Running Record Stars
A fluency timer and running record calculator for teachers.
Need help, found a bug, or want to suggest something? Write to info@luminakids.org. A real person answers.
Timed counts down from a length you set — 30 seconds, one minute, or anything up to 30 minutes. The alarm sounds on its own when time is up, so you can keep your eyes on the child.
Open counts up from zero and runs until you stop it. Use this when the child reads a whole passage rather than for a fixed time.
Tap Start when the child begins. Mark miscues on your own form as you normally would. The screen stays awake while the clock runs.
Pause stops the clock and leaves you the choice to Resume or Finish. In both modes, whatever time the clock reached becomes the reading time.
Words read, errors, and self-corrections. Tap a field and type; the keyboard moves you through all three in one pass. Self-corrections are not counted as errors.
Everything recalculates as you type. Copy the numbers onto whatever form or spreadsheet you already use.
These follow the conventions established by Marie Clay and used in Reading Recovery.
Words per minute = (words read − errors) ÷ minutes.
The app also shows the rate before errors are subtracted.
Accuracy = (words read − errors) ÷ words read × 100.
Error rate = words read ÷ errors, expressed as 1:X.
Self-correction rate = (errors + self-corrections) ÷ self-corrections, expressed as 1:X. A ratio of 1:3 or better suggests the child is monitoring their own reading.
Level — 95% accuracy and above is independent, 90–94% is instructional, below 90% is hard.
Check the speaker button at the top of the timer card. When it shows a crossed-out speaker, the alarm vibrates but stays silent. Tap it to turn the sound back on.
If the sound is on and you still hear nothing, note that the app is designed to play through the silent switch on purpose — a classroom phone usually lives on silent. If it isn't sounding, check the volume buttons while the app is open.
Yes. Tap the speaker button once and the app remembers your choice. Vibration still fires, so a phone face-up on the desk will still tell you time is up.
Yes. When the reading is finished, tap the pencil next to the reading time and type the minutes and seconds. The time is read-only until you tap that button, so you can't change it by accident.
There aren't any, by design. The app keeps no history and stores no student information, which is what keeps it outside FERPA and COPPA entirely. Transcribe the numbers onto your own form before starting a new reading.
No. The app has no recording feature and never asks for microphone access.
Yes. On iPad the screen splits into two columns — clock on the left, data on the right. iOS 16 or later is required on both devices.
The interface is in English. The math is language-independent, so it works for running records taken in any language, including Spanish-language records in dual-language classrooms.
For anything not answered here, write to info@luminakids.org. When reporting a bug, it helps to include your device model and iOS version.