Read Naturally Live: Monitoring student performance

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Student self-monitoring provides motivation to do well, but teachers must also monitor students' performance to make the necessary adjustments that accelerate growth. The detailed reports and graphs in Read Naturally Live help teachers track growth and challenge or support their students.

To monitor performance, you need to check students' data for trends. To access the student data, create Read Naturally Live reports. Each report includes important information about a specific student's performance or the performance of a group of students. Use the data from the reports to check initial placement and keep students challenged.

READ NATURALLY LIVE REPORTS

Use the following reports to help you monitor performance. For instructions for creating the reports, refer to the Read Live User Guide. To see samples of the reports, click the report name.

Report	Description
Students At-a-Glance Report	Includes a student-by-student summary of results for Read Naturally Live stories passed for a selected set of students. Use this report to quickly identify students who may not be making adequate progress in fluency and/or comprehension and therefore may require an adjustment in their program or additional instruction. This report is valuable because it shows the data as averages of the first three stories and last three stories, which provides trend data for teachers in a usable format.
Student Fluency Graph Report	Shows a bar graph that displays a selected student's cold- and hot-timing scores for Read Naturally Live stories passed in a specified series and level. Teachers use this report to track the student's reading fluency in a series/level in order to make instructional decisions that optimize the student's progress.
Student Comprehension Graph Report	Shows the quiz questions a selected student answered correctly on the first try for each Read Naturally Live story in a specified level within a given series. Quiz results are reported by question type and story. This report allows teachers to assess comprehension and quickly note whether a certain type of question (e.g., the vocabulary question) is challenging for the student in order to provide additional instruction as necessary.
Student Retell Graph Report	Shows the number of words a selected student used to retell each Read Naturally Live story on the first try and whether or not the student met the teacher's expectations on the first try. This report indicates how well the student is able to communicate his/her comprehension of the story and allows teachers to assess whether it is necessary to modify the Retell step and/or provide additional comprehension instruction.
Student Word List Graph Report	Shows the number of seconds it took a selected student to read the phonics word list on the pass timing in a given phonics level. This report shows how well the student is learning the featured phonics patterns and helps teachers identify patterns that may require additional instruction.
Student Level Summary Report	Includes a summary of results for each story a student has passed at a given Read Naturally Live level, including cold- and hot-timing results, number of practices, quiz results, and more. Stories are listed in order of completion so teachers can compare the student's scores for early and recent stories, looking for a trend of improvement over time.
Story Details Report	Provides a student's detailed results for a specific Read Naturally Live story. The student's written prediction and retell are included in this report, as well as other information such as all words-correct-per-minute (wcpm), individual quiz question scores, and more. Teachers can see how the student performed on elements of a particular story.

CHECKING INITIAL PLACEMENT

Once a student has finished three stories, check the student's data on the Student's At-a-Glance report to see if he or she is placed correctly. The data you will need to check initial placement include the Level, Cold timing,  Goal, Hot timing, Practices, and Quiz % correct. If a student's placement needs adjustment, explain to the student that you made a mistake when placing him or her. Then adjust the student's level or goal as needed, and continue to monitor the student until you feel confident that the student is placed correctly.

KEEPING STUDENTS CHALLENGED

After checking placement, you will need to turn your attention to accelerating learning by keeping students challenged as they improve.

To make sure your students are continually challenged, regularly monitor their performance to determine whether they need a change in level or goal. Typically, you should carefully review performance and consider changes after a student has completed 12 stories.

DETERMINING WHEN TO MAKE A CHANGE

If you see a trend in one or more of the following, it may be time to make a change.

• The student's cold- and hot-timing scores improve significantly.
• The number of practices to goal has decreased significantly. If a student typically reaches the goal in fewer than three practices, this is a strong indication that it is time for a change.
• The student's goal is consistently exceeded on the hot timing.
• The student's behavior indicates the student is no longer challenged. For example, the student may appear bored.

DETERMINING WHETHER TO RAISE THE LEVEL OR THE GOAL

Once you determine a change in level or goal is needed, you must decide which one to raise. When changing levels and goals, raise only one element at a time.

After a student completes all of the stories in a level, raise the student's level. Typically, a student works in only one series per level. But if a student would benefit from staying in the current level and you have another series available that would be appropriate, then you can keep the student in the level by assigning him or her another series.

If you need to make a change after the student has completed only a portion of the stories in a level, consider the student's comprehension and accuracy, and use your judgment.

• If the student frequently scores less than 80 percent correct on the quiz questions on the first try, keep the level the same.
• If the student has high error rates during cold or hot timings because he or she lacks the oral vocabulary to read the current level of material or lacks the phonics skills to decode the words in this level, keep the level the same.
• If the student has high error rates due to carelessness or a desire for speed, keep the goal the same.

If the student's comprehension is good and error rates are low, consider the gains he or she needs to make in level of material and reading rate to achieve his or her long-term fluency goal. The student's long-term fluency goal is typically reading unpracticed, grade-level material at a rate that is at least at the 50th percentile of national norms.

 Hasbrouck-Tindal table of oral reading fluency norms

Once you've decided which element to raise—level or goal—follow the guidelines below to help ensure the student's continued success.

• Typically, raise levels by half a year. In rare cases, you may raise levels by a whole year if a student is reading in level 3.0 or above and has made significant fluency progress, comprehends well, and can handle the extra challenge.
• Raise goals by ten words at a time.
• Discuss the change with the student, asking for his or her input.

TROUBLESHOOTING 

Differentiating instruction often requires you to identify a barrier to the student’s progress in reading achievement, to create a solution, and to implement an adjustment that enables the student to overcome the barrier and become a more successful reader. Often, minor adjustments can change the course of progress for a student. Use the Troubleshooting Table to understand some common difficulties a student might experience and adjustments that have worked for other students.