The purpose of the study was to describe the relationship between the reading fluency and reading comprehension of first grade students. The current literature on fluency indicated that there is a positive relationship between reading fluency and reading comprehension (Stecker, Roser, & Martinez, 1998). A formal study examining the relationship between fluency and reading comprehension of first grade students was needed at this time as the most recent studies combining fluency with comprehension have focused on third and fifth graders (Rasinski, 1990) as well as second graders (Stahl & Heubach. 2005). The results of the both studies indicated that fluency is a reasonable predictor of comprehension. However, this relationship must be established in first grade students.

The study addressed the following research question: What is the relationship between the reading fluency and reading comprehension of first grade students? This question was answered using a multivariate correlational research design examining first grade students in a rural school district in the southwestern United States. The instrumentation used was the Texas Primary Reading Inventory as it measured both comprehension and fluency.

The study was able to establish a strong positive relationship between fluency and comprehension in first grade students. Furthermore 17% of the variance in reading comprehension was explained by fluency while 35.6% of the variance was explained by the other controlling variables. The regression coefficients indicated that at-risk and fluency are the greatest contributing factors to the changes in reading comprehension.

These findings indicated that indeed fluency instruction must be an integral part of the first grade curriculum in order to enhance comprehension. Future research should be conducted to determine which methods of fluency instruction make the most impact in first graders. Meanwhile, first grade practitioners should be engaging in activities such as buddy reading, choral reading, and repeated reading activities. It is hoped that these findings will lead to greater awareness amongst practitioners about the importance of fluency instruction in first grade as well as greater awareness amongst the research community to provide evidence-based instructional methods specific for first grade classrooms.