Pg 102-126

Running Records
First described by Clay in 1993
A student reads aloud from any source; the teacher documents the errors and self corrections; a reading level is determined. A running record assesses word recognition, word decoding skills, and reading fluency.

Easy: 95-100% accuracy
Instructional: 90-94% accuracy
Hard: 80-89% accuracy

Advantages of Running Records
Text difficulty evaluation
Instructional grouping decisions
Progress monitoring
Error Analyses
Was the error related to syntax, semantics, or graphophonic/orthography?

Curriculum Based Assessment
Teacher made assessments usually given at the end of a unit that assesses specific skills to determine mastery.
They can be used to asses reading fluency by measuring rate and accuracy.
A CBM assesses a particular skill and used to monitor progress/development of that skill over time; they can be used to compare student progress to class norms

Portfolio Assessment
Samples of various types of informal assessments (work samples, drawings, reflections, etc) that demonstrate skill progress and achievement over time. These samples are usually graded holistically or with a rubric.
To add to its authenticity, students should be able to select samples and have input into the grading criteria.
They can be sued to document progress in all areas of reading.

Readability
Readability is determined by word difficulty, sentence complexity, and paragraph length.
Common Readability/Grade Equivalent Scores
Dale-Chall
Fry (count the average number of syllables in a word and the number of words in a sentence)
Flesch
Harris-Jacobson
SMOG (count 10 sentences from the beginning, middle, and end; count every word of 3 syllables or more; calculate the square root of the number of polysyllabic words counted; add 3 to the square root or 1 as suggested by Harris)
Spache
Flesch Kincaid (used by Microsoft Word to determine readability)
Leveled Texts
Fountas & Pinnell leveling system
Reading Recovery books are rated from A to Z
DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment)
These systems are helpful so that the ability of the reader matches the difficulty level of the text.
5 Finger Rule (ask a child to read a page, counting each error; 5 or more errors means the book is too difficult)
90% Rule-if a child can read 90% of a 100 word sample, the text is at an appropriate level

Matching ability level to difficulty level of text is an important factor in a child’s motivation to read.

Special Considerations in the Informal Assessment of Young Children
McGill-Franzen Schedule for Kindergarten Literacy Assessment
-measures 8 critical skills that must be acquired in kindergarten through observations at the beginning, middle, and end of year
Letter sound association
Phonological awareness
Print concepts
Phonemic segmentations and representation
Word reading
Word writing
Text reading
Text writing

Special Considerations in the Informal Assessment of Adult Learners
Put reader at easy to reduce sensitivity

Purposes for Adult Assessment
-identify goals, strengths, and weaknesses
-progress monitoring
-chart learning over time

Special Considerations in the Informal Assessment of English Language Learners
4 Kinds of ELL
-new with limited school experiences
-new with formal school experiences
-dual language exposure
-long term

Teachers need to assess:
-language use
-knowledge
-experiences
-narrative
-relationships
-Aesthetics and ethics