What Counts as a Reading Error? ORF and Running Record Scoring Rules

When you score an oral reading, not everything that sounds wrong is an error. A student can restart a sentence, repeat a phrase, pause, or fix a word, and still get full credit for every word.

This guide shows what counts as an error and what does not in three common systems:

• DIBELS 8th Edition Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
• Acadience Reading ORF
• Running records, as described by Marie Clay

In ReadingFluency.app, a scored error is called a miscue. In this guide, "error" and "miscue" mean the same thing: a passage word that the student did not read correctly.

Quick answer

DIBELS 8 and Acadience are separate tests from different publishers, but they score every behavior in this table the same way, so they share a column.

The biggest difference is insertions. DIBELS and Acadience ignore them. Running records count them. Systems differ, so always score with the rules of the system you report to.

What counts as an error

Omissions

A skipped word is an error in all three systems. DIBELS 8 adds that if a student skips a whole line, every word in that line is marked incorrect.

Substitutions and mispronunciations

A word read as a different word ("house" for "home") is an error. A word that is pronounced incorrectly in the context of the sentence ("red" for "read" in "We like to read") is also an error.

DIBELS 8 also scores a word as incorrect if the student sounds it out but does not blend it into the word. If the student sounds it out and then blends it, the word is correct.

Hesitations of 3 seconds

In DIBELS 8 and Acadience, if a student hesitates or struggles with a word for 3 seconds, the examiner says the word and marks it incorrect. This is the only prompt the DIBELS 8 guide allows during ORF.

Running records have a similar rule. When the teacher tells the child a word, the told word counts as an error.

What does not count as an error

Self-corrections

In DIBELS 8 and Acadience, a word is correct if the student makes an error and corrects it within 3 seconds. The examiner writes "SC" above the word.

In a running record, the teacher also writes "SC", and the self-correction is not counted as an error. Running records track self-corrections on their own, as a self-correction rate, because they can show that the reader is checking their reading.

Repetitions and false starts

Repeated words and re-read phrases are not errors. In the DIBELS 8 guide's example, "I have a … I have a dog" scores 4 out of 4. Acadience gives the same rule. Running records mark a repetition with "R" but do not count it.

A false start that ends with the correct word, such as "pro… promise", follows the same logic. If the student reads the word correctly, it is not an error.

Short pauses

A pause is not an error unless it reaches the 3-second hesitation rule above. But pauses are not free: the timer keeps running, so frequent pauses lower the words-correct-per-minute score. Pauses also matter for prosody (phrasing and expression), which you can note separately from accuracy.

Dialect, accent, and articulation

Students are not penalized for how they normally speak. The DIBELS 8 guide says students are not penalized for consistent dialect, accent, or articulation differences. Acadience's general scoring guidelines say the same for articulation and dialect differences that are part of the student's typical speech. Running record guides do not count words pronounced differently because of dialect or accent.

This rule is important for English learners. A student who consistently says a sound in a different way, and reads the right word, has read the word correctly. Use professional judgment and what you know about the student's speech.

Insertions: the systems differ

An insertion is a word the student adds that is not in the text, such as "I have a new dog" for "I have a dog."

• DIBELS 8 and Acadience: inserted words are ignored. They are not errors, and the student gets no credit for them. If a student inserts words often, note the pattern on the scoring page.
• Running records: an insertion counts as an error. A reader can have more errors than words on a line, but not more errors than words on the page.

Neither rule is wrong. They measure different things. ORF measures how many words of the text a student reads correctly. A running record looks at everything the reader does with the text.

The title

In DIBELS 8 ORF, the examiner points to the first word of the passage, and the timer starts when the student says that word. The guide says not to count the title. Acadience also points the student to the first word of the passage and starts timing there.

In running records, the running words (the words you score) do not include titles, subtitles, or captions. In many running record routines, the teacher also reads the title and gives a short introduction before the child reads a new text.

Accuracy is calculated differently too

Each system calculates accuracy from different counts:

• DIBELS 8 ORF: words read correctly ÷ total words attempted in 60 seconds × 100.
• Running record: (running words − errors) ÷ running words × 100.

So the same read can get slightly different accuracy scores in different systems. When you compare scores over time, use the same system each time.

How ReadingFluency.app scores a read

ReadingFluency.app follows the ORF approach to errors. This is what the app does:

• Miscues are missed words and mispronounced words. A skipped word is marked missed. A word read as a different word, or pronounced incorrectly, is marked mispronounced.
• Accuracy = (passage words − miscues) ÷ passage words.
• WCPM = words read correctly ÷ minutes read.
• Inserted words are shown but not scored. They appear in the report as added words, so you can see them, but they do not lower accuracy or WCPM.
• Self-corrections, repetitions, false starts, and pauses are not marked as miscues. The app does not look for these behaviors or apply a 3-second rule. It does not count them as miscues, because the student read the passage word correctly. If a student finally reads the right word, that word is correct.
• Pauses still affect the score. For a whole-passage read, timing runs from the first passage word read to the last. A pause inside the read makes it longer, which lowers WCPM. The AI feedback note also comments on pacing and phrasing.
• The title is not scored. Only the passage text is scored. In a whole-passage read, timing starts at the first passage word, so a title read aloud is neither scored nor timed. In a time-limited read, the full time limit is used, so time spent on the title is part of that limit.

Your marks are the final record

The AI marks are a first pass. In the report, tap a word to change its mark (correct, mispronounced, or missed), and you can hide an inserted word. Your marks replace the AI's marks, and accuracy and WCPM are recalculated.

If your school's rules count something the app does not, such as insertions in a running record, mark the read with your system's rules and add a note. For more on when to review an automatic score, see Automatic WCPM Scoring: How It Works and When to Review It.

FAQ

Do self-corrections count as errors in DIBELS?

No. In DIBELS 8 ORF, if a student makes an error and corrects it within 3 seconds, the word is scored as correct. The examiner writes "SC" above the word.

Do repeated words count as errors?

No. In DIBELS 8, Acadience, and running records, repeated words and re-read phrases are not scored as errors. They do take time, so they can lower WCPM.

Do inserted words count as errors?

It depends on the system. DIBELS 8 and Acadience ORF ignore inserted words. Running records count each insertion as an error. ReadingFluency.app shows inserted words but does not score them.

Is a pause an error?

No, unless the student hesitates for 3 seconds and the examiner gives the word. In DIBELS 8 and Acadience, that word is marked incorrect. Shorter pauses are not errors, but they lower WCPM because the timer keeps running.

Does an accent count as a reading error?

No. DIBELS 8 does not penalize consistent dialect, accent, or articulation differences. Acadience does not penalize articulation or dialect differences that are part of the student's typical speech, and running records do not count dialect or accent differences as errors.

Why didn't the app count a student's restart as a miscue?

Because restarts, repetitions, and self-corrections are not errors under standard ORF rules. If the student finally read the passage word correctly, the app scores that word as correct. The time the restart took is still part of the read, so it lowers WCPM.

Sources

• University of Oregon (2026). DIBELS 8th Edition Administration and Scoring Guide, 2026 Edition. ORF administration and scoring rules, and Articulation, Accent, and Dialect.
• Acadience Learning. Acadience Reading K–6: Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) and Retell and General Scoring Guidelines.
• Clay, Marie M. An Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement. Heinemann.
• Scholastic Canada. Running Records, a teacher guide based on Clay's procedures.