RUNNING RECORDS

A running record is a tool for coding, scoring, and analyzing a child’s precise reading
behaviors. Mary Clay, a famous researcher in the field of literacy, designed this effective and
widely used tool. Taking a running record involves sitting beside the child while he reads a
text, usually one he has read once or twice. Occasionally, a teacher will take a running record
on a text the child has not seen before. Both the teacher and the child look at the same text.
The teacher watches the child closely as he reads, coding behaviors on a form. The teacher
does not intervene; her role is that of a neutral observer. When the child needs help, the most
neutral thing to do is to tell him the word. This process offers an opportunity to observe what
the child can do, on his own, without adult support.

BENEFITS OF RUNNING RECORDS

o Captures what children know and understand about the reading process.
o Provides teachers with an opportunity to analyze what happened and plan appropriate
instruction.
o It gives teachers an evidence of what the child is able to do, ready to learn, and
learning over a period of time.

RUNNING RECORDS ARE TAKEN TO:

Guide teaching
Match readers to appropriate texts
Document growth over time
Note strategies used
Group and regroup children for
instruction

SCORING AND ANALYZING RUNNING RECORDS

In a Quantitative Analysis:

Accuracy rate =Running words – No. of errors X 100

Running Words

Self Correction Rate= No. of errors + No. of Self corrections

No. of Self Correction

Below 90% = hard

90% - 94% = instructional
95% - 100% = easy
Qualitative Analysis

Teacher looks for evidence of cues use and of strategies such as cross-checking information
and searching cues. She examines each incorrect attempt and self correction and
hypothesizes about the cues or information sources the child might have been using. The
three major categories are:

Meaning. The teacher thinks about whether the child’s attempt makes sense up to the
point of error. She might think about the background, information from the picture,
and meaning in the sentence in deciding whether the child was probably using
meaning as a source.

Structure. Structure refers to the way language works. Some refer to this information
source as syntax because unconscious knowledge of the rules of the grammar of the
language the reader speaks allows him to eliminate alternatives. Using this implicit
knowledge, the reader checks whether the sentence “sounds right.”

Visual information includes the way the letters and words look. Readers use their
knowledge of visual features of words and letters and connect these features of words
and letters sound when spoken. If the letters in the child’s attempt are visually similar
to the letters in the word in the text (for example, if it begins with the same letter, or
has a cluster of letters), it is likely that the child has used visual information.
Book title: Welcome Home Little Bear Name of the child:

Errors S.C Errors S.C

MSV MSV

Little bear was lost.

He did not know which way was home.

Little bear climbed to the top of a tall tree.

He looked up and down.

He looked left and right.

But home was nowhere in sight.

Little bear climbed on to a small log and

floated out into the middle of a deep lake.

Total

Self Correction Rate:___________ Reading Level: □ Easy □Instructional □Hard

Book title: The Owl and the Woodpecker Name of the child:

Errors S.C Errors S.C

MSV MSV

Once upon a time, in a forest, far away,

there lived a Woodpecker.

The Woodpecker lived in a tree in which

he slept all night and all day.

In a tree next door, there came to live an Owl,

who liked to work all night and sleep all day.

The Woodpecker worked so hard and

made so much noise that his tapping woke the Owl.

Total

Self Correction Rate:___________ Reading Level: □ Easy □Instructional □Hard

Reading behavior

Behavior Notation Example

Correct response Mark every word read correctly Can you see my eyes?
with a check mark.

He He
Substitution Write the spoken word Here is Dechen. Here is Dorji.
above/below the word in the text.

Omission Place a dash above the word left This is a girl.

out.

a
Insertion Insert the added word and place I am ^ Dechen.
the dash below it (or use a caret).

Self correction Write SC after the corrected word. This is Dorji’s dog.
Dorji (SC)

Repetition Write R after the repeated This is my cat.

word/phrase. √R

Appeal* (asks for Write A above/below the appealed Dechen can jump.
help) word. ( A√)

Told word Write T beside the word supplied Can you see my‌‌∕T eyes?
for the reader.

Pauses Write slashes between the words The// dog// can// run.

e-eyes
Attempts Write each attempt above the Can you see my eyes?
word.
An appeal for help from the child is turned back to the child for further effort (e.g., Say: You
try it. If the child is unsuccessful, the word is teacher-given (told word).