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First, listening to the audio from the child's reading is best practice if an assessment is in question. See How do I listen to and/or rescore an assessment? After you listen, you can decide one of three actions to take:
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More often than not, the main reason scores appear higher than they ought to be is adults helping. In these cases, we recommend the teacher go to the tracking report and reassign the assessment. Practice sessions will "reset" and adapt to the student's abilities.
Problems | Actions |
Error messages appear before or while a child reads an assessment or practice session. | If you observed the child reading and get an error message, see What do I do if Reading Assistant cannot hear a student? Regarding device, browser, and classroom management guidance. |
Long breaks/pauses in audio cause the timer to tick, driving down the WCPM score (and, as a result, all other scores). | Listen to the audio recording for long pauses or students reading much slower than they otherwise would read at their best fluency. If you notice 15 seconds of lost time, consider reassigning the assessment. |
Student behavioral issue (distracted or didn't give the assessment their best effort) | If you would like to give the student another try, use the Tracking Report to reassign the assessment. |
Premature downleveling (you expect the child can read the grade-level passage with sufficient "productive struggle") | If the passage looks like it was a grade level or two below, you can compare passage titles and possibly reassign the assessment and reassess. |
Large sections of incorrect phrases marked "red", with student recordings showing the student skipped these sections or may have it the green "next button" prematurely. | After listening to the audio and attempting to rescore, if you believe the student may have skipped too much text to give it her best effort, we recommend you reassess. |
Practice scores don't seem to align to the assessment scores. | Practice is intended to give students practice reading. We provide scoring as a formative measure. However, practice sessions are not intended to be used as assessments. Practice sessions are also scored differently than assessments.Students cannot yet read basic CVC words or connected text and are unable to "get through" the passage without frustration. See How do I get early readers ready to assess? for modeling tips. |
Adult helping, driving up assessment scores or the difficulty of Practice sessions. | Rescore the assessment if possible. If you'd rather reassess, go to the Tracking Report and reassign the assessment . Practice sessions will "reset" and adapt to the students' ability (rather than the adult's). |
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