Progress monitoring should include word-level and text-level analyses. Which description best captures this approach?

• A. Analyzing reading behaviors only at the text level.
• B. Analyzing accuracy and fluency at the word level, and comprehension and strategy use at the text level.
• C. Focusing solely on spelling accuracy.
• D. Measuring the length of the written response.

Answer: (B)

Progress monitoring in reading benefits from capturing both word-level skills and text-level understanding. At the word level, you track accuracy and fluency with individual words, which shows decoding and word recognition growth. At the text level, you assess how well students understand the meaning of what they read and the reading strategies they use to monitor and support comprehension. The description that combines these aspects—word-level accuracy and fluency with text-level comprehension and strategy use—best represents this approach.

Focusing only on text-level analysis misses important data about decoding and word recognition, which are foundational to fluent reading. Paying attention only to spelling or the length of a written response shifts away from assessing actual reading progress.