How can school personnel use data to make instructional decisions?

Page 6: Error Analysis for Reading

To conduct an error analysis for students reading at a first- through third-grade instructional level, the teacher typically administers a passage reading fluency (PRF) measure, which is a general indicator of a student’s reading skills. As the student reads aloud for one minute, the teacher records any errors, such as misread words, skipped words, or added words. It is beneficial for the teacher to note the substitution the student used. For example, if the word is “learned” and the student says “listened,” the teacher should note this on the probe.

Click here to view an example of a PRF probe on which the teacher has marked Natalia’s errors as well as recorded the substitutions.

After administering and scoring the progress monitoring measure or work sample, it is important to analyze the types of errors the student makes. One way to do this is to systematically record the errors on a form like the one below, using the following steps.

1. In the Actual Word column, record the words from the passage that the student read incorrectly.
2. In the Student’s Response column, the teacher writes what the student actually said.
3. For each row, decide what type of error(s) the student made and place an “X” in the appropriate box(es).
4. Review the completed table, noting the type of error(s) that the student consistently made.

In the table below, Natalia’s first three errors have been recorded and categorized.

		Error Categories
Actual Word	Student Responses
snowstorm	snowman			X
trouble	problems									X
never	not			X

Activity

Using Natalia’s marked probe (the same probe as above), complete the remainder of the table, noting the written word, spoken word, and type of error.

		Error Categories
Actual word	Student responses
snowstorm	snowman			X
trouble	problems									X
never	not			X

Click here for feedback.

		Error Categories
Actual word	Student responses
snowstorm	snowman			X
trouble	problems									X
never	not			X
morning	Monday			X
turned	took			X
weather	winter			X
Maybe	Many			X
storm	snow			X
counted	colored			X
passengers	passing			X
boy	baby			X

Based on the data, in most instances when Natalia read a word, she got the initial sound correct but got the end of the word incorrect. An examination of the words she missed suggests that Natalia is guessing at the words based on their initial sounds.