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Oral Reading Assessment and
Reading Fluency
Directions for Administrationof Reading Passages
Materials:
• Unnumbered copy of passage (student copy)
• Numbered copy of passage (examiner copy)
• Stopwatch
• Tape recorder
Directions:
1. Place the unnumbered copy in front of the student.
2. Place the numbered copy in front of you, but shielded so the student cannot see what you record.
3. For each passage, say these specific directions to the student:
“When I say ‘begin,’ start reading aloud at the top of this page. Read across the page (demonstrate by pointing). Try to read each word. If you come to a word you don’t know, I’ll tell it to you. Be sure to do your best reading. Are there any questions? (pause).”
4. Say “Begin” and start your stopwatch when the student says the first word. If the student fails to say the first word of the passage after three seconds, tell her or him the word and mark it as incorrect.†
5. As the student reads, follow along on your copy. Put a slash ( / ) through words read incorrectly.
6. If a student stops or struggles with a word for three seconds, tell the student the word and mark it as incorrect.
7. At the end of one minute, place a bracket ( ] ) after the last word and say “Stop.”
† On rare occasions the student may “speed read” (i.e., read the passage very fast and without
expression). If this occurs, tell the student, “This is not a speed reading test. Begin again, and
be sure to do your best reading.”
- Administer the Oral Reading Fluency (accuracy) Test
I recommend that you start the assessment by gathering information about the student’s reading level using a graded word list, such as the SLOSSON Oral Reading Test (SORT). That will give you some preliminary information about where to begin your assessment using the graded passages.
- After you have selected the grade-level passages, print two copiesof each—one for your student and one for yourself to record errors ashe or she reads.
- Say: Today you aregoing to take an Oral Fluency Assessment while you read some passages. You may not know all thewords in the passage, but try your best to read them. Each time, I will time you for one minute.
- Hand a copy of the passage to your student. Tell your student, I will tell when to start riding. I will begin timing as soon as you begin reading. After one minute, I will say“stop” so you will know to stop reading. When you are finished, I will ask you to tell me what you remember from the passage.
- As your student reads, follow along in your copy of the text, markingwords that are read incorrectly (miscues) using the guidelines, and pronouncing words outloud that the student does not pronounce in 5 seconds. Most fluency assessments provide this guideline: Put a slash ( / ) through words that are read incorrectly.In addition to this procedure, however, you should try to record the exact miscues or word substitutions (e.g., phonetic pronunciations or word parts) that are produced by the student during the oral reading. This will be important in the miscue analysis, and to gather information for instructional purposes.
- At the end of 1 minute, tell the student to stop. Record the last word read by putting a vertical line after that word. Count the number of words read correctly by subtracting the number of errors from the total words attempted.
- Use the scoring guidelines on the following page to record oral reading miscues when marking your copy of the passage as the student reads.
- Calculate the student’s oral reading accuracy and fluency on each passage based on the recommended norms, which are provided later in this document. Based on the oral reading accuracy, continue testing until you establish both a student’sindependent level (e.g., independent level is where the student can read the passage easily: 96-100% accuracy), as well as the frustration level (e.g., frustration level is the hard passage where the student reads with less than 90% accuracy).Record miscues to study where the processes are breaking down and to gain information on the student’s use of the meaning, structure and visual cues.Calculate the student’s reading fluency (words correct per minute).
- Record Oral Reading Miscues.
Use the following scoring criteria and notations to record each error (miscue). Write what the child says above each text word of line of print so that you can conduct a further analysis of the student’s reading skills and difficulties.It is important when carrying out a miscue that you tape-record it. The ability to rewind the tape and hear things again is essential for accurate marking and carrying out a running analysis.
Type of Error / Definition / ExampleSubstitution / The child says a word that is different from the word in the text.
Notation: Draw a slash or line is drawn through the missed word and write the substituted word above the original text word. If the child pronounces a nonword, record the phonetic spelling of the nonword above the text. /
The dog ran fast all the way home.
Child says: The dig ran fast all the way houp.
Omission / A word, words or line of text is left out during the reading.
Notation. Draw a circle around the omitted words. If an entire line is omitted, circle the line and count it as one error. / I love to eat dark chocolate.
Child says: I love to eat chocolate.
Insertion / The child adds a word that is not in the text.
Notation. A caret is used to mark the point where the word was inserted, and the added word is written above the line. /
The dog jigged merrily with the cat while the mouse played the flute.
Child says: The dog jigged merrily with the black cat while the mouse played the flute.
