Theoretical Foundation and Validation of the Record of Decision-Making (RODM)

This study presents the development and validation of the Record of Decision-Making (RODM), a formative assessment designed to measure beginning readers’ use of phonic elements to decode unknown words while reading. Grounded in overlapping wave theory and theories of early reading development, the RODM captures adaptive strategy use during oral reading, including rereading and subword analysis. Using multifaceted Rasch modeling, the authors demonstrate that RODM scores align with a unidimensional reading proficiency scale and reflect predictable patterns of strategy use across proficiency levels. Findings indicate that as reading proficiency increases, students employ a broader range of phonic elements and shift from basic strategies (e.g., initial letter use) to more sophisticated ones (e.g., medial and final letter use). Additionally, proficient readers exhibit greater self-correction and reduced reliance on rereading. Generalizability analysis yielded strong interrater reliability and accuracy with minimal training, suggesting its practical utility for frequent classroom use. Implications for instruction include the need to teach flexible, efficient decoding strategies that adapt to task difficulty. Future research should explore score consistency with educators in classroom settings and instructional impact.