READING ASSESSMENTS

By: Joan Verica & Antoinette Talone

Why Do We Assess Reading

It is one of the most fundamental skills learned It is necessary to attain personal independence

and satisfaction in life Early remediation is essential for those who

have difficulty learning to read

“If a student hasn’t learned to read fluently by the end of 3rd grade-

he or she is unlikely to ever read fluently”(Adams, 1990)

Diagnostic Reading Tests

Used to improve two educational decisions

1. Children who are experiencing difficulty learning to read

-identifies strengths and weaknesses in order to plan appropriate intervention

2. Eligibility to receive or continue special services

How is Reading Taught?

• Systematically teaching the language code

- Letters and sounds Vs

• Look-Say- Whole-word

How is Reading Taught?

Prior to the 1950’s– Whole word

1955

“Why Johnny Can’t Read”

Said systematic instruction in phonics produced better readers.

How is Reading Taught?

Since then, researchers have continued to unravel the ways in which beginners learn to read.

The debate continues, however clear evidence indicates the essential role of phonics in reading

Skills Measured

These assessments measure the following skills:

Oral reading– Rate of Reading– Oral Reading

Teacher pronunciation or aid Hesitation Gross mispronunciation of a word Partial mispronunciation

Skills Measured

Omission of a word or group of wordsInsertion of a word or group of wordsSubstitution of one meaningful word for anotherRepetitionInversion or changing of word order

Skills Measured

Assessment of Reading Comprehension– Literal– Inferential– Critical– Affective– Lexical

Skills Measured

Assessment of Word Attack Skills– Used to derive the pronunciation or meaning of a

word through Phonic analysis Structural analysis Context clues

Skills Measured

Assessment of Word Recognition Skills– Ascertain “sight vocabulary”– Assess

Letter recognition Words in isolation Words in context

Skills Measured

Assessment of Other Reading and Reading Related Behaviors– Oral vocabulary– Spelling– Handwriting– Auditory discrimination

Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation GRADE

GRADE is a norm-referenced, research-based reading assessment, which can be group administered. It has 11 level: P (pre-K), K (Kdg), 1,2,3,4,5,6, M (middle School), H (high school) and A (Adult)

Purpose: GRADE is meant to be a diagnostic tool to see what reading skills students have and what skills they need to be taught. It can also be used to chart progress and monitor growth.

Characteristics of the GRADE

• Pre-K through post secondary (ages 4-18)• Test time: 1 hour to 2 hours depending on level• Two parallel forms: A and B for pre and post test

capabilities.• Separate Listening Comprehension Component at

every level• Untimed format - test of power, not speed• Multiple choice question format• Item difficulty differs throughout each subtest - Start

easy, finish easy

GRADE Subtests

Five components of reading are assessed:

• Pre-reading• Reading readiness• Vocabulary• Comprehension• Oral Language

GRADE Subtests

Pre-readingPicture MatchingPicture DifferencesVerbal Concepts

Reading ReadinessSound MatchingRhymingPrint AwarenessLetter RecognitionSame & Different WordsPhoneme-Grapheme Correspondence

VocabularyWord ReadingWord MeaningVocabulary

ComprehensionSentence Comprehension

Passage Comprehension

Oral LanguageListening Comprehension

GRADE – Growth Scale Value

A numerical anchor that provides a measure of a student’s reading achievement in reference to the entire range of achievement across all grades.

– It allows reading progress to be followed over a period of years on the same continuous scale.

What do the GRADE reports report?

Performance– Group Score Summary– Individual Score Summary– Parent Report– Reading Progress Report

Diagnostics– Individual Diagnostic Analysis– Group Diagnostic Analysis by Type

Program Evaluation– Group Diagnostic Analysis by Item– Reading Progress Report

GRADE Reliability/Validity

Scores can be converted to stanines, standard scores, percentiles, normal curve equivalencies and grade equivalencies. Reliability coefficients for alternate form and test-retest were in the .90 range.

GRADE - Costs

The cost for classroom sets, Forms A and B,

Level p through Level 6 range in price from

$230.50 to $323.50. The cost for Forms A and B,

Levels M and H is $316.99.

Summary

Grade is a standardized, norm-referenced test of reading achievement. It can be used with children from 4 to 18 years of age and provides a “growth scale value” score that can be used to track growth in reading achievement over several years. Total test score reliability data is Strong, but the subtest composite reliability data does not support the use of scores for decision making purposes although the validity data suggest that this test is a useful measure of reading skills.

Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills (DIBELS)

DIBELS are a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills from kindergarten through sixth grade.

They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of early literacy and early reading skills.

Characteristics of DIBELS

• The DIBELS measures were specifically designed to assess phonological awareness, alphabetic principle and fluency with connected text.

• The measures have been found to be predictive of later reading proficiency. Combined, the measures form an assessment system of early literacy development that allows educators to readily and reliably determine student progress.

• Time varies from one to three minutes depending on which measure is being administered.

Characteristics of DIBELS

The DIBELS is a set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development. It is designed to assess the five major skill areas in early reading identified by the National Reading Panel (2000) and the National Research Council (1998). It primarily assesses three of those: Phonological Awareness, Alphabetic Principle and Fluency with Connected Text.

DIBELS Subtests

Phonological AwarenessInitial Sounds FluencyPhonemic Segmentation Fluency

Alphabetic Principle & Phonics Letter Naming FluencyNonsense Word FluencyPrint AwarenessLetter RecognitionSame & Different WordsPhoneme-Grapheme Correspondence

Fluency with Connected TextOral Reading Fluency

ComprehensionOral Reading FluencyRetell Fluency

VocabularyWord Use Fluency

DIBELS as Indicators

DIBELS is designed to be an indicator of a student's progress toward the long-term phonemic awareness outcome of segmenting words. The notion of DIBELS as indicators is a critical one. It is this feature of DIBELS that distinguishes it from other assessments and puts it in a class of assessments known as General Outcome Measures.

Reliability/Validity

DIBELS is not designed to be a nationally norm

referenced test. It is designed to provide local

normative comparisons. Single tests are sufficient for

screening purposes, however, 3 or 4 tests must be

administered for there to be sufficient reliability.

Evidence for content validity is excellent and criterion

related validity is good.

Costs

You can download the DIBELS benchmark and

progress monitoring assessments for FREE from

the download page at this Web site: http://dibels.uoregon.edu/index.php

Summary

The DIBELS consists of 7 individually administered tests assessing phonological awareness, alphabetic understanding and fluency. Single tests are sufficient for screening purposes, however, 3 or 4 tests must be administered for there to be sufficient reliability.

The Test of Phonological Awareness, Second Edition: Plus (TOPA 2+)

The TOPA-2+ is a revision of the popular Test of Phonological Awareness. Understanding the relationships between letters and phonemes was not assessed by the original TOPA and is the reason the PLUS was added to the title.

It is a norm referenced measure of phonological awareness. It has two versions, a Kindergarten version and an Early Elementary version.

TOPA 2+

Administered individually or to groups for children ages 5 through 8 years Test times range Early Elem 15-30 min Test times range Kindergarten 30-45 min

TOPA 2+ Purpose

Intended to Identify students who need supplemental services in phonemic awareness and letter sound correspondence.

The test measures young children's ability to• isolate individual phonemes in spoken words• understand the relationships between letters and

phonemes in English.

TOPA 2+ Subtests - Kindergarten

o Phonological Awareness– Students select from a three choice array the word that

begins with the same sound of the word read by the examiner

– Students select from a three choice array the word that begins with a different sound of the word read by the examiner

o Letter Sounds

− students mark the letter in a letter array that corresponds to a specific phoneme.

TOPA 2+ Subtests – Early Elem

o Phonological Awareness– Students select from a three choice array the word

that ends with the same sound of the word read by the examiner

– Students select from a three choice array the word that ends with a different sound of the word read by the examiner

o Letter Sounds

− students spell 18 nonsense words that vary in length from two to five phonemes.

TOPA 2+ Norm

The TOPA-2+ was normed on 2,085 students from 26 states; 1,035 for the Kindergarten Version and 1,050 for the Early Elementary Version. The sample is representative of the United States across several key demographic variables

TOPA 2+ Reliability & Validity

Reliability of internal consistency is sufficient for screening and in some cases for use in making important educational decisions.

It has adequate measure for determining which students are unlikely to need additional instructional services in reading

TOPA 2+ Summary

TOPA 2+ assesses phonemic awareness using beginning and ending sounds and letter sound correspondence at the K and early Elem levels.

Overall care should be taken when interpreting the results.

Dilemmas in Current Practice

Curriculum match Test-curriculum match Selection of tests generalization