Running Record Analysis

Every day teachers are required to make decisions before, during and after teaching. Some of these decisions will seem small and insignificant and others will have far reaching consequences. All of the assessment undertaken and subsequent decisions made can potentially enhance teaching and influence student learning outcomes for the better (Brady & Kennedy, 2009). There are numerous things to be assessed and various methods for assessing. One example of this is the assessment of reading. A Running Record is one method of assessing a child’s reading (Hill, 2012). The running record allows the teacher to note a child’s reading behaviour as he or she reads from a chosen text. It examines both the accuracy of reading and the types of errors children make when reading. It also allows the teacher to determine the reading level of the student. A close analysis of the results of a running record assessment provides insights into which reading strategies a child may or may not be using. This assists the teacher to plan for future learning to target problem areas and to help children further develop and refine their reading strategies and skills (Tompkins, Campbell & Green, 2012). The following analysis of a running record will attempt to examine the reading behaviours of the child who undertook the assessment and identify any problem areas or issues the child may be experiencing. A discussion of the learning needs of the student in relation to the results of the running record will be included. The analysis and discussion will also consider relevant literary and theoretical perspectives around this topic. The Running Record being analysed for the purposes of this paper is ‘On the table’. This text has been identified as a level one (1) text which correlates approximately with kindergarten or foundation year level indicating the student (for the purposes of this assignment will be called James) who undertook this assessment would be around five years

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