Responding to recent challenges to Clay's Running Records (2019) and their analysis using a three-cueing system, the author examines this reading assessment from an additive perspective of both bottom-up and top-down orientations of reading instruction. Endorsing their inclusion among classroom reading assessments, the author navigates the tension…

This article presents an historical framework of fluency assessment and instruction, while at the same time advocating for a broader definition of fluency itself. Practical suggestions are made that seek to align reading rate and accuracy, alongside expression and comprehension, with the goal of developing "real" readers.