What is nonsense word fluency?
By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated
Short answer
Nonsense word fluency (NWF) is a 1-minute timed measure in which a student reads made-up words such as "vab" or "tig." Because the words cannot be memorized, the score shows whether the student can use letter sounds and blend them. It is scored as correct letter sounds and as whole words read correctly, and is used for screening, progress monitoring and decoding goals.
Nonsense word fluency is a decoding measure. The student sees a page of short made-up words, usually consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) or vowel-consonant patterns, and reads as many as possible in 1 minute. The student may say each sound ("/v/ /a/ /b/") or read the whole word ("vab"). Both earn credit for the sounds, but only reading the word as a unit earns the whole-word score.
The point of nonsense words is that no student has seen them before. A child who has memorized "cat" by sight might still fail to read "fap." So NWF isolates the alphabetic principle: knowing that letters stand for sounds and putting those sounds together. The DIBELS subtests guide shows where it sits among the other screening measures, and the reading intervention pillar covers how the results feed instruction.
How it is scored
Most versions give two scores:
- Correct letter sounds (CLS). Each letter sound said correctly counts, whether sounded out or read as part of a whole word. "Vab" read correctly earns 3.
- Whole words read correctly. The number of made-up words read as a whole, without first saying each sound aloud. Editions name this score differently, such as words recoded correctly or whole words read.
The two scores tell different stories. A student with many correct letter sounds but few whole words knows the sounds and is not yet blending them smoothly. A student with low scores on both may still be learning letter sounds.
Where NWF fits in the law
Federal special education law does not mention nonsense word fluency or any named test. Three parts of 34 CFR Part 300 explain how it gets used. Assessments in an evaluation must be technically sound and used for the purposes for which they are valid.[2] For a suspected learning disability, the team considers repeated assessments of achievement during instruction, which progress monitoring with NWF can supply.[3] And an IEP goal must be measurable, with the IEP stating how progress will be measured.[4] An NWF probe given the same way each time meets that need for a decoding goal.
Nonsense word fluency example
This example is fictional. In October, a first grader named Ruby reads a 1-minute nonsense word probe. She says "/s/ /i/ /p/... sip" for the first word, then sounds out the next 9 words letter by letter without blending most of them. She ends with 28 correct letter sounds and 3 whole words read.
Her teacher's note: Ruby knows most single-letter sounds. She reads short i and short a correctly but says /i/ for e. She blends only when a word starts with a continuous sound like /s/ or /m/.
The plan targets blending with continuous sounds first, then stop sounds, and teaches short e. Every two weeks Ruby reads a new probe. By January she reads 45 correct letter sounds and 12 whole words. The whole-word score is the one the team watches, because blending was the skill taught.
NWF and IEP goals
When a student's decoding is the barrier, NWF can serve as the goal measure. Keep the same form type, timing and score from baseline to target, and name which score the goal tracks.
A sample goal: "Given a 1-minute nonsense word probe of CVC words, Ruby will read 20 whole words correctly, up from a baseline of 3, on 2 of 3 consecutive biweekly probes." The template is the nonsense word probe goal. More decoding goals are in the phonics and decoding goals library, and the phonics IEP goal examples page shows worked wording.
Many teams pair an NWF goal with a real-word or passage goal. Nonsense words show the skill in isolation; real text shows whether it carries over. Once decoding is solid, the goal usually moves to oral reading fluency, tracked on the reading fluency data sheet.
Nonsense word fluency vs oral reading fluency
These two are the measures most often confused, because both are timed 1-minute reads.
| Nonsense word fluency | Oral reading fluency | |
|---|---|---|
| What the student reads | Lists of made-up short words | A real passage of connected text |
| What it shows | Letter-sound knowledge and blending | Rate and accuracy in real reading |
| Can the student use memory or context? | No, by design | Yes: known words and sentence meaning help |
| Main score | Correct letter sounds; whole words read | Words correct per minute and accuracy |
| Typical grades | Kindergarten to early grade 3 | Grade 1 and up |
| Best use | Diagnosing and monitoring early decoding | Monitoring overall reading growth |
A student can score well on NWF and poorly on oral reading. That pattern often means the student can decode simple words but stumbles on longer words, irregular words or the pace of a full passage. The reverse, decent oral reading with weak NWF, can mean the student relies on memorized words and context, which tends to break down as texts get harder.
Should you teach nonsense words?
Brief practice reading made-up words can help students apply a pattern without guessing from memory, and some phonics programs include it. Drilling the probe format to raise the score is a mistake. It inflates the number without improving reading. Teach letter sounds, blending and the patterns the student misreads, and let the probe measure the result. The National Reading Panel concluded that systematic phonics instruction helps children learn to read, and that is the instruction NWF is built to track.[1]
Related terms
- Decoding: using letter-sound knowledge to read a word.
- Phonics: teaching the links between letters and sounds.
- Oral reading fluency: reading connected text with speed and accuracy.
- Phoneme segmentation fluency: the spoken-sound measure often given alongside NWF.
Frequently asked questions
Why do reading tests use nonsense words?
Made-up words cannot be memorized, so a student must use letter sounds and blend them to read the word. That isolates decoding from sight-word memory and guessing from context, which real words cannot do.
What is the difference between correct letter sounds and whole words read?
Correct letter sounds counts every sound said correctly, even if the student sounds out letter by letter. Whole words read counts only words read as a unit. Many sounds but few whole words means the student needs blending practice.
Can nonsense word fluency be used for an IEP goal?
Yes, for a decoding goal. Name the probe, the score tracked and the schedule, and keep them the same from baseline to target. Many teams pair it with a real-word or passage goal to show the skill carries into reading.
Use it in IEP Atlas
- Phonics decoding goals (reading)
- Nonsense word probe goal template
- Oral reading fluency measurement guide
- Reading fluency data sheet
- Decoding in the IEP glossary
- Phonics in the IEP glossary
Related guides
- Reading intervention for students with IEPs: assess, group, teach, monitor
- Phoneme segmentation fluency: giving and interpreting it
- Letter naming fluency benchmarks
- Oral reading fluency norms by grade
- DIBELS subtests explained
Sources
- Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
- 34 CFR §300.304: Evaluation procedures, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
- 34 CFR §300.309: Determining the existence of a specific learning disability, U.S. Department of Education (IDEA website)
- 34 CFR §300.320: Definition of individualized education program, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.