Kindergarten Mathematics
Running Record Tool
Administration User Guide
Domains:
Counting and Cardinality—CC
Operations and Algebraic Thinking—OA
Number and Operation in Base Ten—NBT
Institute for Learning 2013
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Overview of the Kindergarten Mathematics Running
Record Tool
The Kindergarten Mathematics Running Record Formative Tool (KMRR) is
an oral interview tool that is individually administered to students three
times during the school year. The administration windows are October,
January, and April. The tool is designed with three sections. The sections
are focused on the three numeracy domains of Tennessee’s kindergarten
standards for mathematical content. The three domains include the
following:
 Counting and Cardinality (CC)
 Operations and Algebraic Thinking (OA)
 Number and Operation in Base Ten (NBT)
The Design Structure of the Tool

Within each of the three domains assessed by the KMRR, the
interview items are organized into cycles.
 The cycles are:
o intentionally designed to provide students with a variety of
opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of concepts
within a particular domain.
o developmental in nature and successive cycles build on the
previous cycle and provide multiple chances for students to
answer similar interview items.
o directly associated with an increase in the size of number and
quantity with which students work. For example, in the Counting
and Cardinality domain, the first cycle has numbers 0 – 5, the
second cycle has numbers to 10, and the third cycle has numbers
to 20.
Institute for Learning 2013
o
cummulative and are designed to help determine if students meet
the standards by the end of the year.
The KMRR is designed as an individual student interview. Three documents
are needed to administer that tool. The documents include the following:

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Administration User Guide (this document)
Teacher Directions
Student Display Book
Student Documentation Sheet
The Administration User Guide contains overview information about the
KMRR tool including adminisration guidance and standards alignment. The
Teacher Directions include scripted teacher prompts for each item. The
script ensures standard administration of the tool by all kindergarten
teachers. Use of the script will prevent teachers from inadvertently guiding
students to the correct answer. The Teacher Directions also indicate the
accurate response that needs to be heard from the student to award
credit. These directions also specify additional support that can be
provided to students should the student not be able to respond to the
prompt.
During the tool the Teacher Directions indicate times when materials such
as manipulatives, the Student Display Book, or crayons and paper are
needed. After students respond to each tool item, the results are recorded
by the teacher on the Student Documentation Sheet. Teachers will use a
fresh documentation sheet for each student during every administration
(e.g., one student will have three documentation sheets at the end of the
year, one from each administration). At the end of the year, the teacher
uses the Summative Rubric to determine if the student has met the
standards, is approaching the standards, or shows little/no evidence of the
standards.
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How to Use the Tool
The first administration of the tool is in October. The second administration
is in the middle of the year, January. The final adminstration of the tool is in
April or May.
The three sections of the tool include the following:



Counting and Cardinality
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
Number and Operation in Base Ten
BEGIN the assessment with the Counting and Cardinality domain
assessment and follow the steps below:
1. Ask the first interview item in the first cycle of this section of the
assessment.
2. Continue asking interview items in the order they are provided.
Note: Though it may be tempting to skip one or more of the domains out of
concern for students’ readiness, it is important that each student be given
the opportunity to answer items from all three domains. (Note, that each
domain does not have to be administered in one sitting. I.e., teachers may
choose to do the Operations and Algebraic Thinking domain on a different
day than the Counting and Cardinality domain due to time, student/teacher
fatigue, etc.) Document student responses to each item whether the
response is correct or incorrect and indicate if the student does not give a
response. Remember that the tool is not over until the student has missed
three consecutive items* in each of the three sections.
*As with any running record tool, teachers should exercise discretion and
professional judgment when administering to students. Some examples
where teachers may need to be flexible when administering the
Kindergarten Mathematics Running Record may include:

3. After each item, record the student response on the Teacher
Documentation Sheet.

4. Continue asking interview items and recording student responses
until the student incorrectly answers three consecutive items in a cycle*.

