1 Reading Assessments

2 EAs often assist with student assessments by conducting ______________________ assessments of language skills

3 Informal Assessments EAs provide verbal feedback to a teacher about the reading progress of a particular child _________________________ –EA’s opinion based on his/her experience of child’s reading abilities, strengths and needs

4 Formal Assessments Standardized, norm-referenced, commercially prepared assessments of reading levels and specific reading skills ___________________________ (Two people administering same test will arrive at the same result)

5 Why is Testing Needed? To prepare for reporting to parents To assess child’s strengths and needs to plan for further teaching As part of investigative process for ________________ of a child with special needs

6 Teacher chooses When to test What assessment tool to use Which children to test – (entire class or selected children) EA ____________________________________ ____________________________________

7 Slosson Oral Reading Vocabulary Test A _______________________ test used widely in schools The test will produce a measure of the child’s __________________________ (by grade) Tests __________________ not comprehension

8 Equipment Needed Slosson master sheet of word lists for grades K to 8 (results scored on this sheet) Separate word list for each grade pasted on cards

9 Procedure Quiet room with desk and chair for child to sit at and a chair for tester beside and slightly behind child (child should not be able to see you writing) Explain procedure to child and relax them as much as possible (_________________________________)

10 What to say to child? “Today I am going to show you some lists of words Some lists will be easy and some will be harder We will stop when the words get too hard”

11 What if they ask what you are writing? “I am making notes so I can tell your teacher what he still needs to teach you.” ____________________________________ ____________________________________ – E.G. If working with a grade 5 child that you think is reading at a grade 3 or grade 4 level, start with the list for grade 2

12 How to Begin Place the first list on the desk in front of the child and ask them to read the words ____________________________________ ____________________________________

13 Scoring the Test Put a ________ beside each word that the child says correctly Put a ________ beside a word that they do not know Put a ____ and the _____________ said when they make a mistake for a word (this will tell you what reading cues they are using)

14 What if they ask for help? If a child looks to you or asks you for help, say “ ______________________________.” If you help them at all with a word, ________________________________ (You can help them find where they were on a list if they lose their place)

15 When To Stop Stop when they miss or say incorrectly ____________________________________ Ask them (for that list only) if there are any more words on the list that they know. Give the child a check for any words farther down that list that they know. Do not go on to another list. Say “ The words are getting hard aren’t they. Let’s stop there.”

16 Scoring the Results On the bottom of each list, write the total number of words that the child said correctly. If you started at list 3, ________________________________________ Carry those column totals over and record in the box in the lower right hand corner of the sheet. Total all those numbers. That total is _____________________________________.

17 Interpreting the Results Example A – Billy’s raw score is 62 – Divide the number by 2 (equals 31) – Move the decimal place one place to the left (3.1) ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________

18 3.1? The number to the left of the decimal _____________________ The number to the right of the decimal is the __________________ – September is.1 – January is.5 – May is.9

19 Billy’s score Billy’s raw score is 62 Billy’s reading level is 3.1 Billy is reading at the level we would expect an average child to be reading at in September of grade 3

20 Other examples Mary’s raw score is 81 What is her reading level? Johnny’s raw score is 13 What is his reading level? (Can also check raw score on a table for grade level)

21 Another example Lois read the first three lists. The column totals were P (20) 1 (19) 2(11) (we stopped here because she made 3 errors in a row) What is her raw score? What is her reading level?

22 What this means For this number to be meaningful, we have to compare Billy’s reading level to his grade level. You administered the test in March when Billy was in grade four. Therefore his grade level is (March is the 7 th month of the year)

23 Comparison Billy’s reading level is 3.1 Billy’s grade level is 4.7 This means Billy’s reading is approximately one and a half years behind where we would expect him to be at this stage

24 Some further notes Results will vary from day to day so a child may score 4.5 one week and 4.4 the next This a rough measure of reading level so a

25 To get the most accurate result, do the test several times, a week or so apart If the test results to not fit in with the teacher’s (or your) subjective assessment of the child’s level, ____________________________________ _ Be aware a child may score quite low because ___________________________

26 What to do with the results The teacher will file the assessment sheet with his/her records for that child The test needs to be completed in a neat and complete manner, with a standard method of marking ____________________________________ ____________________________________

27 Finally Remember this is a test of reading vocabulary not reading comprehension Some children may be able to “word call” lists of words quite easily but cannot understand the meaning in a passage of text in which those words appear.