Informal Reading Inventory Written Report

Part I: Student Information and Description

The Informal Reading Inventory was administrated to Courtney, a female fifth grade student at

William Mason Elementary School in Montville, New Jersey. The student is of average height and thin, with

brown hair and eyes. According the classroom teacher, she has good work habits. She completes homework

and assignments thoroughly and on time. Courtney also exhibits wonderful classroom behavior and works

well with others. The student lives with her mother and father and is the youngest of four siblings, who are

triplets two years older. Both of her parents work as professionals, and her family is considered upper-middle

class. Two of her three older siblings are in the in Gifted and Talented program, and the third sibling receives

Basic Skill Instruction. Courtney, having completed grades Kindergarten through fourth grade, is now in fifth

grade and is in the Gifted and Talented Program. On the New Jersey ASK 4 the student scored 224 in

Language Arts, proficient, and 250 in Math, advanced proficient. On the Terra Nova, administered at end of

grade three, she scored 99th percentile in reading nationally.

From the Student Questionnaire, I was able to learn about Courtney and her reading habits.

Courtney enjoys reading and considers it fun. However, she described the books she reads in school as

boring, which makes me assume that most of the reading she does for fun, is done independently. The

most common reading activities completed in her class include answering questions and writing

summaries on reading material. When reading on her own, Courtney mostly likes to read fantasy books

the best. While she is open to the idea of reading a variety of materials, she does not like to read material

that is not of interest to her. She rarely visits the public library but she does go to the school library on

occasion. Her favorite books are currently from the series A Series of Unfortunate Events, written by

Lemony Snicket. Courtney believes it is very important to know how to read because reading is how you

1
learn and are able to obtain information. If she came across someone who did not know how to read, she

would try to help them learn. I asked if she thought reading was easy or difficult, and she laughed and said

it was easy. During her free time, she likes to watch television and play with her friends. In general, she

does not see her parents sit down and read very often. (They read the newspaper and magazines, but do

not sit down and read books.) They used to read to her when she was little, but rarely read to her now.

Part II: Test Analysis/Diagnosis

Courtney was very relaxed during the administration of the Informal Reading Inventory. I think

any nervousness she felt was extinguished during our introduction, when I tried to make her feel

comfortable. I made sure she knew that she was helping me with my work, and not getting judged. After

establishing rapport, the student appeared comfortable throughout the testing process and actually seemed

to enjoy it, even to the extent that she appeared be somewhat amused by the fact I was the one who was

doing the work. When I asked her to read the words on the graded word list for grade three, I noticed she

went quickly but was very articulate with her pronunciation. She did not get frustrated or annoyed as the

difficulty of the words increased and she started to make a few mistakes. Courtney’s attention to

articulation was even more visible when she began reading the oral reading passages. I started Courtney

with the fifth grade reading passage because she was at the independent level at grade nine on the word

lists. When she repeated a phrase or had to pause for a word she did not get flustered. When answering

the comprehension questions, she seemed very willing to continue even when she started guessing at the

answers. The student did not exhibit frustrating reading behaviors at any point during the entire Informal

Reading Inventory. In general, the student’s performance was above average. The student read the oral

2
passages from Form B for grade levels five, six, seven, and eight, and then answered the corresponding

comprehension questions for those passages. After scoring the student’s responses, it was concluded that

the student’s estimated reading levels are as follows:

Independent: Grade 6

Instructional: Grades 7 and 8

Frustration: (The level of frustration was not reached)

In the oral reading passage at the fifth grade level, Courtney made two total miscues, which put her at the

independent/instructional level. As for comprehension, she answered two questions incorrectly, which

also put her at the independent/instructional level. At the sixth grade reading level, she had the same

number of total miscues. However, she only missed one comprehension question, which put her at the

independent level. Since her scores were bordering on independent/instructional, (leaning slightly more

toward independent,) it was estimated that the independent reading level was sixth grade. While reading

the seventh grade passage, she made two total miscues, and made three comprehension errors. These

scores put her at the instructional/frustration level for comprehension. Courtney’s oral reading score was

the same for the eighth grade passage, but here she made four comprehension errors. Her scores put her at

the independent/instructional level for oral reading, and instructional/frustration level for comprehension

at the eighth grade level. Since the student was in between independent/instructional for oral reading and

instruction/frustration for comprehension, it was estimated that her level of instruction is at the seventh

and eighth grade levels. The student did not reach the level of frustration in either oral reading or

comprehension.

