Using Running Records To Provide For Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated instruction is matching instruction to meet the different needs of learners in a given classroom. The first step in developing differentiated instruction is assessment. We must first discover the different individual needs of each student in the classroom in order to appropriately modify instruction. Every child in your classroom is an individual, with their own special talents, skills, abilities, and areas of weakness. Each student may also have their own style of learning, which makes the jobs of teachers quite difficult. How are we to meet the needs of each of our students when they have different strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles? I am going to explore the possible solutions to this problem by investigating the use of running records to assess children's strengths and weaknesses in reading and how we can use that information to differentiate instruction to best meet the needs of all students in the classroom.

First we must discuss a running record. A running record is one method of assessing a child's reading level by examining both accuracy and the types of errors made. It is useful for teachers in several ways. First, it gives the teacher an indication of whether material currently being read is too easy or too difficult for the child. Secondly, it serves as an indicator of the areas where a child's reading can improve--for example, if a child frequently makes word substitutions that begin with the same letter as the printed word, the teacher will know to focus on getting the child to look beyond the first letter of a word. Running records may be done frequently or only occasionally to assess a child's reading progress. There are a variety of forms of running records and teachers and schools can select one that is best suited for them.

In my school and classroom we use the Teachers College Reading & Writing Project Running Record and Fountas & Pinnell Reading Levels. With this running record the teacher will have a one on one conference with the student and ask them to read a passage from a book on their independent reading level. At the beginning of the year we use the students records from the previous year to determine their reading level and if that is not available we estimate and use trial and error until we find the right fit. The passage is provided by the Teachers College Reading & Writing Project for the student and for the teacher, with room for recording miscues, taking notes, and questions.

Taking running records involves four steps:

1. Recording the student's oral reading using a set of conventions.

Set of Conventions for Coding Reading Errors

Behavior Convention shown with error

Substitution walked

Today I went to my new school. (error)

Self-correction walked|SC

Today I went to my new school.

Repetition ______

Today I went to my R new school.

Repetition with self-correction walked|R|SC

Today I went to my new school.

Omission ____

Today I went to my new school. (error)

Insertion see

Today I went to ? my new school. (error)

Long Pause #

Today I went to my new school.

Told ______.

Today I went | T to my new school. (error)

2. Determining the sources of information (meaning, structure, or visual) the reader used to make an error, and, if self-correction occurred, the sources of information added to correct the error.

3. Considering the student's use of meaning, structure, and visual in light of the reading process. This requires using just enough of each source of information to accurately interpret the author's message.

4. Making teaching decisions based upon the reader's needs as determined by the analysis in the steps above.

There are three factors to be considered when assessing a reader. These factors include accuracy and self-corrections, comprehension, and fluency. The oral reading of the passage allows us to judge the student's accuracy and self-corrections as well as fluency. In order to judge comprehension, students are asked to retell the text and then answer comprehension questions. Students need to give a strong retelling and answer three of the four comprehension questions correctly in order to read independently at that level. Students may use the text to help them retell and teachers should take note if the student needs this. This assessment includes two literal questions and two inferential questions. The student must answer at least one inferential question at these levels, because readers at higher levels must be able to make inferences in order to understand the texts. Guidelines to assess retelling and comprehension questions and suggestions are provided with the assessment.

One purpose of this assessment is to tell us the independent reading level for our students. If at the end of a running record, the student read the text with 96% accuracy, read with comprehension (strong retelling and at least three out of four correct answers to the questions), and read with fluency we know that this level is appropriate for their independent reading. If the student did not meet the criteria, we must repeat this process with the text from one level lower, and so on until we find the student's independent reading level. If we find that the student read with fluency, comprehension, and 99-100% accuracy we will repeat the process with a higher-level text.

Another purpose of the running records is to show the teachers the strengths and weaknesses in reading of their students. With this assessment we can tell if the student has trouble with decoding words, fluency, literal comprehension, and/or inferential comprehension. Beyond the identification of areas of concern we can see the students process of reading, decoding, and making sense of what was read. For example, I may be able to make the judgment that my student uses the first letter of an unfamiliar word to guess how the word reads. I can also what type of thinker my student may be by ho they answer the questions. Some