Fluency Tutor
by Texthelp Systems Ltd
A web-based solution for developing and assessing oral reading fluency and comprehension
“Fluency Tutor reinforces the reading skills we teach our ESL (English as a Second Language) learners. It allows teachers to monitor progress without intruding on learners’ private reading time whilst encouraging them to independently practice oral reading at their own pace. Teachers can play back a learner’s oral reading, measure the difficulty level of a passage and spot trends. It has helped many of our learners to leap from basic to advanced level reading. One of our most significantly improved students whose speech was previously very unclear now speaks much more fluently having practised reading aloud more slowly, pacing herself between words. This in turn has boosted her self-esteem.” – Puvaneswari Kurusamy, Head Coach at Cognitive Development Learning Centre, Singapore
“My first, second and third grade students light up when they hear themselves read. It’s giving them self-awareness when they are practising and listening to themselves. The students are eager to learn how to use this program independently. Thank you for introducing us to Fluency Tutor!” – Amy Rosin, Special Education Teacher, Garden City Elementary School, MN, USA
Fluency Tutor is an online web-based software solution designed to assess and improve students’ reading and comprehension levels. The solution is easy-to-use and can be accessed both at School and at home.
Fluency Tutor easy-to-use online solution gives you:
- A personalised school website
- Student area for practicing and recording reading passages and submitting assessments
- Quiz questions to test reading comprehension
- Teacher section for assigning, listening to, and scoring student assessments
- Graphical reports to show student progress
Fluency Tutor will encourage students as young as five years old to master reading and develop their fluency and comprehension levels while reading.
Fluency Tutor has been designed to be fun and user-friendly, but yet it will generate results and have long-term benefits for reading improvement.
Fluency Tutor Benefits
- Help with reading and comprehension
- Easy-to-use, motivational reading support
- Access in School and at home
- Accurate assessment
- Progress reports
View more Fluency Tutor screenshots
Fluency Tutor for StudentsexpandClick to collapse
Fluency Tutor has a student section and a teacher section. Students can log on to Fluency Tutor at School or at home to practise and record reading exercises.
Fluency Tutor allows students to complete the following 4 activities:
Practise my Reading
Fluency Tutor has a practise area where students practise their reading. By listening to exercises being read aloud, using high-quality text-to-speech voice technology by IVONA, and then recording themselves reading, students reinforce their learning. The comprehension quiz questions test whether students have understood what they are reading.
Note: Presently the text-to-speech voice is US/UK. Australian voices are planned and will be released in the near future soon.
Measure my reading
Students record themselves reading exercises that have been assigned by their teacher. They complete a quiz, testing their comprehension levels and submit both to their teacher for marking. Through this process, students take ownership of their reading improvement.
How did I do?
Students view their teacher-marked assessments in this section. Errors are recorded in red and the teacher will have provided a prosody (expression) score, quiz score, WCPM (words correct per minute) score and any other notes. Students listen again to their recording and access the coaching window that provides details on any errors made.
See my Progress
Students view a graphical representation of their reading progress over time. The graphs display their reading speed, prosody and quiz scores. The student’s target reading speed will also be displayed for measurability. This section is very rewarding for the student as it tracks the progress they have made.
Benefits to students
- Improved reading speed, accuracy and comprehension
- Greater motivation and self-confidence
- Development of independent learning
- Greater interest and enjoyment in reading
Fluency Tutor for TeachersexpandClick to collapse
Fluency Tutor provides teachers with an unrivalled method of measuring and assessing the reading skills and comprehension levels of their class. The online nature of the solution frees up teachers’ time, allowing them to be more productive and efficient.
Fluency Tutor can be used in the following ways:
1. Assign appropriate Reading Tests
Teachers assign reading practises or assessments to an individual student or group of students. They also set a target WCPM (words correct per minute) score. Text difficulty is measured by MetaMetrics’ Lexile levels and teachers can ensure that the exercises match the student’s reading ability. Primary or Secondary content can be selected and each passage comes with comprehension questions.
2. Mark completed assessments
Teachers mark students’ assessments by listening back to the student’s recorded reading. They can identify the following error types:
- mispronunciation
- hesitation
- omission
- substitution
- repetition
- transposition
- self-correction
The details panel will display the error types and frequency as well as the WCPM (words correct per minute) score. Teachers also rate the prosody (expression) of the student’s recording. Prosody is an indicator that the reader is actively constructing the meaning of the passage as the words are being identified and pronounced. The Prosody score is determined through 4 components: Expression, Phrasing, Smoothness and Pace.
To make the marking process as thorough and comprehensive as possible, teachers can add comments about the assessment.
3. View a student’s progress
Teachers access a number of reports/graphs within Fluency Tutor to view students’ progress over time. The Fluency measurement report allows teachers to monitor students’ progress over time (in terms of WCPM, prosody and quiz scores etc.). The Error analysis graph reveals the frequency and type of errors being made so that teachers can target individualised instruction. The Lexile Level performance scatter graph helps a teacher to identify the right level of text difficulty for each student and the Problem words report will provide a list of words that the student had difficulty with.
Benefits to teachers:
- Set appropriate reading tasks for their students
- Effortlessly manage students’ reading assessment
- Monitor class performance and improvement over time
- See at-a-glance student statistics and performance
- Target individual instruction
Videos about Fluency Tutor
Requirements and ResourcesexpandClick to collapse
Minimum System Requirements
- Windows PC or Apple Mac
- Fast Internet access (broadband speed or equivalent)
- Minimum Web browser:
- Internet Explorer 8
- Firefox 3
- Google Chrome 10
- Safari 4
- Minimum Flash Version: Adobe Flash Player version 10.1 (free download)
Note: it is recommended that you always use the most up-to-date version of your browser software and Flash. - Headphones or speakers
- Microphone (for students) or headset with microphone (Not included. Please contact Spectronics for recommended microphones for use with this software.)
View / Download
- Fluency Tutor sample Lesson Plan for Early Childhood
- Fluency Tutor sample Lesson Plan for Early Primary
- Fluency Tutor sample classroom ideas
- Fluency Tutor Training Guide
- Fluency Tutor Student’s Guide
- Practise my reading Online Demo
- Mark an assignment Online Demo
Online Training and Webinars
Fluency Tutor is targeted at the following age ranges:
- Mid Primary
- Upper Primary
- Secondary School
Fluency Tutor is designed to foster development in the areas of:
- Literacy
For answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and technical support visit:
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