The ground is covered in snow here in Minnesota, which reminds us of many things. Bundle up, drive carefully, and don’t forget those winter benchmark assessments! The recommended testing window is December 19 – February 6. Once the testing is complete, how can you make the most of the data you collect?
When you have data from both fall and winter assessments, you can analyze the student’s week-by-week growth in fluency. This growth can be compared to the Average Weekly Improvement (AWI) table to give you a more complete picture of the student’s progress.
How do you determine your student’s AWI? Benchmark Assessor Live* users will notice the student’s AWI information displayed in the winter assessment reports. Reading Fluency Benchmark Assessor (RFBA) users can find this information on the Student Oral Reading Details report. Teachers who do not use these assessment programs can easily calculate the student’s AWI. Simply subtract the fall assessment score from the winter assessment score, and divide that number by the number of weeks between assessments.
Next, compare the student’s AWI to the Average Weekly Improvement table below. The last column of this table shows the AWI for students based on the Hasbrouck & Tindal oral reading fluency norms**. To compare a student’s average words gained per week with the AWI table, find the number closest to the student’s first wcpm score for the year in the table below. (Be careful to use the student’s grade and the correct season.) Then compare the student’s AWI to the AWI in that row. Keep in mind that if the student is at a lower performance level, you want the student to exceed the AWI gains listed in the table in order to move to a higher performance level.
| Grade | Percentile | Fall WCPM | Winter WCPM | Spring WCPM | Avg. Weekly Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 80 60 40 10 1 | - - - - - | 55 29 18 6 0 | 90 64 43 15 1 | 2.2 2.2 1.6 0.6 0.1 |
| 2 | 80 60 40 10 1 | 86 62 41 11 0 | 107 84 61 18 1 | 124 100 79 31 3 | 1.2 1.2 1.2 0.6 0.1 |
| 3 | 80 60 40 10 1 | 107 82 61 21 2 | 127 102 82 36 4 | 143 118 96 48 9 | 1.1 1.1 1.1 0.8 0.2 |
| 4 | 80 60 40 10 1 | 126 103 84 45 10 | 146 122 103 61 16 | 160 134 113 72 19 | 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.3 |
| 5 | 80 60 40 10 1 | 147 121 101 61 15 | 163 137 116 74 22 | 175 150 127 83 27 | 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.4 |
| 6 | 80 60 40 10 1 | 160 137 115 68 22 | 175 150 130 82 26 | 185 161 140 93 36 | 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.4 |
| 7 | 80 60 40 10 1 | 162 138 118 79 34 | 173 147 127 88 35 | 184 160 140 98 48 | 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.4 |
| 8 | 80 60 40 10 1 | 168 145 124 77 32 | 180 155 135 84 36 | 183 161 142 97 51 | 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 |
This table is based on data collected in a study by Jan Hasbrouck and Gerald Tindal (2006. Oral reading fluency norms: A valuable assessment tool for reading teachers. The Reading Teacher. 59 (7), 636-644.)
*Service and support for Benchmark Assessor Live terminated June 30, 2019.
**Note that the AWI values displayed in this table assume the recommended 16 weeks between testing sessions.
As always, if you have questions about interpreting benchmark assessment scores, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Leave a note below, or contact us at info@readnaturally.com or 800.788.4085.
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