2. According to The Access Center (2005),
assessment is a critical component of education
used to inform instruction.
A classroom is comprised of students with diverse
backgrounds and varying literacy skills.
Due to diverse student levels, it is essential to
design literacy instruction to meet the individual
needs of each student.
An effective reading program includes four types of
assessments: screening, diagnostic, progress
monitoring, and outcome measures.
3.
Screening assessments are used to identify students
who may be at risk for reading difficulties and in need
of further diagnostic testing of their needs.
EXAMPLES:
The Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) is an example
of a universal screening assessment. This computer
based assessment can be used to measure reading
comprehension on the Lexile Framework for Reading.
The results from SRI help to inform instruction and
make placement recommendations.
Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading (FAIR)
offers broad screening tasks.
4.
Diagnostic assessments help to determine both a student’s
strengths and areas of weakness. The results allow the
teacher to modify instruction to meet each student’s unique
needs.
EXAMPLE:
The Core Phonics Survey is an example of a diagnostic
assessment. It is used to indicate whether or not a student
needs instruction in specific phonics areas, or if further
assessment is required. Each survey contains a number of
lists of letters and words for the student to identify or decode.
This assessment should be administered individually.
FAIR can also provide diagnostic information that is critical to
guiding instruction.
5.
Through repeated testing, progress monitoring assessments are
used to determine if students are making adequate progress or need
more intense instruction to achieve grade-level reading goals.
EXAMPLES:
EasyCBM, an enhanced district assessment system, provides
teachers with various assessment options, allowing teachers to
monitor students’ progress at every tier of the RTI process. Teachers
select the grade level difficulty of the measure and area they want to
access. Assessment areas include word reading fluency, passage
reading fluency, and multiple choice reading comprehension.
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) can be
used to monitor the development of early reading skills from
kindergarten through sixth grade through short (one minute) fluency
measures.
6.
Outcome measures, also known as summative
assessments, are used to evaluate the
effectiveness of a reading program in relation to
established performance levels. This assessment
is usually administered at the end of the year.
EXAMPLES:
Standardized tests, such as the FCAT, accurately
reflect state performance and content area
standards and provide an indication of how many
students are meeting predetermined grade-level
expectations (Johnson & Jenkins, 2009).
End-of-the-Chapter Tests
7. Johnson, E. & Jenkins, J. (2009). Formative
and summative assessment. Retrieved from
http://www.education.com/reference/ar
ticle/formative-and-summativeassessment/
The Access Center. (2005). Early reading
assessment: A guiding tool for instruction.
Retrieved from
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/1
4510/
