Digital
Running Records
on Raz-Plus

With our online running record tool, Raz-Plus or Raz-Kids members can:
  • Assign a Benchmark Book from Levels aa-J
  • Assign a Benchmark Passage from Levels aa-Z2
  • Listen to students' recordings from reading aloud a book or passage.
  • Score all student recordings using an online running-record tool.
  • Listen to students' recordings of retellings.
  • Score retellings using an online rubric.
  • See quiz questions missed and a report on which comprehension skills to support or re-teach with each student.
  • Reward students' progress through awarding stars to spend in the RAZ Rocket.
  • Track your students' progress over time.

Assessing a Student's Level

Reading A-Z provides a three-part assessment process to help you place students in instructionally appropriate level texts.

Part 1: Students read Benchmark Passages or Benchmark Books (Levels aa-J), and you capture their reading behavior on Running Records.

Part 2: Students retell the text, and you use Retelling Rubrics to score their comprehension.

Part 3: Students take an oral or written Comprehension Quick Check Quiz, and each question's answer tells what skill it assessed to help you identify comprehension skills for additional practice.

Part 1: Start with Benchmark Passages & Running Records or Benchmark Books & Running Records (Levels aa-J). Select a passage or book that best approximates a student's reading level. Use the running records that accompany each passage or book to score a student's reading behavior. (Initially, you may have to take more than one running record to determine an appropriate start level.) To determine a student's level in Spanish books, use printable versions of the Spanish Benchmark Passages, or Pasajes estándar.

Review About Running Records to learn about the details of taking, marking and scoring a running record.

Parts 2 & 3: Retelling Rubrics and Comprehension Quick Check Quizzes provide details about a student's understanding and comprehension of the Benchmark Passage or Book.


The three-part process establishes a baseline to support choosing books from Learning A-Z's extensive collection.

How Do I Monitor Students' Reading Progress?
Use Benchmark Passages or Benchmark Books (Levels aa-J) and their associated resources for progress monitoring as students' reading improves.

Assessment Schedule
Developmental Level Reading Level Schedule
Beginning readers Levels aa-C every 2 to 4 weeks
Developing readers Levels D-J every 4 to 6 weeks
Effective readers Levels K-P every 6 to 8 weeks
Automatic readers Levels Q-Z every 8 to 10 weeks

Students who are not progressing at the expected rate should be assessed even more frequently than the Assessment Schedule suggests.

The scores your students achieve on running records, retellings, and comprehension quizzes give you valuable information about their reading behavior and comprehension. Use it to inform your instruction in addition to placing students and monitoring their progress.

Use the chart below along with the other information you learn from the three-part assessment process to determine if students are ready to move up a level.

Scores

Running Record Quick Check Comprehension Quiz Action
95% + 100% Advance Student a Level
95% + 80% Instruct at this Level
95% + <80% Lower a Level, Assess Again
90-94% 80-100% Instruct at this Level
90-94% <80% Lower a Level, Assess Again
<90% N/A Lower a Level, Assess Again

For Raz-Plus members, results from the printable running records can be entered to display in a student's Reading Rate report in your Kids A-Z management hub. That way, you have not only the digital running records and assessment information, but also the results from printable running records—all in one place.