Education will resemble a new normal, when we begin a new school year in the fall. This may be a good time to take a deep breath and evaluate how we assess students and use the gathered data. What are the current assessments at the school, district, state, and national levels? Can we combined some of those assessments to serve for multiple items? Can the data from some items be used for other items, but read differently? Does the time spent testing vs the number of hours spent learning make sense? Are we using the data gained from this assessment? There is a high possibility that more students may need extra time to learn and practice new skills this upcoming year. Students’ achievement rates will (mostly) remain a mystery until students return to in-class instruction. Some students may have thrived in their “new” learning environment and be on grade-level. Some students may be a grade or more below the grade-level standard. Some students might have struggled no matter the format or crazy interruptions. Many will need the instruction and practice time to catch-up.
One measurement that should remain is universal screening* of elementary school students (Grades K-8) for grade-level achievement. This battery of short probes gives a good first look at student achievement levels and may be used to progress monitor students as they move through the school year. The probes should be based on grade-level** benchmarks, such as Grade K, phonological awareness and letter-sound correspondences and Grade 1, phonological awareness, sound-letter correspondences, oral reading, etc. Universal screenings also provide a first look at students who may be need instructional supports or deeper assessing. Response to Intervention (RTI) tiers can be developed using universal screening data. Curriculum based assessments and observations can be used to increase the validity of universal screenings and to find students testing false-positive.
Students may test false-positive, meaning the student failed to show his true achievement level on test day—usually very few students. Some students will assess positive for signs of reading disabilities, but not have a reading disability. This may be due to: (a) lack of instruction, (b) lack of practice, (c) another illness-cold, (d) bad test taker, and or (e) their pet died. These students will become apparent as a false-positive during future instruction and observations and or through data of past assessments and observations. A short follow-up assessment may also resolve the false-positive score. Treat each student that tests positive for low-academic achievement and learning disabilities, as if they were until you determine the false-positive. Treating them as a positive for a short amount of time, one to four weeks, is better than ignoring the possibility. Student self-esteem is at stake. Some students will test at the borderline or right above the cut score and should be placed in a “watch” and observe mode to monitor their progression of grade-level instruction. Some students may have parental support to assist in working with them. Some students may have classmate or friend that can help them.
Kindergarteners usually arrive at all different levels. Some will need small group instruction, while others will need more intense instruction to bring them up to grade-level achievement. Students should leave Kindergarten with good foundational skills for learning how to read and write. Every kindergarten student should be able to write a sentence, know their letters-sound correspondences and be able to read a simple sentence before moving on to Grade 1. Many will be able to read short stories and write fluid sentences. Students not at grade-level will likely be in a catch-up mode throughout their academic career.
*Universal Screening: A series of short, easy-to-administer probes of 1-3 minutes used to determine those students who are at-risk for reading acquisition. Universal screening is usually administered school or district-wide three times a year. The screening should identify 90% of the students who may be at-risk for reading acquisition. Universal screening is often used to monitor student progress and as a diagnostic assessment to determine students’ individual learning needs.
**Universal Screening Grade Level Timeline (Ray, J., 2017).
|
Reading Skill |
Column A
Gersten et al., 2009 |
Column B
Kashima et al., 2009 |
Column C
Lam & McMaster, 2014 |
Column D
NJCLD, 2011 |
| Letter naming & fluency |
Grade K-1 |
Grade K-1 |
Grade K-1 |
|
| Phoneme segmentation | Grade K-1 | Grade K-1 | ||
| Phonemic awareness
Nonsense fluency |
Grade 1 |
Grade K-3 | ||
| Word identification | Grade 1-2 | Grade K-3 | ||
| Oral reading fluency | Grade 1-2 | Grade 1 | Grade K-3 | Grade K-3 |
| Sound repetition | Grade K-1 | |||
| Vocabulary | Grade 1 | |||
| Reading comprehension | Grade 2-3 | Grade K-3 | ||
| Listening comprehension | Grade 2-3 | Grade K-3 | ||
| Written expression | Grade K-3 | |||
| Basic reading skills | Grade K-3 | |||
| Oral expression | Grade K-3 |
References
Ray, J. S. (2017). Tier 2 intervention for students in grades 1-3 identified as as-risk in reading. (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University). Retrieved from https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3826/
