Balancing the complex and the simple or why these measures? part deux Sylvia Linan-Thompson

Can one instrument work in multiple grades? Yes. Variables to consider: –Floor and ceiling effects –Different “mastery” criteria by age and/or grade –Ease of comparability of data over time and across grades

Assessment Type: General Outcome Measure Advantages Curriculum independent Measures student growth towards long-term outcomes

How can something so simple take so much time? There are rules to follow for each measure. Rules reflect orthography of language. Need to control level of difficulty. Have to determine that measures work in the same way across languages.

Rules Letter naming –Have a mix of most common and less common letters. –The order does not progress from easier to more difficult. –Consider the font.

Rules Alphabetic principle –Use only letter combinations that are possible in the language –Follow orthography rules –Make sure words are not real words in another language children might know

Rules Text reading –Consider the level of difficulty of vocabulary –Length of passage –Topic –Narrative vs. informative

How about math? We know less about math than reading but there are some parallels.

Similar to reading, Early predictors Early assessments Early interventions EQUAL Changed trajectories

Early Predictor Number sense –An awareness of the underlying logic of mathematics, ability to perform mental math

Big Ideas Number sense Geometry Measurement Mathematics vocabulary Chard, Baker,Clarke, Jungjohann, Davis, & Smolkowski (in press).

Early Assessments Comparison of numbers Plane geometry Mathematics vocabulary –Two more, twice as many Chard, Baker,Clarke, Jungjohann, Davis, & Smolkowski (in press).

Early Assessments: Screens Fluency measures in: –Oral counting Requires students to count from 1 as high as they can. –Number identification Requires students to identify orally numerals between 0 and 10 from a page of randomly selected numerals. Clarke, Baker, Smolkowski, & Chard (2007)

Early Assessments: Screens Fluency in: –Identifying missing numbers Requires students to name the missing numeral from a string of numerals between 0 and 10. –Quantity discrimination Requires students to name the larger of two visually presented numerals between 1 and 10 Clarke, Baker, Smolkowski, & Chard (2007)

Framework The use of mathematical models to represent math concepts essential in the development of number sense Mathematics related discourse is taught explicitly Procedural fluency and automaticity Chard, Baker,Clarke, Jungjohann, Davis, & Smolkowski (in press).

Early Intervention Exposes children to: –Numbers through 100 –Common geometric shapes and their attributes –Measurement concepts of time, telling time to the hour –Measurement with non-standard units and inches Chard, Baker,Clarke, Jungjohann, Davis, & Smolkowski (in press).

Early Intervention Exposes children to: –Money identification and counting –Magnitude comparisons –Add 1 to number –Solve simple addition and subtraction story problems Chard, Baker,Clarke, Jungjohann, Davis, & Smolkowski (in press).

What Do We Know? Students who fail to develop number sense tend to have difficulty with later math concepts. The later children are identified as needing support, the more difficult it is to catch up! Measures of early predictors are being identified. Early intervention in critical math areas are promising.