What I Wished I Knew About Reading Assessment

What is Assessment?

• Growing Success states "Assessment is the process of gathering information that accurately reflects how well a student is achieving the curriculum expectations in a subject or course. The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning."

What are the Types of Assessment?

• Assessment FOR Learning
• Assessment AS Learning
• Assessment OF Learning

Assessment FOR Learning

• Assessment for learning is assessment at the beginning of a unit or term. It is used to determine what students already know.
• It is used to plan instruction to best meet the needs of students.

Assessment AS Learning

• Assessment as learning is ongoing assessment throughout a unit or term. It is used to determine whether students are progressing and whether instruction is effective.
• The assessment data gathered is used to inform instruction

Assessment OF Learning

• Assessment of learning is assessment that occurs at the end of a unit or school year. It is an assessment of what students have learned. It is used to evaluate student achievement.
• It can also be used to determine the effectiveness of instruction

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The Balance of Assessment
The majority of assessment should be assessment for and as learning. They focus on students' strengths and needs and the data is used to guide instruction

Assessment Tools and Strategies

• There are a variety of assessment tools and strategies that can provide information about a student's reading ability and can help to make informed decisions about each and every student

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Assessment Tools

• Assessment for Learning: letter identification, phonemic awareness tasks, running records, DRA, reading attitude and interest surveys
• Assessment as Learning: running records, rubrics, checklists, conferences, retells, anecdotal notes/observations, portfolios, reading responses

Assessment Tools

• Assessment of Learning: rubrics, checklists, DRA, running records, reading response tasks, portfolios, retells, reading conferences

Running Records

• A running record is a record of student's oral reading that includes observations of the student's behaviours while reading.
• "Running Records capture what children know and understand about the reading process... They provide an opportunity to analyze what happened and plan appropriate instruction. "

Why Use Running Records?

• Can be done quickly and frequently
• Can determine specific next steps for individual students
• Can provide a lot of information about students strengths and needs
• Can be utilized in assessment for, as and of learning

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Observation Survey

• Marie Clay's Observation survey is 6 tasks that include: letter identification, word test, concepts about print, writing vocabulary, hearing and recording sounds in words and text reading.
• Good assessment for learning of emergent readers

Observation Survey

• These tasks test a student’s ability to "identify letters, knowledge of concepts of print, ability to identify high-frequency words, ability to write known words, knowledge of and/or ability to apply letter-sound relationships, and other reading skills."

Reading Conference

• Reading conferences are conversations with students about reading
• They offer the opportunity to have authentic conversations about books, help set reading goals, select reading material, and plan instruction
• Can be used as assessment for and as learning

Why have a Reading Conference?

• Can provide insight into students perceptions of their strengths and needs
• Can be used to gain information about a variety of items such as attitude toward reading, comprehension, and use of reading strategies

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Anecdotal Notes

• Anecdotal notes are observations the teacher makes about students' progress of meeting expectations and reading goals
• Great for assessment for and as learning to help guide future instruction and to see student growth over time

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Why use Anecdotal Notes?

• Provide observations of student acheivement and attitudes about reading over time
• Capture observations that might otherwise be lost
• Can be completed quickly and frequently

Developmental Reading Assessment

• Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) is a reading assessment that includes reading engagement, evaluating oral reading fluency, analyzing and recording oral reading, and comprehension levels
• It allows teachers to analyze the results to personalize instruction and set guided reading groups

DRA2

• DRA2 is often used as assessment for learning to gauge where students are starting and then mid year and at the end of the year to see student growth
• It is often used school-wide which creates consistent assessment data and can help to see student growth over years

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Why use DRA?

• Can determine students' reading level
• Allows the teacher to see trends within the classroom
• Get information about students' strengths and needs in terms of reading engagement, oral reading fluency, and comprehension

Assessment for ALL Students

• When planning assessment it is important to consider all learners including special education and English Language Learners
• We need to consider equity in reading assessments

What is Equity?

• Equity in assessment means giving students an equal opportunity to demonstrate their abilities

Providing Equitable Assessments

• Use accommodations and modifications when necessary
• Use multiple assessments to get a good understanding of students’ reading abilities
• Provide students with choices of reading assessments where possible
• Ensure reading goals are clear and understood by students

Providing Equitable Assessments

• Carefully consider the texts chosen for students - try to provide texts that relate to students and their experiences
• Ensure assessments align with curriculum and teaching to give students everything they need to be successful

Helpful Resources

• Growing Success - Information about assessment, evaluation, and reporting of student achievement
• Curriculum Documents - Explore the assessment and evaluation section and the achievement charts

Helpful Resources

• Guide to Effective Instruction in Reading: Kindergarten to Grade 3 - This document was developed by reading experts and provides in-depth information and materials about effective reading instruction and assessment

Helpful Resources

• Guide to Effective Literacy Instruction: Grades 4 to 6 - Volume 2 focuses on assessment and provides in-depth summaries and examples of a variety of assessment tools and strategies

The Take-Aways

• Assessment is used to guide your instruction
• You need to use a variety of assessment tools
• The assessment tool you choose needs to match the data you need
• Always consider whether your assessments are fair and equitable