Running Record Calculator

Students during their school, read out the study books loudly. Running records is a method to check the progress of a student while they are reading. A psychologist & literacy expert Marie Clay developed this method of reading.

How to Best Use Running Records?

 One can score a student's reading performance in the following way:

• Only count the running words in a given text. (Don’t count captions, subtitles, titles, etc.)
• In the case of any of these, it is counted as one error:
  • Substitutions
  • Permissions
  • Wrong attempts
  • Failed appeals
  • Already told words
  • Additions
• And these should not be counted as errors:
  • Correction by a reader
  • A repeat of words or sentences
  • Correct attempts
  • Result-oriented appeals
  • Different pronunciations due to a different accent
• In the case of a line or sentence, each word should be counted as a single error.
• If a whole page is skipped, then count that as a single error while removing that page's word count from the total.
• For repeated improper noun pronunciations, count all mistakes as only one error.

Running Record Conversion Chart

Error Rate	Per cent Accuracy	Reading Level
1:200 1:100 1:50	99.5 99 98	98%-100% accuracy with adequate comprehension is called independent level
1:35 1:25	97 96	Levels L-Z 95%-97% accuracy with adequate comprehension is called Instructional level
1:20	95	Levels A-K 95% accuracy and higher with adequate comprehension is called independent level
1:17 1:14 1:12.5 1:11.75 1:10	94 93 92 91 90	Levels A-K 90%-94% accuracy with adequate comprehension is called instructional level
1:9 1:8 1:7 1:6 1:5 1:4 1:3 1:2	89 87.5 85.5 83 80 75 66 50	Hard level: appropriate for shared reading and reading aloud to children

Manual Method with Steps for Scoring a Running Record

• For a record, calculate the Error Ratio using the formula

Error Ratio = Errors / Running Words

For better understanding, the Error Rate should be 1:10 or less.

• The percentage of accuracy is calculated by this formula

% Accuracy = (Running Words − Total Errors) ÷ Running Words ×100

• Calculate the Self-Correction Rate.

Self-Correction Rate = (Self-Corrections) / (Errors + Self-Corrections)

The ratio of self-Correction Rate of 1:5 or below shows that a student is conscious of their reading activity & trying to improve more.

• After making a calculation for % accuracy and self-correction rate, the score can be categorized from the chart given above.

Arithmetic Calculator is a free and useful website including several calculator tools for solving problems. Understanding the concepts more clearly becomes very easy with these simple tools.

Example:

A student is reading a passage with 46 words in 30 seconds with 1 error & 1 self-correction. Calculate error ratio, accuracy & self-correction rate.

Solution:

Use the formula for error ratio

Error Ratio = Errors / Running Words = 1:46

The formula for accuracy is

Accuracy = (Running Words − Total Errors) / Running Words ×100

= [(46 - 1) / 46] x 100 = 97.83%

The formula for self-correction is

Self-Correction Rate = (Self-Corrections) / (Errors + Self-Corrections)

= (1) / (1 +1) = 1:2

Here, from the above result, we can conclude that the reading level of a student is independent.

FAQ's on Free Tool to Calculate the Running Records

1. Do repeats count as errors in running records?

If the word is a proper noun, it will be counted for the first time only. Otherwise, it will be counted every time.

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2. Are running records summative or formative?

Running records are a formative assessment and are one way to note down teacher observations of reading behaviours.

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3. How long should a running record take?

100 to 150 words provide a good sample for the processing.

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4. How often should I do a running record?

Transitional readers should be assessed every 4 to 6 weeks, While Higher level readers should go through 3 benchmark assessments per year.