While reading the oral reading passages, the student made various errors in word recognition.

None of these errors, however, were reversal or insertion miscues. There was only one omission miscue

where the word “he” was omitted, but this was immediately self-corrected. Only two of the errors made

3
were mispronunciations, and only one of these was left uncorrected. The student also made a significant

number of repetitions. While the repetitions did not alter the meaning of the sentences, it did have a minor

affect on fluency. About two-thirds of the total miscues were substitutions. However, most of them were

self-corrected immediately, which could indicate that word recognition is not as problematic as the total

number of miscues makes it appear. Since most of the miscues were self-corrected, many of them turned

out to be insignificant.

Those miscues which were not repetitions or self-corrected were analyzed in the Qualitative

Analysis of Miscue Analysis form. (This left four miscues to include in the form.) Three of the four

miscues were substitutions and one was a mispronunciation. At the fifth grade level the student

substituted the word “boxed” for “box.” This substitution did not cause the meaning of the sentence to be

lost, and therefore was an insignificant miscue. However, this was an example of an unacceptable error in

syntax because an adjective was substituted for a noun. There were two miscues made in the seventh grade

passage. In the first, “blank” was substituted for “black.” While these two words do not have a similar

meaning, in the context of the story (where the computer screen went black,) both of these words convey

the meaning that the computer screen was not working. This error in syntax was acceptable and the miscue

was not considered significant. The second error in this passage was the mispronunciation of the word

“commented.” This was a significant miscue because meaning was affected and was also an unacceptable

error in syntax. Finally in the eighth grade passage, the student substituted “in” for “on.” In the context of

the sentence this did not affect the meaning and was not considered a significant miscue. Being that

grapheme trouble occurred in the middle and the end of the miscued word once each, and in the beginning

of a miscued word twice, it is hard to determine a clear pattern of grapheme trouble.

Although the student had little trouble recognizing words in the oral reading portion, the

comprehension questions seemed to be slightly more challenging. On the fifth grade passage Courtney

4
answered two fact questions incorrectly, on the sixth grade passage she answered one fact question

incorrectly, on the seventh grade passage two fact questions and one inference question were missed, and

on the eighth grade passage the student missed two fact, one inference and one vocabulary question.

Seventy percent of the comprehension questions missed were fact questions. Initially, this may cause one

to think that Courtney needs to improve her literal comprehension skills. However, after taking a closer

look at the specific fact questions Courtney missed, in two of the four sets of questions, the answers to the

questions missed were found in the opening sentence of the passage. For example, one fact question from

the fifth grade passage asked the color of the ticket. The answer, black and green, was in the opening

sentence. Then, in the seventh grade passage, one fact question asked what relaxed Anthony. Again, the

answer, the soft buzz of the computer, was located in the opening sentence of the passage. This could be

an indication that maybe Courtney has trouble focusing when she begins reading, or that it takes her a few

sentences to “warm up.” Also, since most of the comprehension errors pertained to fact questions, there is

a possibility that when reading, Courtney pays more attention to getting the general ideas of the story

rather than focusing on details. (Though the information derived from the reading inventory can provide

insight, the ongoing assessment of the classroom teacher to determine if Courtney really does have a

genuine weakness in literal comprehension or if her mistakes were due to the particular testing session.)

During the Informal Reading Inventory, Courtney demonstrated many strengths. She is currently

reading one grade above grade level, and is a very strong reader on grade level. She also seems to have an

extensive range of sight words, having recognized almost all words at the eighth grade level. (Even though

scores from the graded word lists are not included in the analysis, it is important to note that Courtney was

able to recognize the majority of words up through the high school level.) Additional strengths include

good recognition and attention of punctuation, and very good articulation. The student also demonstrated

fluency in oral reading at each grade level. Also, when miscues were made, the student was immediately

5
able to recognize and correct most of them. Overall the student was a good oral reader, was motivated and

read with confidence. Even though Courtney reads well above grade level, she could grow as a reader. It

is recommended that the following areas provide the focus for an individualized reading program:

1. Opportunities to practice comprehension skills while incorporating critical and creative thinking skills.

2. Reading activities in different genres of literature.

Part III: Recommendations/Prescriptions

In speaking with the classroom teacher I learned that Courtney gets one hundreds on the majority

of reading tests and assignments, and breezes through the classroom reading materials. So, the normal

instruction delivered at her grade level is not an adequate for her reading level. Since this student scored

high in reading on standardized tests and is placed in the Gifted and Talented Reading Program, the

emphasis of this prescription is not remediation. Instead the focus is on designing a broad spectrum of

enrichment materials and activities.

