
My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results
2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results
Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
“An emphasis on adult employment”
Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]
WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators
Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results
Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?
