1. Running Record Training
Charlottesville City Schools
October/November 2015

2. What Is A Running Record?
A running record is an informal tool for coding, scoring, and analyzing a child’s reading behaviors.
Give insights on what strategies a child is using well and which ones s/he is using but confusing or are absent.
Allows teacher to ensure the child is being placed in appropriate leveled text (i.e. instructional level)
Do not include a comprehension check but teacher can informally check on comprehension after the reading using a variety of questions.

3. Which Text to Use:
Running records can be taken on either familiar text read before (warm read) or on a new reading (cold read).
For guided reading purposes, running records are usually taken on the second reading of a text.

4. How Often Should I Take A Running Record?
For CCS purposes, at least twice a nine weeks per student.
Once you get started and feel comfortable with your process and routine, you may want to take one every week or every other week with your students.
With emergent or beginning readers, the recommendation is to take one every two to four weeks.
With older students or more fluent readers, at least twice quarterly.

5. How To Take A Running Record:
Sit next to the child so that you can see the text the child is reading. Record the title and the level of the book the child is reading.
Mark the student’s responses on the recording sheet (100/150 box, blank page).
Arrange checkmarks the way the text appears on the page (unless using a 100 box).
Record what the student says. Use check marks in boxes for correct and use the PALS conventions for miscues for consistency.

6. PALS Conventions:

7. Analyzing a Running Record:
Quantitative analysis
Qualitative analysis

8. Quantitative Analysis:
Accuracy rate:
Number of words read correctly/total number of words read
*Refer to fluency guidelines for determining independent, instructional, and frustration levels
Frustration
Instructional
Independent
Preprimer C and below (Levels aa-E)
84% and below
85-97%
98%-100%
Primer and above
89% and below
90-97%

9. Self Correction Rate:
Measures how well a student is monitoring their own reading (Does it sound right? Does it look right? Does it make sense?)
Self-correction rate is reported as a ratio
Number of errors + Number of self corrections/Number of self corrections= Self correction rate

10. Example:
Zach read Rosa at the Zoo (level F), which had a total of 135 words. He made 6 errors and self corrected 2 times. Accuracy rate: 129/135= 95.5%= 96% (instructional) Self Correction rate: 6+2/2=8/2=4= 1:4

11. Qualitative Analysis:
What sources of information is the student using or neglecting? (Meaning, visual, structure)
What strategies is the child using?
Things to Consider:
Solving words: How does the student attempt an unknown word?
Monitoring and Correcting: Does the student detect errors? Does the student monitor his/her own reading on all levels? Does the student self correct when an error occurs?

12. Things To Consider: Searching for information:
Does the child look for information that will assist him/her with the problem solving?
Maintaining Fluency:
How does the reading sound?
Does the child read punctuation?
Does the child read with intonation and expression?
Adjusting:
Does the reader adjust his/her reading depending on the type of text or to problem solve?

13. Other Questions To Consider:
Does the child have control of early reading strategies (directionality, one to one match, locating known words)
Does the student ask for help and how often? Is the student a risk taker? When confronted with the question “What can you try?”, how apt is the child to independently try strategies?
Is there a pattern of reading behaviors?
Does the student understand what is read and to what level of questioning?

14. How To Organize Your Running Records:
Select one/two students per day to listen to before beginning with the day’s instruction in small group. This can be accomplished during the rereading portion at the beginning of the guided reading lesson.
Running record notebook with a tab for each student
System for planning who and when you will record
Graph their progress over time.