Assessments in Reading
Models of Reading Assessment
Automatic Word Recognition
Contextual Model: mismatch between the type of instruction and the manner in which a child learns. Contextual factors beyond the scope of school (emotionally troubled home life) may impair reading development
Learning Style Model: children have individual learning styles that can be diagnosed and matched to appropriate instruction. not found to be valid
Deficit Model: the difficulty resides with the students (remediation and remedial learner)
Stage Models: Stages of Reading Development, Growth of Word Recognition, Development of Spelling Does not inform specific ways students need to be taught
Cognitive Model: Reading comprehension depends on automatic recognition of the words in the text, comprehension of the language in the text, the ability to use the strategies needed to achieve one's purpose in reading the text
Fluency: reading accurately but not quickly enough to make sense of what they are reading. Observed and measured through oral reading
Sight Words: words a child recognizes automatically
Decoding: Acquisition of the alphabetic principle, the ability of blend letter-sounds into words, ability to use phonograms and analogies
Phonological Awareness: awareness of the sounds that comprise spoken words
Language Comprehension
Background Knowledge: Often students rely on prior knowledge when answering questions about passages
Sentence Structures: Written sentences are seldom heard in conversation, students must learn them by reading
Vocabulary: knowledge of word meanings is the best predictor for comprehension. Most words are learned from exposure in context
Text Structures: structural patterns in text that are common to particular genres
Strategic Knowledge
Reading problems may stem from not knowing what strategy should be used for a given purpose
The general goal of reading is to comprehend text
Proficient readers have different strategies for reading different types of text for different purposes
Common Formative Assessments
Considerations for ELLs
Considerable bias exists in English based assessments developed for native English speakers
When completing a running record it is important to note the varied English pronunciation patterns
Retelling: orally report the information that was seen, heard, or read
Prompted Recall: ask questions that force students to think about the text at higher levels than they would without prompting
Running Records: evaluation of oral reading miscues/errors. take notice of student self-corrections
Informal Reading Inventories: DRAs- these inventories have been tested and developed over time with large groups of children
Lexile Scale: based on the sentence length and frequency of the usage of text's words. Matches students with appropriate leveled texts
ELL students should be tested in their first language and have that score compared to an English assessment
Best way to offset bias is to use multiple forms of assessment in both English and L1