Assessing Literacy
Running Records
Running records are a formative assessment tool used by teachers to observe and analyze a student’s reading behavior in real time. During a running record, the teacher listens as the student reads a passage aloud and records errors, self-corrections, fluency, and strategies the student uses to decode and comprehend the text. This information provides insight into the student’s reading level, accuracy, and comprehension, helping teachers identify strengths and areas that need support. Running records also guide instructional decisions, such as selecting appropriate texts, planning targeted interventions, and monitoring progress over time. By offering a detailed snapshot of a student’s reading process, running records are an essential tool for individualized reading instruction.
Exercises
Take a moment to watch the reading assessment of a 6-year old boy using the running record model. See if you can understand how the data from this method could be useful in supporting young children.
Grade-level standards and running records work together to guide effective reading instruction by providing both a target and a measure for student progress. Grade-level standards define the expected reading skills, comprehension strategies, and fluency levels students should achieve at each stage of learning, ensuring instruction is aligned with curriculum goals. Running records, on the other hand, give teachers detailed, real-time data on how students are performing in relation to those standards, including accuracy, self-correction, and use of decoding or meaning-making strategies. By comparing running record results to grade-level expectations, teachers can identify students who need additional support, adjust instruction, and select appropriately leveled texts to help all learners meet the standards.
Key Takeaways
Here is a list of common running record marks teachers use to track reading behaviors:
- Correct Reading (✓ or C): Marks a word read correctly without assistance.
- Substitution (S): The student says a different word than what is printed.
- Omission (O): A word is skipped or left out.
- Insertion (I): The student adds a word that is not in the text.
- Repetition (R): A word or phrase is repeated unnecessarily.
- Self-Correction (SC or ^): The student corrects their own mistake.
- Pause or Hesitation (— or …): Indicates the student pauses or hesitates while reading.
- Meaning Error (M): The error changes the meaning of the text.
- Structure Error (S): The error does not follow the syntax of the sentence.
- Visual Error (V): The error is based on misreading the letters or words.
These marks help teachers analyze accuracy, self-correction, and reading strategies, providing data to inform instruction and support individual student growth.
Writing Portfolios
Writing portfolios in elementary school are a valuable tool for tracking student growth, reflecting on progress, and supporting individualized instruction. A portfolio typically includes a collection of a student’s written work over time, such as stories, essays, journal entries, and responses to prompts, showing development in areas like grammar, organization, voice, and content knowledge. By reviewing portfolios, teachers can identify patterns in strengths and areas needing improvement, plan targeted instruction, and provide meaningful feedback. Portfolios also encourage students to take ownership of their writing, set goals, and celebrate their progress, making them both an assessment tool and a motivational strategy that fosters confidence and engagement in literacy.
Standardized Assessments
Standardized reading assessments, such as NWEA MAP® and i-Ready, are widely used in elementary and middle schools to measure students’ reading abilities and monitor growth over time. These assessments provide data on skills such as comprehension, vocabulary, and decoding, helping teachers identify each student’s instructional level and learning needs. Unlike classroom-based assessments, standardized tests are consistent and norm-referenced, allowing educators to compare individual performance to broader grade-level or national benchmarks. The results can guide instruction, inform interventions, and support progress monitoring, ensuring that students receive targeted support to strengthen their reading skills and meet grade-level standards.
Intervention Strategies
Guided Reading
Guided reading is an instructional approach in which teachers work with small groups of students who are at similar reading levels to develop their reading skills in a structured and supportive setting. During guided reading, the teacher selects leveled texts that match the students’ abilities, provides instruction on decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies, and observes how each student reads. Teachers offer targeted support, prompting students to use problem-solving strategies when they encounter difficult words or ideas, while gradually encouraging independence. Guided reading not only helps students improve fluency, comprehension, and confidence but also allows teachers to monitor progress closely and adjust instruction to meet the specific needs of each learner.
Orton Gillingham Approach
The Orton-Gillingham approach is a structured, multisensory method of teaching reading that is particularly effective for students with dyslexia. Developed to address difficulties in phonemic awareness, decoding, and spelling, Orton-Gillingham uses visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile techniques to reinforce learning, helping students connect letters and sounds in a meaningful way. Instruction is explicit, sequential, and cumulative, allowing students to build foundational skills step by step while continuously practicing and reviewing. This approach not only supports reading and writing development but also boosts confidence and independence for students with dyslexia, providing them with strategies to overcome challenges and become successful readers.
Reading Recovery
Reading Recovery® is a short-term, intensive, one-on-one intervention designed to help first-grade students who are struggling with reading and writing. The program focuses on individualized instruction tailored to each student’s specific needs, targeting skills such as phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension. A certified Reading Recovery teacher works closely with the student in daily 30-minute sessions, using carefully selected texts and strategies to build confidence and independence. The goal is to bring students up to grade-level reading proficiency as quickly as possible while equipping them with the strategies and habits they need to continue progressing. Research shows that Reading Recovery can be highly effective in closing early literacy gaps and setting students on a path toward long-term reading success.
Computer-Based Adaptive Programs
Computer-based adaptive reading intervention programs use technology to provide personalized instruction that adjusts in real time to a student’s performance, ensuring targeted support at their individual level. Programs like i-Ready, Lexia Core5, and Read 180 assess students’ skills and adapt lessons to address gaps in areas such as phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. i-Ready combines diagnostic assessments with interactive lessons tailored to each student’s needs, while Lexia Core5 delivers adaptive, multisensory instruction in foundational reading skills. Read 180 integrates adaptive software with teacher-led instruction and independent reading practice to support struggling readers in grades 4–12. These programs allow teachers to monitor progress, identify areas for intervention, and provide differentiated instruction, making them a powerful tool for accelerating reading growth in diverse classrooms.
References
- Birsh, J. R., & Carreker, S. (2018). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (4th ed.). Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
- Curriculum Associates, LLC. (2026). i-Ready is More Than Assessment. https://www.curriculumassociates.com/programs/i-ready-learning
- EHE Distance Education and Learning Design. (2016). Running Record Assessment with a 6-Year-Old Boy. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/dQtLFZHWP88?si=xnr9mmXa6Zja4EED
- Lexia. (2023). Adaptive Blended Learning. https://www.lexialearning.com/resources/state-resources/adaptive-blended-learning
- Literacy Council of North America. (2026). Reading Recovery Overview. https://myliteracycouncil.org/about-our-interventions/reading-recovery-overview/
- Main, P. (2024, May 20). The power of dialogic reading. Structural Learning. https://www.structural-learning.com/post/the-power-of-dialogic-reading
- National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf
- NWEA. (2026).MAP Growth + HMH: Integrated for student success. https://www.nwea.org.
- Orton-Gillingham Academy. (n.d.).What is the Orton-Gillingham Approach? https://www.ortonacademy.org/resources/what-is-the-orton-gillingham-approach/
- Starr, M. (2018, March 31). Can our brains really read jumbled words as long as the first and last letters are correct? ScienceAlert. https://www.sciencealert.com/word-jumble-meme-first-last-letters-cambridge-typoglycaemia
