DRA Guidelines for levels A-2

Books at this level are designed to assist children in looking at print and matching the words they read with the words on the page. The reader’s job is one-to-one matching, recognizing known words, and using the story and illustrations for meaning.

The behavior checklist below can be used each time a student completes a DRA assessment to determine whether the student is ready to move on to another level or should remain at the current level.

Level A-2 ReadingBehaviors:

___Can the reader match spoken words to printed words?

(On a page the text says, “I like lunch,”and the child reads, “Ilike food,” matchingwords correctly, shehas met the criteria atthis level. Themismatch of letter/soundwill beaddressed in level 3 and 4books).

Yes No

___Can the reader move from left to right when reading?

Yes No

___Can the reader use illustrations as a source of information?

Yes No

___Can the reader carry the pattern from page to page?

Yes No

Final Score
Yes No The reader uses Level A-2 reading behaviors.
Yes No Did the reader demonstrate comprehension of the story?
Is this the student's independent reading level?
  • If you circled 2 "yes" answers in this Final Score box, the student is reading strongly at this level. However, it is possible that the student may also read strongly at a higher level. Keep moving to higher passages until you can no longer answer “yes” to all questions. The highest level that showed strong reading is the independent reading level. For example, you might find that you answered "yes" to all questions in the Final Score box for DRA level A, then a "yes" to all questions for DRA level 1, but only 1 "yes" answer for DRA level 2. Level 1 is the highest passage on which you were able to answer "yes" to all questions in the Final Score box. Level 1 is the current independent reading level for the student.