How Do You Assess Emergent Literacy?

1. How Do You Assess Emergent Literacy? Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 2 – Barr, R. et. al., (2007) Reading diagnosis for teachers: an instructional approach. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc. Benedictine University

2. Reading Dimensions of Early Readers • Phoneme Awareness • Sound of Written Language • Concept of Story • Alphabet Knowledge • Letter-Sound Knowledge • Word Awareness • Sight Vocabulary • Decoding Ability • Spelling Ability • Contextual Reading Benedictine University

3. Assessments for Emergent Readers • Storybook Reading Procedures • Alphabet Knowledge • Letter-sound Knowledge • Developmental Spelling Knowledge • Word Awareness • Phonological Awareness Assessments • Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) • http://pals.virginia.edu/ • Yopp Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation • Dynamic Indicators and Basic Literacy Skills (DIBELS) • Illinois Snapshot of Early Literacy (ISEL) Benedictine University

4. How Do You Assess Decoding Issues? Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 5– Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc Benedictine University

5. Decoding • Decoding involves four processors: • Orthographic (letter) • Phonological (sound) • Meaning • Context • Observing which processors a student is using to decode a word can help a teacher plan appropriate instruction Benedictine University

6. Decoding Tests • Use IRIs, observations, interviews and word list tests to verify decoding issues • Published tests and surveys: • Word Patterns Survey (Appendix A) • Syllable Survey (Appendix A) • Beginning Phonics Skills Test • Phonics subtest of the Diagnostic Assessments of Reading (DAR) • Core Phonics • Be wary of tests only using nonsense words • Be wary of spelling-only tests for decoding Benedictine University

7. Decoding • Analyze the test results: • Does the reader use context? • Does the reader use phonological clues? • Does the reader know basic phonics? Benedictine University

8. How Do You Assess Comprehension? Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 5– Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc Benedictine University

9. Comprehension • Difficult to assess because of the number of factors involved: • Background knowledge • Vocabulary knowledge • Lack of strategies • Lack of decoding/fluency • Lack of attention • Inadequate language development • Lack of developed thinking skills Benedictine University

10. Comprehension Assessments • Retelling • To assist in grading, have a check list of important details that the student should mention in the retelling • Think-Alouds • Use before, during and after reading • Look for student’s ability to use strategies to assist comprehension • Questionnaires and Interviews • Ask students to assess what they do while reading (See example survey on page 134 in Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties) Benedictine University

11. Comprehension Assessments • Observations • Construct an observation checklist to determine what you are looking for • Anecdotal Records • Look for behaviors in a variety of settings • Look for successes as well as failures • Background Knowledge • Assess by having students write down in 1-3 minutes all the words they can think of relating to a key word in the story Benedictine University

12. How Do You Assess Vocabulary Knowledge? Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 5– Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc Benedictine University

13. Vocabulary Knowledge • Assess listening, speaking and reading vocabulary • Doesn’t always require an additional test – can be done through previous observations, interviews or analysis of IRIs • Low vocabulary/ high comprehension= a possiblelanguagedifficulty • High vocabulary/ low comprehension= the student has the potentialto read better, but is: • Notusing effective reading techniques or strategies • Ormay have cognitive processing issues • Attention problems, weak strategies, visual processing problems, etc. Benedictine University

14. Standardized Tests of Vocabulary • The following tests assess vocabulary in context using a modified cloze: • Degrees of Reading Power • http://www.questarai.com/Products/DRPProgram/Pages/default.aspx • Diagnostic Reading Scales • Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests • http://www.pearsonassessments.com/HAIWEB/Cultures/en-us/Productdetail.htm?Pid=WRMT-III Benedictine University

15. How Do You Assess Study Skills? Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 5– Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc Benedictine University

16. Study Skills • Assess study skills through methods similar to those for assessing comprehension • Look at student performance on tests and quizzes that require home preparation • Assess students’ habits, attitudes, motivation and the strategies that they use… • Sample interview questions are on page 137 in Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties Benedictine University