I administered running records to children to assess their reading and comprehension abilities. I used running records because early education theories recognise the need to use running records to assess a child’s reading progress (Tompkins, Campbell & Green, 2012).
Teachers who administer running records to their students have their practice directly influenced and are able to achieve their goals. This is due to the fact that the teachers are able to identify strengths and weaknesses in students whilst they are administering running records. Early education theory recognises the fact that children learn through experiences as narrated by their parents, relatives and teachers. Through this, they develop a rich speaking vocabulary that can be gauged by the use of running records. Research demonstrates that reading is directly related to writing in early education (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton & Johnson, 2008). Research also demonstrates that running records are efficiently used to gauge phonics, spelling and vocabulary (Westwood, 1999). These aspects of learning are crucial in developing reading and writing abilities. Running records also gauge speech sounds by a child. This knowledge determines the level of a child in learning sounds (Tompkins et al., 2012). A teacher’s judgement can be both strength and weakness of running records. For example, a teacher understands his or her students’ abilities, thus assesses them depending on their comprehension. However, a new teacher in a class might wrongly assess students because he or she does not know their strengths.
On the other hand, running records have weaknesses in assessing a child’s reading and comprehension abilities. One of the disadvantages of taking a running record is that it is time-consuming, especially when a teacher does not know the reading age of a student. Early education research recommends teachers to use their own judgement to gauge their students instead of solely relying on running records. This is due to the fact that children have different speeds of learning. Dependence on running records has been linked to the wrong assessment of efforts made by children in reading. I was aware of the fact that running records have a weakness in gauging hands-on activities by children (Bear et al., 2008). Other reading assessments should be used in such classroom assessments (Westwood, 1999). This has been necessitated by the fact that word recognition and readings are not based on memorising only. Running records do not take into consideration the fact that children should be allowed to make a general conclusion when they encounter new words. I had challenges in using a general running record to gauge the children.
I achieved a successful outcome in assessing children’s reading and comprehension abilities. Through the event, I have learned that I need to expose children to regular assessments every 4-6 weeks for continuous monitoring of their progress. The most interesting aspect of taking the running records was that I was able to link theories in early education with practical classroom experience of teaching.
References
Bear, D., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S. & Johnson, J. (2008) Words their way. Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. (4th ed) Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson Education.
Tompkins, G., Campbell, R. & Green, D. (2012). Literacy for the 21st Century. A balanced approach. Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson Education.
Westwood, P. (1999). Spelling, Approaches to teaching spelling. Camberwell Vic: Acer Publishing.