From eyes that tire when reading to repeatedly losing their place, students using Nimble Reading’s Visual Skills Insight screener tell us what they experience
Each of the nine profiles below is drawn from anonymized data of actual students in a 131-student research cohort. Students selected the screener’s descriptors that matched their experience. Reading rate, iReady, Star, and state test scores came from each student’s records.
| Stage 1 — Visual Skills Development Appears On Track | Stage 2 — Some Visual Skills Challenges Reported (Practice Recommended) | Stage 3** — Notable Visual Skills Challenges Reported (Intensive Practice; Possible Referral) |
| Sam, Grade 2 Stage 1 (no reported difficulties) “Sometimes my eyes burn during reading.” Comprehension-based Silent Reading Rate (CBSRR): 156 wpm, 86th* iReady: 86th Star: 75th | Avery, Grade 2 Stage 2 (moderate difficulties reported) “My eyes hurt when I read. Sometimes the words look double. Sometimes words split apart.” CBSRR: 115 wpm, 57th* iReady: 52nd Star: 59th | Morgan, Grade 2 Stage 3 (severe difficulties reported) “I need to reread the same line. I need a finger to keep my place. I have trouble lining up numbers or writing on the page.” CBSRR: 77 wpm, 14th* iReady: 41th Star: 47th |
| Casey, Grade 4 Stage 1 (no reported difficulties) No reported difficulties CBSRR: 200 wpm, 89th* iReady: 84th Star: 93rd State test: Advanced | Jordan, Grade 4 Stage 2 (moderate difficulties reported) “I have trouble holding a steady gaze. I lose my place a lot. I misread similar-looking words. I need to use my finger to keep my place.” CBSRR: 139 wpm, 47th* iReady: 30th Star: 69th State test: Proficient | Quinn, Grade 4 Stage 3 (severe difficulties reported) “I get headaches with sustained near work. I have trouble switching focus near-to-far. I squint and tilt my head when I read. Words appear to wiggle on the page, sometimes they stick together and sometimes they split apart.” CBSRR: 132 wpm, 40th* iReady: 25th Star: 71st State test: Basic |
| Logan, Grade 6 Stage 1 (no reported difficulties) No reported difficulties CBSRR: 200, 81st* iReady: 83rd Star: 85th State test: Advanced | Riley, Grade 6 Stage 2 (moderate difficulties reported) “I often skip lines and lose my place when I read. I need my finger to keep my place. I have trouble holding a steady gaze. I misread similar looking words “ CBSRR: 113 wpm, 10th* iReady: 18th Star: 20th State test: Below Basic | Drew, Grade 6 Stage 3 (severe difficulties reported) “My eyes are tired all day. I often get headaches with sustained near work. Letters often wiggle or stick together. I often skip words and lines. I keep re-reading the same lines.” CBSRR: 118 wpm, 14th* iReady: 16th Star: 2nd |
Percentiles are based on a national silent reading efficiency study (Spichtig, A.N., Hiebert E., Vorstius, C., Pascoe J.P., Pearson P.D., & Radach, R. (2016). The Decline of Comprehension-Based Silent Reading Efficiency in the United States: A Comparison of Current Data with Performance in 1960. Reading Research Quarterly, 51(2), pp. 239-259. Please note that these silent reading norms are different from oral reading fluency (ORF) norms by Hasbrouck, J. & Tindal, G. (2017). An update to compiled ORF norms (Technical Report No. 1702).
** Note, many Stage 3 students could not successfully read a level 1 passage; the Stage 3 data is skewed toward higher performing students.