Informal Assessment: Informing Instruction C&I 222 Monday, October 12, 2011

Today’s Class Phonics/Phonemic Awareness Presentations Define Progress Monitoring Describe Informal Reading Inventories Examine Assessments in common IRIs using the Keys to Quality Assessment

Progress Monitoring Routine assessment of a student’s progress on certain key indicators, which may be compared to the typical progress of the students in the same grade. (Bell and McCallum, 2005)

Why do we do it? Accountability To measure growth individuals and groups Collect data for support personnel (school psychologist, special educators, reading specialists) to determine if a student needs support services Accountability

What can be used for Progress Monitoring? In reading, we mainly progress monitor using DIBELS. At the fourth grade level, we only use the Oral Reading Fluency, not the comprehension piece. As far as intervention is concerned, we also are to use "research-based programs delivered with integrity." This comes in the forms of Great Leaps, Six-Minute Solution, Soliloquy, Lexia, etc. We are also told that our Houghton-Mifflin reading series is a "research-based" program, but I guess that means one must deliver it exactly as stated in the teacher's edition for it to be delivered with "integrity.” The homegrown variety of progress monitoring and intervention still exists. Problem is, if you have a child for whom you want a school intervention, the school psychologists are basing their decisions on these monitoring and intervention programs. They do not seem to be putting much stock in other observations/data collection.- JoLynn, 4 th grade, Bloomington, IL

How do schools do it? I have been teaching first grade for the past 11 years. For monitoring reading progress in Austin we use the DRA, (Developmental Reading Assessment) and TPRI (Texas Primary Reading Inventory) three times a year. I keep running records on my kids until they are a year above grade level. At that point I am more interested in comprehension and real life connections than I am decoding. For that I like the kids to create products to share their ideas. – Jeanette, 1 st grade, Austin, Texas

Another…. This may not be what you're looking for, but I often ask the students how they're doing. Given the right climate, the students themselves are the best source of information. I think teaching them to monitor their own progress is far more beneficial than any external test could be. Unscientific? Sure. Important skill? Absolutely.- Ben, middle school, Morton, IL

And a Whole District: We are still in the process of figuring this all out. But here is what we have for now. Unit * uses DIBELS (K-2) for the universal screener for literacy three times per year and MAP (6-8) twice per year. Some schools are starting to use Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment to monitor progress of reading levels. Other schools are using Harcourt or A-Z materials to monitor progress. I am confident that Special Ed would have specific measures to monitor progress as part of the students' IEP. Are teachers required to use assessments selected by the district? The answer to this question is yes for K-2 and 6-8 universal screening, and Tier II intervention for literacy uses Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark assessment to analyze reading behaviors and monitor progress, to date. Additional plans will be developed this year. Do they get to use the assessments they want to use? Are they able to use their own classroom assessments? The answer to this question is yes. Teachers use informal assessments to align with curriculum and monitor progress. Kurt, Ass’t Supt. Curriculum

Informal Reading Inventories Shout Out! What do you know about Informal Reading Inventory? Provides specific and comprehensive information Must be administered one on one Administered at the beginning of the year and periodically throughout Used for determining Reading Level – Independent – Instructional – Frustration

What’s Out There? Fountas and Pinnell Qualitative Reading Inventory Observation Survey (Reading Recovery) DIBELS Basic Reading Inventory Kidwatching

What’s Included? Graded word lists Reading passages to assess fluency Passages to assess Listening Miscue Analysis Comprehension through Retell F&P includes a written section where students make a connection or explain something in the reading

12 Accurate Assessment 1. Why Assess? Keys To Quality Assessment What’s the purpose? Who will use the results? 2. Assess What? 3. Assess How? Design 4. Communicate How? What are the learning targets? Are they clear? Are they good? What method? Sampled how? Avoid bias how? How to manage information? How to report? Effectively Used Students are users, too. Students track progress and communicate. Be sure students understand targets. Students can participate in the assessment process

Discuss the Assessment With a group, review the IRI. Answer the following questions: – What are the learning targets being assessed? – What are some sources of bias to consider when administering the assessment? – What would you do with the data? What instructional strategies would you use to teach students the expected learning target?

Purpose (Users and Uses) Teachers determine Instructional and Independent reading levels Helps teachers make grouping decisions Helps teachers determine instructional needs of individuals or the class Students can self-select books Librarians and School Media Specialists can use information to direct students to “just right” reading material

Targets Assessed through IRIs Decode new words in age-appropriate material. Use a variety of decoding strategies (e.g., phonics, word patterns, structural analysis, context clues) to recognize new words when reading age-appropriate material. Use letter-sound knowledge and sight vocabulary to read orally and silently/whisper read age-appropriate material Self-monitor reading and use decoding strategies to self- correct miscues. Identify high frequency words Identify explicit main ideas. Summarize or retell information from a text. Synthesize key points and supporting details to form conclusion and to apply text information to personal experience. Identify story elements, major and secondary themes in text.

Sources of Bias to Consider Time consuming and difficult for teachers to get to all students Use of other school personnel to administer Language considerations Familiarity with “testing” behavior Unfamiliar with process of “summarizing”

Graded Word Lists vs. High Frequency Word Lists Graded Word Lists- Words are categorized by “grade level” (pre- primer-grade 12) Used to help determine reading level High Frequency Word Lists- Words used most often in reading and writing (Fry, Dolch, Nifty Thrifty Fifty)

How can this be done with authentic texts? Get a ballpark estimate of student’s reading level Select a text using readability formula Conduct a MA/RR with the student Analyze the data Determine strengths and areas for growth Select strategies

Next Time Read Reading Diagnosis, Ch 3 and Kidwatching, Ch. 6 Complete a Venn Diagram comparing the 2 readings, (Miscue Analysis vs. Running Records) Coming Up: Inquiry Groups: – AIMS web – DIBELS: Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills – AR: Accelerated Reader – Reading A-Z – Fountas and Pinnell