Repetition / The child repeats a word or phrase. Repetitions are not scored as errors, but are recorded.
Notation. A wavy line is drawn under the repeated words. Each repetition is recorded with an additional line. / The snake cried and cried.
Child says: The snake cried and cried and cried.
Pronounced (Teacher Assistance) / The student pauses on a word for five seconds or more, so the teacher may tell him/her the word. The child may also request the teacher’s assistance in identifying a word. [If this happens often, encourage the child to do his/her best to attempt the words].
Notation. Write a “T” (Tell) or “P” (Pronounced) above the word that you pronounce for the child. /
The greedy son schemed how he might get money from his parents to buy a new sports car.
Self-Correction / The child makes a miscue, and then self-corrects. The original mistake is not counted as an error. Keep track of the number of self-corrections since this indicates that the child is monitoring his/her performance.
Notation. “SC” is the notation used to indicate self-corrections. /
The teacher was very angry with the class.
The taught..teacher was very angry with the class.
EXAMPLE: PASSAGE FOR ORAL READING WITH RECORDED MISCUES
Figure 48: Sascha’s CBM PRF
- Interpret the Miscue Data
Areason for recording the oral reading miscues is that ityields valuable information about what types of phonic patterns or words are known by the child, and what patterns and words are not known. The table below provides an example of what type of information can be recorded in the analysis chart, including the text word, miscue (substitution), and the types of word elements that were missed by the student. If the missed word is an irregular sight word, then simply record “sight word” in the Visual Analysis column. Inspecting the elements of the words that were missed by the student can provideinformationabout the possible problem areas and areas of concern. These can be confirmed in further testing. In addition, teachers can examine the miscues to determine what types of cueing systems that students are relying on when they read, such as:
- Semantics - Meaning (M)--Meaning is part of the cueing system in which the child takes her or his cue to make sense of text by thinking about the story background, information from pictures, or the meaning of a sentence. These cues assist in the reading of a word or phrase. The miscues that students make are meaningful in the context of the sentence or story. They preserve the meaning.
- Syntax or Structure (S)--Structure refers to the structure of language and is often referred to as syntax. Implicit knowledge of structure helps the reader know if what she or he reads sounds correct. The miscues that the student makes maintain the syntax of the original text. In other words, the miscues are from the same parts of speech and language structure as the original word.
- Graphics or Visual (V)--Visual information is related to the look of the letters in a word and the word itself. A reader uses visual information when she or he studies the beginning sound, word length, familiar word chunks, and so forth. The substitutions that the student makes are visually similar to the original text word.
An example of a miscue analysis is provided below, and a table (Table 1) is provided for your assessment purposes on the examiner’s pages that follow in Appendix A. Record all the miscues substitutions from the passages in the same table.
Below is the miscue analysis for Sascha, the Grade 2 student, in the example above:
Miscue AnalysisText Word / Miscue Substitution/
Mispronunciation / Visual Analysis (Beginning, Medial Vowels, Ending letter patterns)? / Cueing Systems: Miscues that Retain Meaning?
- dragon
Semantics- NO
- long
- flames
Semantics -YES
- mouth
Semantics -NO
- around
Semantics -YES
- scorched
Semantics -NO
- dragon
Syntax – NO
- village
Syntax – NO
- to
Here is a second example of another miscue analysis from another student.
Miscue AnalysisText Word / Miscue Substitution/
Mispronunciation / Visual Analysis (Beginning, Medial Vowels, Ending letter patterns)? / Miscues that Retain Meaning?
Temper / Temple / 2-syllable, VC/CV, - r-controlled vowel, er
Biscuit / Biscotti / Sight word (has first syllable correct with CVC) /
Careened / Corn / -ee vowel team, multi-syllabic word
Barked / Bake / -ar r-controlled vowel; -ed suffix
Vision / Visit / -ion ending
Bite / Bit / VCe (i_e) /
Want / Where / Sight Word
- Calculate the Student’s Oral Reading Accuracy
Teachers need to calculate the student’s oral reading accuracy, and use that information to identify an appropriate instructional level, and toplace the student in appropriate reading materials. Generally, the guidelines recommend:
•Independent Reading Level/Easy: (96-100% oral reading accuracy)
•Instructional: 90-95% accuracy
•Frustration Level: < 90%
Continue testing until you establish the level that is the “best fit” for the child’s reading instruction (highest read passage that is at instructional level), and record that level. Further, continue testing until you establish the frustration level (below instructional level, or 89%).
