COMPARISON AND CLARIFICATION OF LITERACY ASSESSMENTS

Running Records:
Informal/Formative
Not marked on copy of text
One text snapshot
No formal comprehension
element
No formal fluency consideration
Used to capture and analyze
reading in connected text

Benchmark Kits Formal/summative

Include
Little books

Comprehension
Tasks
Series of texts from
Basal to ceiling
Marked on copy of text

Informal Reading
Inventories
Series of leveled
passages

STRATEGY # 23 MOVE BEYOND THE

ALL-OR-NONE SYSTEMS
-Interpretations of student use of visual cues can
vary greatly, therefore it is beneficial to look at
all the visual cues shown through running
records and IRIs.
-Teachers can adapt their notations on their
running records by writing VB, VM, and VE.

-Teachers check off attention to meaning and

structure during a running record

STRATEGY #24 ANALYZE

COMPREHENSION HOLISTICALLY
How well did the students understand the text?
Instead of analyzing a students comprehension based on
how many questions they answered correctly, teachers
can use a a holistic strategy.
-Teachers can consider all the ways students demonstrate a
grasp of a story and evaluate them holistically on a scale
of 1 to 5 with 1 representing little or no understanding
and 5 representing deep profound understanding that
taps into the themes, subtleties, or big ideas of the text.
-Teachers can use the 1-5 scale as a part of their vocabulary
around students reading processes.

COMPREHENSION CONTINUUM (CONTINUED.)

1 The student did not understand the story.
2 - The student misunderstood much of the story.
3 The student had some confusion about and some
understanding of the story.
4 The student understood the story.
5 The student deeply understood the story.

STRATEGY #25 USE FLUENCY TO HELP

DETERMINE INSTRUCTIONAL READING LEVEL
Fluency is the third variable that we recommend you always
consider when examining student reading processes, whether
in assessements or simply in observations during a guided
reading lesson.
-Students will become stronger, independent readers when
considering fluency in your assessments and support the
students in reading fluently during shared, guided, and
independent

-Use the Fountas and Pinnell (1996) fluency rubric which is a scale
of 1-4.
-Jan explains this rubric has a level 5 but is only implied,
means
that a student has read with perfect fluency. (theoretical
rather
than practical)

FOUNTAS AND PINNELLS FLUENCY RUBRIC

1 The student is reading almost all word by word.
2 The student is reading mostly word by word, but
sometimes sounds like a strong reader.
3 The student mostly sounds like a strong reader, but
sometimes reads word by word.
4 The student sounds like a strong reader.

STRATEGY #26 CONSIDER THE WAYS

STUDENTS INTEGRATE CUES
-Teachers can observe how their students integrate
information through their reading process during
assessment
-Teachers evaluate subjectively, using a 0-5 scale on
how the students efficiently use print, story, and
integrate clues.
-The notes written next to the scores are the most
valuable
How efficiently does the student.
Use print? 0 1 2 3 4 5 Notes:
Use Story? 0 1 2 3 4 5 Notes:
Integrate cues? 0 1 2 3 4 5 Notes:

STRATEGY #27 LOOK AT SHIFTS IN STUDENTS

READING PROCESSES ACROSS TEXTS
-When interpreting an IRI consider the ways that students reading
process changes across levels.
-Teachers use the Student Placement Thought Sheet in order to record
recognition, comprehension, and fluency scores on each level of
text.
How does the students reading process change in
response to a increasingly difficult text?

Text Level
Word Recognition (%)
Fluency (1-4)

Comprehension (1-5)

100

98

90

SUMMARY