A Comparison of Eye Movement Measures Across Reading Efficiency Quartile Groups in Elementary, Middle, and High School Students in the U.S.

Summary of Findings:

This cross-sectional study examined eye movements during reading across grades in students with differing levels of reading efficiency. Eye movement recordings were obtained while students in grades 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 silently read normed grade-leveled texts with demonstrated comprehension. Comparisons indicated that students in higher reading rate quartiles made fewer fixations and regressions per word, and had shorter fixation durations. These indices of greater efficiency were also characteristic of students in upper as compared to lower grades, with two exceptions: (a) between grades 6 and 8, fixations and regressions increased while reading rates stagnated and fixation durations continued to decline, and (b) beyond grade 6, there was relatively little growth in the reading efficiency of students in the lower two reading rate quartiles.

"These present results shed light on some of the underlying difficulties that less efficient readers are facing.”