**7. Conclusions**

This history of oral reading and oral reading fluency in the United States began in an age when texts and other forms of entertainment and information were limited, and oral reading was the predominant means for conveying ideas and passing the time at home with the family. During those early days of American education, the instruction emphasized the need for being able to read aloud with expression and fluency that would hold listeners' attention and captivate an audience. As texts and other forms of information became more available, a switch occurred, to the belief that silent reading was the better approach to developing readers who could comprehend text, often ignoring the significance of developing reading fluency. Research and national reports indicate the significant contributions of oral reading fluency to reading comprehension and academic proficiency. Thus, the roots of oral reading are deep, and the fruit they bear in the form of fluent reading and automaticity are worthy of harvest and use in today's reading instruction. Although proficiency in silent reading continues to be an appropriate goal for reading instruction and curricula, this historical review suggests that oral reading, particularly oral reading focused on developing reading fluency, should also maintain a place in reading education.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, W.H.R.; Data curation, W.D.N. and D.P.; Project administration, W.H.R.; Supervision, W.H.R.; Visualization, T.V.R.; Writing—original draft, W.H.R., W.D.N., T.V.R. and D.P.; Writing—review & editing, W.H.R., W.D.N., T.V.R. and D.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** No external funding was received for this research.

**Acknowledgments:** We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the time and e ffort devoted by reviewers to improving the quality of this manuscript.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