5. When the student incorrectly answers three consecutive items* in a
cycle, move to the next section of the assessment, the Operations and
Algebraic Thinking domain.

6. Continue with steps 1-5 for the Operations and Algebraic Thinking
domain of the assessment.
7. After the Operations and Algebraic Thinking assessment, continue
steps 1-5 for the Number and Operation in Base Ten assessment.
Institute for Learning 2013

Using two consecutive errors as a guidline to stop a cycle instead of
three.
Stopping the running record early in the best interest of the
student.
Asking one or two additional questions even after the student has
made three consecutive errors.
On second and third administrations, beginning at a cycle where
the student had some difficulty. If the student performed well,
start at the next cycle.
Adding on to particular questions to provide more insight into the
student’s thinking and ability (e.g., if the tool asks the student to
write the number 3, the teacher could additionally ask the student
to write 4 and 5; if the tool asks the student to start counting from
6, the teacher could additionally ask the student to start counting
from 3).
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Domains
Example
Student A - Admin #1
Counting and
Cardinality
Operations and
Algebraic Thinking
In Cycle 1: Student
incorrectly answers
question #2 and #6
(non-consecutive)
In Cycle 1: Student
correctly answers all
questions
Complete Cycle 1 in
Counting and
Cardinality domain
Continue to Cycle 2 in
Operations and
Algebraic Thinking
domain
Continue to Cycle 2 in
Counting and
Cardinality domain
In Cycle 2: Student
correctly answers all
questions
Continue to Cycle 3 in
Operations and
Algebraic Thinking
domain
In Cycle 3: Student
incorrectly answers
#4, #5, and #6
(consecutive)
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In Cycle 2: Student
incorrectly answers
question #1 and #5
(non-consecutive)
Complete Cycle 2 in
Operations and
Algebraic Thinking
domain
Number and
Operations in Base Ten
In Cycle 1: Student
incorrectly answers
questions #1, #4, and #5
(Three non-consecutive)
Continue to Cycle 2 in
Number and
Operations in Base Ten
In Cycle 2: Student
misses questions #4,
5, and 6
(consecutive)
End of Assessment
*Note: When readministering items, it is important not to alter the item. By readministrating the
items as written, student understanding will be measured multiple times. If the item asks for
the student to write the number 3, the student may write 3 accurately during the first
administration and then write 3 as a reversal during the second administration. If this particular
item was altered during the second administration by asking a student to write the number 4,
his or her performance from the first and second administration is not comparable. With this in
mind, the teacher may want to follow up with the student after the assessment and ask him or
her to write additional numbers.
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Considerations for the Next Administration
The Running Record Tool Checklist
Each time the tool is administered, the teacher determines which cycles
need to be readministered from each of the domains. The teacher
considers the number of items missed within a given cycle and the
frequency of the missed items. Again, it is important to exercise judgment
when determining where students should start for the next administration.
Teachers might want to consider the following:
An Running Record Tool Checklist has been provided for each domain of
the tool. It appears at the bottom of each section and it is used to
summarize the student responses from the focus domain. Following each
administration of the tool, the teacher should note student placement on
the tool checklist.

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If the student continues to struggle in class on particular concepts
or skills
If the student didn’t miss three in a row, but shows inconsistency
with particular concepts or skills
Ensuring the student has the opportunity to demonstrate mastery
of all the Standards
A student may meet the standard in one category but show no evidence in
another category. Although the rubric is being used at the end of the school
year, the teacher should use the rubric after each administration of the tool
to identify the goals that students must achieve by the end of the school
year.
The tool checklist can also serve as a powerful tool to engage in
conversations with parents, administrators, instructional coaches, and in
PLCs.
As an example, here are two possible scenarios:


