Ok, I am back teaching juniors after ten years and have not had to complete so many running records in a long time. The thing that fascinates me the most is how an apparently standard test can be so open for interpretation. I was completing running records. If the student did not comprehend the text, then I was placing them at the level before. However, some educators were placing their students at a level based on decoding level only. Why? This means that some children can decode at a level 28 but their text comprehension may be a fair bit lower. Isn’t the whole purpose of reading to understand and interpret? The good news was the all of my kids were much higher than I technically placed them. After speaking to many different people, and expecting one answer, I was surprised at the range of opinions, guidelines, expectations and rules. A few insights that I found were:
Kit: I have learnt that it comes down to which running record assessment kit you use. We use alpha assess at the start and end of the year to get their decoding levels. During the year, we use the PM benchmark kit. This means that the beginning and end of year texts are essential on the unseen.
Purpose: I guess it all comes down to purpose.
· Are you using the running record to see where their decoding skills are?
· Are you using it to see what strategies they rely on?
· Are you checking if the correct errors?
· Are you seeing if they understand the text?
· Are you using it for guided reading groups?
If anyone can clear the waters and assist me with some new insights, it would be deeply appreciated. I still firmly hold the belief that if a student cannot understand what they have read, then they should not be placed at that level. I guess everyone interprets the same guidelines differently and uses them differently. However, when inconsistency in assessment occurs, I start to wonder is there a different way?
Kit: I have learnt that it comes down to which running record assessment kit you use. We use alpha assess at the start and end of the year to get their decoding levels. During the year, we use the PM benchmark kit. This means that the beginning and end of year texts are essential on the unseen.
Purpose: I guess it all comes down to purpose.
· Are you using the running record to see where their decoding skills are?
· Are you using it to see what strategies they rely on?
· Are you checking if the correct errors?
· Are you seeing if they understand the text?
· Are you using it for guided reading groups?
If anyone can clear the waters and assist me with some new insights, it would be deeply appreciated. I still firmly hold the belief that if a student cannot understand what they have read, then they should not be placed at that level. I guess everyone interprets the same guidelines differently and uses them differently. However, when inconsistency in assessment occurs, I start to wonder is there a different way?
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