SPC ED 587Reading Methods MR/SD

Assessment: Part I

September 6, 2006

Before Beginning Assessment

• Ensure maximum access to print/picture/logo/writing materials, etc.– Positioning– Assistive technology needs– Sensory issues that require modification of

materials (e.g., increasing size of print or picture)

Organizing Assessment: Areas to Evaluate

• Student’s language level (if appropriate)– Intentional communication? Symbolic communication?

• Symbol recognition (if appropriate)– Might include sight words or be limited to concrete objects,

photographs, or picsyms

• Listening & Speaking vocabulary– E.g., Observation; Peabody Picture Vocabulary (ask SL/P)

• Phonological awareness (if appropriate)– E.g., observation, Dibbles, Yopp-Singer

• Student’s understanding of print & attitudes toward reading/literacy activities– E.g., Concepts About Print; Early Literacy Checklist; Parent

& Student Interviews

• Word Recognition Skills – Automatic and mediated word recognition– Phonological awareness; phonemic awareness; letter

name/sound knowledge; single words; connected text• E.g., running records w/ miscue analysis, Informal reading

inventories; standardized instruments, such as W-JR; CBM; etc.; Yopp-Singer; C-TOPP

Organizing Assessment: Areas to Evaluate

• Reading & Listening comprehension– E.g., Informal reading inventories; Gray Oral Reading

Test; story re-telling checklists; story grammar maps

• Reading fluency– E.g., CBM procedures using fluency norms

• Writing (composing text)– E.g., rubrics or classroom based assessments

• Attitudes toward literacy– E.g., Reading attitude surveys; observations,

interviews

Organizing Assessment: Areas to Evaluate

Evaluating What Students Understand About Print

• Examples: Concepts About Print

Checklist of Early Literacy

Category/Item Always Sometimes Never

Attitudes Toward Reading & Voluntary Reading Behavior

Voluntarily looks at or reads books

Asks to be read to

Listens attentively while being read to

Responds with questions and comments to stories read to him or her

Concepts About Books

Checklist for Assessing Early Literacy Development(D. Katims, 2000)Name: Date:

Attitudes Toward Literacy

• Parent and student interviews

• Observation

Phonological Awareness

• Example: Yopp-Singer

• Also see reading for next week (Copeland & Calhoon for additional ways to assess with students with complex communication needs)

Reading (Word Recognition) Levels

• Independent level– Recognize minimum of 99% of

words/comprehend 90%• Instructional level

– Recognize minimum of 95% of words/comprehend 75%

• Frustration level– Recognize less than 90%/comprehend less

than 50%• Listening comprehension level

– Comprehend 75% of material read to her/him

Example of Assessment of Single word reading

Word Recognition

• Running Records – method of assessing oral reading skills– Looking at student’s errors (and analyzing

to see what types they are): – self-corrections, – Repetitions and re-readings, – hesitations, and – requests for help

• Use material at student’s instructional level

• Record student performance on top line/text on bottom line

• Calculate % of errors

• Can also examine comprehension w/ running records by using re-tellings, summarizing, etc.

Running Records

• Miscue analysis – method to examine types of errors student is making (using info from running record)– Use materials at independent or

instructional level– List errors made and categorize according

to type of error • Semantic (meaning related)• Graphophonic (visual, phonic)• Syntactic• Self-corrected• Nonword

– Calculate % for each type of error

The statue [student] answered the question.

It was as light as a father [feather].The boy walked tomorrow [through] the door.

Words Meaning Visual Syntax

Text Child Self-Correction

Similar Meaning?

Graphophonic similarity?

Grammatically acceptable?

grumble

grumbly X

always -

didn’t did not X X X

I’ll I X X X

move make X X

scarf cafr X

of or X

my me X X

scarf self X

taken take X X

scarf scafer X

that they X X

may maybe Xstill sit X

Analysis: Seth overrelies on visual cues and rarely self-corrects errors.Tompkins, G. (2007). Figure 3-2 Miscue analysis of Seth’s errors. (p. 79(

Informal reading inventory (IRI) –

• Assess student’s reading level and reading and listening comprehension

– Graded Word Lists (single words)

– Graded Reading Passages • Reading comprehension• Listening Comprehension

Interpreting IRI

• Difference between listening and instructional levels

• Difference between instructional/frustration levels

• Differences between word recognition and comprehension

• Word recognition in context vs. in isolation• Reading strategies used• Reading rate, hesitations, repetitions• Background knowledge• Type of comprehension questions student

answered/missed

Alternate Ways to Assess Reading Comprehension

• Re-telling (with/ or w/o picture support)

• Think-alouds

Reading Fluency

• Calculate rate (# of correctly read words/time)

• Also observe phrasing (chunking), hesitations, prosody (stress and intonation)

Assessing Writing

• Teacher-made rubrics and checklists