1
Assign and listen to recordings of Benchmark Passages and Books.
2
Score recordings using an online running record tool.
Benchmark Passages & Running Records
Passages to Find Students' Instructional Reading Levels
Use these short passages as one step in the three-step process to find your students' instructional reading needs or to assess whether they are prepared to read more difficult text.
Benchmark Passages are one step in a three-step process that gives an overall assessment of reading behavior and comprehension while rewarding student progress from level to level.
Each level has 2 nonfiction and 2 fiction passages.
Each level has at least 1 fiction-nonfiction passage pair on the same topic.
Each passage uses an appropriate percentage of words that come from leveled books at that reading level:
aa-E = 100%
F-J = 95% + 5% new words
K-Z = 90% + 10% new words
The Running Record contains the entire text of the passage.
Most passages are one page long, but upper-level passages can be two pages.
How to Use Paper Benchmark Passages
Identify a Benchmark Passage that the student has never seen before. Use the fiction-nonfiction topic pair at each level for more familiar text. Support a student's comprehension of the topic with one passage before evaluating with the other passage.
Use the Running Record to record the student's reading behavior.
If a student scores 90 percent or higher, assess comprehension using a Quick Check from Levels A-Z and Retelling Rubrics.
If a student scores from 90%-94% percent on the running record and answers comprehension questions at 80%-100%, he or she is at the appropriate instructional level. (For more details, see About Running Records.)
Use Benchmark WOWzers to reward students' progress from level to level.
How to Use Electronic Benchmark Passages
Assign an Assessment of a Benchmark Passage to a student to read aloud and record. (The software will automatically present a retelling and comprehension quiz when the student is finished reading.)
Check your Kids A-Z In Basket for the student's recording and score the student's reading behavior using the online running record form.
Check a student's scores against the expectations for a level to see if they should move levels. (For more details, see About Running Records.)
Turn on student Incentives to reward students' progress from level to level.