1. Opportunities to Practice Comprehension Incorporating Critical and Creative Thinking Skills

The Great Books Foundation publishes a series of books entitled The Junior Great Books. For

upper elementary and middle school students, these books contain collections of literature in a wide

variety of genres. The objective of the Great Books Foundation is to provide students with materials that

enhance reading comprehension through critical thinking. Each selection is followed by discussion

questions. Emphasis is placed on the following skills: reading strategies, recalling details, cause and

6
effect, author’s tone and purpose, comparing and contrasting, argument clarification and revision,

questioning and testing arguments, drawing conclusions, inferring, and weighing evidence.

Vocabulary development should be a part of Courtney’s reading program. The Junior Great Books

addresses comprehension through context. Courtney could choose her own spelling and vocabulary words

from the selections she reads (as opposed to the word lists in the traditional class spelling book). Courtney

could be guided toward making semantic word maps and webs, and could also be encouraged to try

independent reading activities such those mentioned in Teaching Reading in Today’s Elementary Schools

(Burns, Roe, Smith, p.202-249).

• Comparing and contrasting Cinderella stories from around the world

• Reading and writing of poetry

• Reading folktales and creating a modern version

• Examining newspaper articles for propaganda or deceptive advertising

• Making value judgments about characters’ actions in fairy tales

• Creating a fractured fairy tale

2. Exposure to Various Genres of Literature

From the information gathered from the informal reading inventory, the classroom teacher, and the

student, the most important recommendation is to provide the student with a two part plan. The first part

would focus on enrichment and the second would focus on skills. It is recommended that most of the work

be done independently, with guidance from the teacher. Through enrichment activities, the student will not

only be exposed to a wider variety of reading materials, but will also be sharpening her reading, writing,

and comprehension skills. This student would benefit from enrichment considering her boredom with

7
classroom reading activities. (It would not be recommended to give this student additional summaries to

write.) Also, reading a variety of genres would expand her knowledge and experience, since she usually

only reads fantasy books, or books in a series. The enrichment part of the program should expose

Courtney to a wider variety of genres and also allow her to choose her own reading materials that are of

interest to her.

Taking into consideration the nature of reading instruction in her classroom coupled with her

somewhat limited library visitations, Courtney would probably benefit from teacher-generated suggestions

of books to read. Her teacher could give her a list of award-winning books, such as Newbery, Coretta

Scott King, or Book Sense Book of the Year Award (American Booksellers Children’s Book of the Year).

The Giver by Lois Lowry would be one excellent choice because it would challenge and build

comprehension. There is a comprehensive listing of children’s book awards and other literary prizes found

at http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/awards.htm. Courtney could also be encouraged to choose books from

these lists that she thinks she might enjoy. Keeping a reading record of her selections would give her a

sense of independence yet help guide her choices to include a wider variety of genres of reading materials

that she is interested in.

It might be advantageous to incorporate quality children’s magazines into Courtney’s reading

program. Crinkles magazine contains short articles on a wide variety of topics in various genres. Many

articles are followed by puzzles, games and even hands-on activities. It is important that students

understand when they sit down to read they do not always have to read a chapter book or novel. Crinkles

would give Courtney the experience of reading a magazine. Courtney’s NJ ASK 4 score indicates a level

of “proficiency” at 224 (200-249 being considered proficient; 250+ advanced proficient,) which is

surprising considering Courtney’s reading ability. Since reading and writing are assessed by the NJ ASK

4, it is possible that Courtney’s writing ability lowered her score. Part of Courtney’s reading program

8
should incorporate writing skills, especially since she will most likely be placed in Honors courses in

middle and high school. This would also be advisable to strengthen the reading and writing connection in

general. Stone Soup: The Magazine by Young Writers and Artists would be an excellent choice of reading

material for Courtney. Stone Soup contains short stories, fiction and non-fiction, written and illustrated by

children her age. Alongside each story or article are photographs of the student authors, making the

publication of high-interest to students Courtney’s age. Courtney can even visit the website

(www.stonesoup.com,) where she can submit her own work for publication in the magazine.

Summary:

A highly motivated student, Courtney reads confidently reads above grade level. Considering her

reading level, the recommendations focus on independent and teacher guided activities rather than

traditional whole class methods of instruction. If these recommendations are utilized, it is anticipated that

Courtney would perform well and continue to grow as a reader.