1)Accuracy Formula: The formula for the oral reading accuracy is the number of words correctly read by the total number of words attempted (in the passage): # of words read correctly ÷ total words. For example, if the student read 85 words correctly in a 92 word passage, the oral reading accuracy = 92.4% (85/92 = 92%). Another example: student reads 145 words correctly in a total passage with 154 words (145/154)= 92.9% or 93%.
Total words – errors = Total words read correctly (or simply count the number of words read correctly)
oral reading accuracy percent = Number of words read correctly ÷ total words
Teachers need to determine the student’s instructional reading level (the student is able to read a selected passage with 90 percent to 95 percent accuracy) in order to plan appropriate instruction using appropriate materials.
It is also helpful for teachers to know the student’s independent reading level (the student is able to read a selected passage with 96 percent to 100 percent accuracy) for each student. This will help teachers provide students with appropriate books that can be read independently.
Continue testing up by presenting more difficult passages until you reach the student’s frustration level, which is less than 90% accuracy (0-89%). Realize that the topic familiarity may affect oral reading accuracy, so use more than one passage to confirm the student’s frustration level.
- Analyze the Student’s Oral Reading Prosody
Prosody, which is a part of oral reading fluency, includes three features: expression (phrasing), accuracy, and fluency. The rubric below helps teachers evaluate the tonal, phrasing or the expressive qualities of the child’s oral reading.
Hasbrouck and Tindal Fluency Norms
Oral fluency norms can also help you determine where your students are performing against fluency standards andgoals for their grade level and the time of year.These are provided on the next page (and the angel website). To use the norms to determinewhether your student is reading above, below, or on grade level:
- Take 2-3 measures of the student’s fluency at a particular grade level to calculate the median fluency level.
- Find the grade level of your student on the chart. Then look at the timeof year during which the testing took place.
2. Compare the student’s WCPM (the median score from the threepassages read for baseline) with the three numbers given for that grade level andtime of year. Here’s a breakdown of the numbers:
•The top number shows the fluency measure of students who arereading above grade-level expectations. They are reading at orabove the 90th percentile. For example, a fourth-grade student whoreads 170 WCPM during the middle of the year reads approximatelyat the 90th percentile. The 90th percentile is significantly aboveaverage.
•Students who are reading at or above the 50th percentile in readingfluency have good comprehension of grade-level text. The 50thpercentile is the average, or on grade level.
•The bottom number shows the fluency measure of students who arereading at or above the 10th percentile in reading fluency. The 10thpercentile is significantly below the average, and students who readat this level are in immediate need of intervention.
3. If you have conducted a 1-minute timing, then the correct rate is represented by the following formula (e.g., difference between the total words read minus the number of errors):
1- minute sample
Total words read – errors =words correct per minute. (EX: 62 words read – 5 errors = 57 wcpm)
- If you timed the student while they read an entire passage rather than stopped the student at 1 minute, then the formula below can be applied to calculate the student’s oral reading fluency:
Passage reading that is not a 1-minute sample, but that is timed to a later point in the passage:
Total words read – errors= 58 words – 4 errors
Number of total seconds ÷ 60 (to convert to minutes)64 seconds ÷ 60
= 54 words = 54 X 60 =50.625 wcpm (words correct per minute)
64 64
60
1
- Administer an Oral Comprehension Assessment or Retelling of the Text Just Read
Continue the assessment by asking the student to answer story structure questions, or ask them to retell the text portion that was just read orally. Say to the student: If you choose to ask questions, ask the questions in the story column and score in the third column. In you administer the story retelling, say to the student: Please tell me what you understand happened in the story that you just read to me. Pretend that I did not hear you read the text and that you want me to know what happened. Tell me everything that you remember.Score 2 points for each story part that they include in the retelling; if the item is only partly recalled, score 1 point. Score 0 points if no information is recalled.
Student’s Name / Date: / Source/Book:Story Structure Element / Story Questions / Story Questions (left) or Prompted Retelling
Points (1 point each) / Student’s Free Retelling: Record what student says for each story element named at left / Points2 pts
(2, 1, 0)
- Setting: Where
- When
- Main Character: 1st
2nd character / Anyone else?
- Problem/
- Goal/Motive
How did _____ feel? (internal response)
- Events – Event 1
- Event 2
- Event 3
What happened 1st?
2nd?
3rd?
anything else? / 1)
2)
3)
4)
- Solution
Total points above /10 = % / Total Parts Named Above ____ /10 = _____ %
- (Optional) Theme
Column 3: Story Parts Recalled