How to take and score a running record

1 What a running record is for

A running record is a few minutes of listening to one student read aloud, with a written record of exactly what they did. It is informal: there is no single official form, and teachers use it in many different ways. What makes it useful is that it captures more than a score. You see which words a student stumbled on, what they said instead, whether they noticed and fixed their own mistakes, and how the reading sounded.

Teachers use running records to answer practical questions. Is this book about right for this child, or too hard? Is the student using the letters in a word, or guessing from the first letter and the picture? Do they notice when something doesn't make sense? Are they making progress since the last time?

A running record is not a reading level test, and it is not a screener. It tells you how one child read one text on one day. That is valuable, but it is one piece of information, best read alongside everything else you know about the child.

2 Before you start

A little preparation makes the record much easier to take and to score.

• Pick a text. Choose a passage close to what you think the student can read. For a check of how well they read new text, use one they have not practiced.
• Have two copies. The student reads from a clean copy. You mark on your own copy, with the words printed so you can write above them.
• Know the word count. Count the words in the passage before you start, or use a passage whose count is known.
• Have a timer ready if you also want words correct per minute.
• Sit beside the student, not across, so you can see the text and they can't easily see your marks.

Tell the student what will happen in plain words: "I'd like you to read this to me. I'm going to write while you read, so I remember how it went. If you get stuck, try your best."

Don't help during the reading. If a student is stuck for a few seconds, say the word and mark it as told. Helping changes what you are recording.

What to sayPlease read this to me. I'll be writing while you read, so I can remember how you did. If you come to a word you don't know, try your best and keep going.

3 The marks to use

Different programs use slightly different marks, and any consistent system works. These are the marks most teachers recognize.

• Correct: a check mark above or beside each word read correctly.
• Substitution: the student says a different word. Write what they said above the word in the text. It counts as one error.
• Omission: the student skips a word. Draw a dash above it. One error.
• Insertion: the student adds a word that isn't there. Write it in with a caret. One error.
• Told: the student is stuck and you say the word. Write T above it. One error.
• Self-correction: the student makes an error, then fixes it on their own. Write what they said and SC beside it. Not an error.
• Repetition: the student repeats a word or phrase. Many teachers mark it with an R and a line, and do not count it as an error.

Writing down what the student actually said, not just that they made an error, is the most useful habit. House for horse tells you something different from pony for horse. The first looks like the word; the second means the same thing. Over a few records, patterns appear that tell you what to teach.

4 What counts as an error

The rules for counting matter, because the same reading can give different numbers if you count differently. Decide your rules once and use them every time, so that this month's record can be compared with last month's.

• Each wrong word is one error, whether it is a substitution, an omission, an insertion or a told word.
• A self-correction is not an error. The student fixed it. Count it separately as a self-correction.
• Repeating a word is not an error, in most systems.
• A skipped line counts the same each time. Some teachers count a whole skipped line as one error and some count every word in it. Pick one.
• Names count once. If a student misreads a character's name the same way every time, many teachers count it as one error for the whole passage.
• Accent and dialect are not errors. A word said in the student's own way, with its meaning intact, is correct.

Write your rules at the top of your class record sheet. Anyone who scores a record for your class, including you in three months, will count the same way.

5 The arithmetic, with a worked example

Once you have your counts, four numbers come out of them. Here is each formula, then a worked example.

• Accuracy = (words read − errors) ÷ words read × 100. How many words in every hundred were read correctly.
• Error rate = words read ÷ errors, written as 1:that number. One error in every so many words.
• Self-correction ratio = (errors + self-corrections) ÷ self-corrections, written as 1:that number. Of every so many slips, the student fixed one.
• Words correct per minute = (words read − errors) × 60 ÷ seconds. Only if you timed the reading.

A worked example

A student reads a 100-word passage in 60 seconds. You marked 4 errors and 2 self-corrections.

1. Accuracy: (100 − 4) ÷ 100 × 100 = 96. The student read 96 words in every 100 correctly.
2. Error rate: 100 ÷ 4 = 25, so 1:25. One error every 25 words.
3. Self-correction ratio: (4 + 2) ÷ 2 = 3, so 1:3. The student fixed one of every three slips.
4. Words correct per minute: (100 − 4) × 60 ÷ 60 = 96.

Round the ratios to the nearest whole number. If there were no errors, there is no error rate; if there were no self-corrections, there is no self-correction ratio. The score these running records quiz has eight more to try.

6 What the numbers tell you, and what they don't

Accuracy is mostly about the text. A traditional rule of thumb, used by our reading level finder, reads it like this: 95 or more words right out of every 100 means the text is easy enough to read alone; 90 to 94 out of 100 means it is about right for teaching, with your support; fewer than 90 out of 100 means it is too hard for now. These are rules of thumb, not precise lines, and programs use slightly different ones.

The self-correction ratio shows whether the student is checking their own reading. A student who fixes many of their slips is listening to themselves and noticing when something is wrong. A student who fixes none may be reading without checking that it makes sense.

The errors themselves tell you the most. Look at each substitution. Does it start with the same letter as the real word? Does it make sense in the sentence? Does it fit the grammar? A student whose errors all look like the word but don't make sense needs a different kind of help from one whose errors make sense but don't look like the word.

Words correct per minute is a fluency number. On its own it doesn't say whether a student understood what they read. The words correct per minute guide explains the published norms and where to find them.

Add a retell or a few questions after the reading. A student who reads accurately and quickly but can't say what happened has shown you something no number will.

7 Using the free running record kit

The free running record and fluency kit does the counting and the arithmetic on a screen, so you can watch the student instead of a calculator.

1. Pick a passage from Peabody's reading passages, or paste your own text.
2. Tap words as the student reads. Tap once for an error, twice for a self-correction, three times to clear it.
3. Time it. Press Start and Stop, or type the seconds.
4. Mark the last word read, so the words-read count stops where the student stopped.
5. Read the results: words read, errors and self-corrections, accuracy, error rate, self-correction ratio and words correct per minute, each with its formula shown beside it.
6. Keep up to three readings to see their mean and median together.

It also prints a blank record form with the passage text, a retell checklist and up to three of the passage's questions, and a class record sheet with columns for name, date, passage, words correct per minute, accuracy and notes. Names go on the paper by hand: the kit has no name field anywhere, and kept readings stay in that browser tab until you press Clear. Nothing is sent. It is informal and not normed.

8 Common mistakes when scoring

Most scoring problems come from small inconsistencies that add up across a year of records.

• Counting self-corrections as errors. They are a good sign, not a mistake. Count them separately.
• Changing the rules between records. If repetitions counted in October, they need to count in March, or the two records can't be compared.
• Dividing by the wrong number. Accuracy and error rate both divide by words read, not words in the passage, when the student stops early.
• Helping during the reading. Every word you supply is a told word. A hint changes the record.
• Recording only the number. Without what the student said, you lose the most useful part.
• Using the same passage too often. A passage read many times measures memory as much as reading.

Score the record soon after you take it, while you still remember how the reading sounded. A note or two about phrasing and expression, written that day, is worth more than any number later.