Running head: IRI REFLECTION 1

IRI Reflection
Julia McKenzie
Drexel University

IRI REFLECTION 2


Informal Reading Inventory Reflection
This week, I performed an informal reading inventory on one of my 10
th
-
grade students. Before beginning the IRI process, I was told that the studentwell
call her Janewas reading at an 8
th
-grade level. While I had learned about IRIs in
class, actually completing one on one of my students served to be quite enlightening.
First, I administered the word lists. I started with the level 6 word list, hoping
to move up in level until Jane could no longer correctly read every word in the list. I
was surprised, however, that I actually had to move down levels sequentially until I
reached the level 2 list before Jane correctly read 100% of the words. Jane was
reading the words quite quickly, so perhaps it would have been beneficial to ask her
to slow down.
Since Jane reached 100% on the level 2 word list, I began the oral passages at
level 2. Jane breezed through the oral passage, reading 100% of the words correctly,
and responding to comprehension questions at an independent level. Jane also
scored independent in the level 3 oral passage. For level 4, Jane read 98% of the
words correctly (instructional), but struggled with the comprehension questions
(frustrational). I went ahead and continued testing up to level 7, because Jane had
been marked as reading at level 8. I actually noticed something oddJane scored
frustrational at levels 4, 5, and 7 but instructional at level 6. Again, this may have
been due to her rushing through passages and trying to read too quickly.
Because Jane scored instructional at level 6, I began the silent reading
passages at that level. She read the passage and struggled with the comprehension
IRI REFLECTION 3

questions, scoring frustrational. I then administered the silent passage for level 5,
and Janes comprehension level improved, scoring instructional. This seems to imply
that Jane is more near a 5
th
grade reading level.
Lastly, I administered the listening passages. I read the level 6 passage aloud,
although Jane had already read this passage silently, and then asked her the
comprehension questions. This seems like a possible source for error. The
instructions stated that the student should use the same passage for silent reading
and listening, but reading the same passage and responding to the same questions
twice doesnt seem right. Anyway, even with hearing the same questions twice, Jane
struggled with the listening comprehension questions, receiving a score of
frustrational. I did not re-test the level 5 passage because she had already scored
highly enough to be marked as instructional in that category with the same passage
and questions reading silently.
Interpreting results here is tricky. I would certainly say that Jane is above a
level 2 or 3 because she received scores of independent on both of those levels.
However, Jane scored frustrational on the comprehension questions of levels 4 and
5, but not 6. My gut says that Jane is reading more on a 5
th
or 6
th
grade reading level.
Ideally, I think it would be beneficial to re-test Jane to see how she scores again.
Next time, Id let her know that she does not need to speed through the word lists
and passages.
Judging by Janes scores in the various categories, she struggles with
comprehension over word recognition. The best way for her to improve in this area
is likely to practice. Therefore, when giving reading assignments to Jane, I would
IRI REFLECTION 4

pair the reading with a few questions to reinforce the importance of comprehension.
Perhaps I would ask Jane to summarize the main points of the text, or ask for more
specific details from the text. I think the most important thing to be aware of is that
if I simply give Jane a text to read, however simple, she likely will struggle to derive
meaning from the text.
In our class, Kristen and I use a strategy that we call guided reading. We
will assign an article or perhaps a section of a textbook and assemble a few
questions to go along with the text. The directions start by asking the students to
read the article and highlight important information. Then the students must make a
few marks in the margin. After this, the students must re-read the article and
respond to the comprehension questions as they go. I think that this type of
technique is beneficial to our struggling readers because, especially with academic
texts, the tendency is to rush through without really internalizing any
comprehension from the text. I am looking forward to developing more strategies to
help our struggling readers!