Scenario #1: During the first administration of the tool, a student
incorrectly answers several items in Cycle 1 of the Counting and
Cardinality domain, but does not miss three consecutive items until
Cycle 2. The teacher may want to begin the second administration
of the Counting and Cardinality domain by readministering all of
Cycle 1 and then moving on to Cycle 2.
Scenario #2: During the first administration of the tool, a student
incorrectly answers one or two items in Cycle 1 of the Operations
and Algebraic Thinking domain and then misses three consecutive
items in cycle 2. The teacher may want begin the second
administration of the Algebaric and Thinking domain with Cycle 2.
(In this scenario, while the teacher may begin at Cycle 2, it may be
beneficial to ask the one or two missed questions from Cycle 1
first.)
Institute for Learning 2013
Helpful Hints:
The department gathered valuable feedback through a small-scale pilot
process and recommends the following in preparation for using the KMRR
tool:
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Laminate or use sheet protectors for the student display sheets.
Be sure pages that require color for a response are printed in color
or are colored in by hand.
Use a flip chart to display student display sheets
Place teacher directions behind corresponding student display
sheets in such a way that it is easy to read the question and
scaffolding cues for each item.
Create a portfolio for each student to track progress throughout
the year.
Average administration time is 15-30 minutes per student: be sure
to have learning activities for other students; parent volunteers,
teacher aides, etc. can provide support.
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Kindergarten Mathematics Running Record Tool
Domain: Counting and Cardinality (CC)
Know number names and the count sequence.
K.CC.A.1
Count to 100 by ones and by tens.
K.CC.A.2
Count forward beginning from a given number within the known sequence (instead of having to begin at 1).
K.CC.A.3
Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).
Count to tell the number of objects.
K.CC.B.4
Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.
K.CC.B.4a
When counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and each number name with
one and only one object.
K.CC.B.4b
Understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted. The number of objects is the same regardless of their arrangement or the
order in which they were counted.
K.OA.B.4c
Understand that each successive number name refers to a quantity that is one larger.
K.OA.B.5
Count to answer “how many?” questions about as many as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered
configuration; given a number from 1–20, count out that many objects.
Compare numbers.
K.CC.C.6
Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and
counting strategies. Compare two numbers between 1 and 10 presented as written numerals.
Materials List for This Domain
 Student displays
 20 counters: 10 each of two colors (These may include mathematical manipulatives.)
 Crayon and paper
 Teacher recording sheet
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Kindergarten Mathematics Running Record Tool
Domain: Operations and Algebraic Thinking (OA)
Understand addition as putting together and adding to, and understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from.
K.OA.A.1
Represent addition and subtraction with objects, fingers, mental images, drawings, sounds (e.g., claps), acting out situations, verbal explanations, expressions,
or equations.
K.OA.A.2
Solve addition and subtraction word problems*, and add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem.
*Progressions for the Common Core: Kindergarten students work with “add to” and “take from” result unknown situations and “put together/take apart” total
unknown and both addends unknown situations.
K.OA.A.3
Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more
than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing
or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1).
K.OA.A.4
For any number from 1 to 9, find the number that makes 10 when added to the given number, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record the answer with a
drawing or equation.
K.OA.A.5
Fluently add and subtract within 5.
Materials List for This Domain
 Student displays
 30 counters: 15 each of two colors (These may include mathematical manipulatives such as counters or crayons, blocks, marbles to match the context of the tool
question.)
 Crayon and paper
 Teacher recording sheet
Institute for Learning 2013
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Kindergarten Mathematics Running Record Tool
Domain: Number and Operation in Base Ten (NBT)
Work with numbers 11–19 to gain foundations for place value.
K.NBT.A.1
Compose and decompose numbers from 11 to 19 into ten ones and some further ones, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each composition or
decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 18 = 10 + 8); understand that these numbers are composed of ten ones and one, two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, or nine ones.
Materials List for This Domain:
 Student displays
 Base Ten blocks: 2 tens and 15 ones (reproducible provided at the end of this document if these blocks are unavailable)
 Crayon and paper
 Teacher recording sheet
Institute for Learning 2013
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