Understanding Your Child’s Fountas & Pinnell Scores

Your child has recently been assessed using the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark

Assessment. The purpose of this assessment is to

determine your child’s instructional reading level

select texts and plan instruction that will support your child’s reading

development

identify any need for intervention or enrichment opportunities

On your child’s assessment summary sheet you will find scores in the following areas

Within the Text- This score indicates your child’s ability to re-tell or summarize the story,

and identify the problem in the story. Your child may receive a score of 3 (Advanced), 2

(Proficient), 1 (Basic), or 0 (Below Basic)

Beyond the Text- This score indicates your child’s ability to connect their own experiences

with the story and/or draw conclusions about characters or events. Your child may receive

a score of 3 (Advanced), 2 (Proficient), 1 (Basic), or 0 (Below Basic)

About the Text- A score is only reported in this area if your child is reading at or above an

instructional level L. This score indicates your child’s ability to think about the author’s

purpose, the style of writing, or how the text is organized. Your child may receive a score

of 3 (Advanced), 2 (Proficient), 1 (Basic), or 0 (Below Basic)

Self-Correction- A 1:4 self-correction rate means that the student corrects or fixes

approximately 1 out of every 4 errors made during the reading. If a student has a rate of

1:4 or less, this indicates he/she is self-monitoring or self-correcting his/her reading. A

self-correction rate of 1:5 or higher may indicate an area of need for this student.

Fluency- Fluency is how smoothly your child reads with expression and meaning. Your

child may receive a score of 4 (Advanced), 3 (Proficient), 2 (Basic), or 1 (Below Basic)

Accuracy Rate- This is the percentage of words read correctly or accurately. An

instructional level accuracy rate may fall between 90-100%.

Instructional Reading Level Benchmarks

Beginning Mid-point End point

Kindergarten B D

1st D G J

2nd J K M

3rd M N P

4th P Q S

5th S T V

6th V W Y

Dolch Words- These words appear frequently in grade level appropriate reading materials.

K Word

List

List 1 List 2 List 3 List 4 List 5

Kindergarten

Benchmark

34

End point

First Grade

Benchmark

34

Beginning

38

Mid-point

& End

point

49

Mid-point

& End

point

39

End point

Second Grade

Benchmark

38

Beginning,

Mid-point

& End

point

49

Beginning,

Mid-point

& End

point

39

Beginning,

Mid-point

& End

point

44

Mid-point

& End

point

39

End point

If your child is in kindergarten, you may also see the following assessment scores.

Letter Identification- Point to the letter and tell us what it is.

Hearing and Recording Sounds- The students listened to a sentence. They were told each

word in the sentence one at a time. The students wrote the letters that they knew in the word.

Concepts About Print- The teacher read a very simple book to the student. The student needed

to find where to start reading and where to go next. He/she had to listen to the story and point

to words and letters in the book. The students also needed to identify a period and what it

means.

Instructional Reading Level- If your child met the benchmark in the above mentioned

categories, he/she was given a level A book to read. If your child has an A- as his/her

instructional reading level, one of the following situations occurred:

Your child did not meet the first three benchmarks listed above.

Your child met the benchmarks but did not meet the benchmark to be at an Instructional

Reading Level A.

Benchmarks for the kindergarten year:

Beginning Mid-point End point

Letter Identification: 26 Letter Identification: 45 Letter Identification: 52

Hearing and Recording Sounds: 5 Hearing and Recording Sounds: 16 Hearing and Recording Sounds: 28

Concepts About Print: 6 Concepts About Print: 10 Concepts About Print: 10

Instructional Reading Level: A- Instructional Reading Level: B Instructional Reading Level: D