Fidelity of Implementation: What is it and Why does it Matter?
Is your core literacy program effective? Is it meeting the needs of at least 80% of your students, meaning that at least 80% of your students are meeting grade level expectations or making sufficient progress to close the gap? I am sure if someone came to your school you would be able to answer these questions, even if it took a bit of time to gather the data necessary to do so. If the answer to these questions is, “Not yet”, how would your team go about identifying why not and next steps?
Fluency: The Forgotten Component of Literacy Instruction
Why should educators focus on fluency? Experts in the field have determined that reading fluency is the best overall measure of reading growth in first to sixth grades (Feldman, 2017). Fluency is the bridge between comprehension and decoding. If students are fluent readers, reading will not be drudgery but a fun exercise. When reading is perceived as fun, students are more likely to practice. Practice leads to growth and skill development.