Classroom Assessment Prole !

Classroom Assessment Profile

EDU 741 Literacy Assessments Tracy Roberts August 5, 2012

Classroom Assessment Prole !

Classroom Assessment Profile

Name of the assessment

Developmental Reading Assessment

The DRA is mainly a summative

DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)

Formative or Summative assessment, mandated by our school

The DIBELS assessment is administered to Kindergarten and 1st district. It is administered in Graders in our school district. It is September as a screening tool, as well used as a formative assessment. as in June to identify a child"s The DIBELS is conducted three times independent reading level upon a year (September, February, June). graduating to the next grade. This Although it is given in June, it still assessment can also be used as a works as a formative assessment, formative assessment (in December) informing school staff of at-risk readers to progress monitor a child"s reading and setting them up for intervention development mid-way through the immediately following summer year. The DRA is administered onevacation. The DIBELS is conducted on-one, using a scripted kit. by our school"s literacy interventionists, in a one-on-one, pullout fashion. The DRA provides a teacher with a multitude of data about a student"s reading growth. Teachers are able to obtain information regarding student"s reading engagement, oral reading uency, accuracy and self-correction rates, vocabulary, and comprehension. When analyzing the running record portion of this assessment, teachers can see whether the child is making meaning, visual, or structural errors in reading and the decoding strategies that a student uses while reading unfamiliar text. Using the DRA, an independent reading level is also identied. The DIBELS assessment is a set of seven measures used as indicators for phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, accuracy and uency with connected text, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. It is designed to identify students who are decient in basic early literacy skills and who may be at-risk to difculties with reading development. It"s benchmarks work as expectations for specic grade-levels, at particular times during a school year. Students participate in a variety of subtests, including letter naming uency, phoneme segmentation uency, nonsense word uency, oral reading uency, and retell uency.

Data collected with this assessment

Classroom Assessment Prole !

Timeline for reviewing and using this data to inform instruction

With this assessment being administered in September, as a screening tool and in June, the timeline varies a bit. In September, an independent text level is identied and once all students (one-on-one) have been assessed, data is used to form instructional Guided Reading groups and inform instruction that will meet the needs of all students. In June, the DRA is used as a summative assessment, so data is reviewed immediately for report cards and an end of year RTI meeting, but also on placement cards for next year"s teacher. The June DRA results are also used the following school year, as teachers try to identify an independent reading level after the long summer break.

The DIBELS assessment is unique in our district because it is not administered by classroom teachers, but by the reading interventionists who are aiding to develop literacy plans for struggling readers. The assessment is conducted in September, February, and June. The DIBELS is used as a screening tool, as well as progress monitoring. Data is brought to the RTI committee for review, so that intervention groups can be developed at each grade level. For this, data is not immediately reported. Reading interventionists administer the assessment to each student, one-onone, and it takes time to create a prole for each class, given the size of our school. The results are usually shared with classroom teachers within a two-week span and teachers can then use the data to implement intervention strategies to the students identied as decient. The DIBELS data is reported to the classroom teacher from each reading interventionist. This comes in the form of a spreadsheet, with color-coded keys to identify children who scored in the ranges of established, emerging, or decient in each subtest. The data sheet also provides the teacher with the actual number score, so teachers can see where the students" scores fall in each skill. The DIBELS data is also reported to the RTI committee, which utilizes the data when deciding students who will receive Tier 1, 2, or 3 support. DIBELS data can also be discussed with parents during Parent Teacher Conferences.

How will this data be reported?

The DRA data is given in the individual classroom, but then reported in a variety of ways. First, the classroom teacher must place the results in a spreadsheet and send it to the Title One coordinator and administrator. This is also passed on to the Reading Recovery staff for review, as well as the RTI committee. This enables the team to make informed decisions regarding intervention and support. The data is reported on the trimester report cards to parents, stating a child"s independent reading level and whether it exceeds, meets, partially meets, or does not meet the standard for that particular time of year.

Classroom Assessment Prole !

How will this data provide you with information to support the learning of your students?

The DRA provides information to support the learning of students, most importantly, because it identies independent text level. This is used to form Guided Reading groups and to instruct children on books that are justright for them. When a text is too easy or challenging, students are not receiving the best direct literacy instruction. Leveled text allows students to focus on literacy skills that will help them grow as a reader. The DRA also focuses on critical reading skills, so a teacher is able to tailor instruction around areas of need, specically in comprehension, uency, oral reading, or vocabulary development. If a child scores particularly low in a given area, small group instruction can reiterate those skills until they are mastered, along with classroom Literacy Workstations and individual reading conferences.

When DIBELS data is released, deciencies are very evident. Teachers can easily see parts of literacy development that are lacking, and targeted instruction can begin. These early literacy skills can be developed through Guided Reading groups, Literacy Workstations, or through whole-group mini-lessons, depending on the nature of skills. This assessment truly concentrates on children who are at-risk for reading difculties, so support is also at the school-wide level. DIBELS scores help to provide Tier 2 and 3 support to struggling readers, usually through Title One intervention, Reading Recovery, Fundations, or the Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention kit.

How does this assessment This assessment supports support differentiation? differentiation because it enables a

The DIBELS assessment supports differentiation because it"s data teacher to create differentiated Guided centralizes around specic early Reading groups based on reading literacy skills that may be difcult for level, emerging reading skills, and students. These early literacy skills strategies needed for reading success. are the foundation for reading It pinpoints areas of need, so Literacy development, so it is vital that Workstations can be modied or differentiation take place in order to accommodations can be made to help instruct to these specic skills. Onechildren meet their personal goals. on-one instruction, small targeted The DRA helps to ensure that each intervention groups, Literacy child"s at-home reading books are Workstations, Title One support, and leveled just-right for them, providing at-home programs should all focus on the perfect amount of challenge, but these decient skills. avoiding frustration. Accommodations and modications must be made for individual students that are still at-risk in these areas.

Classroom Assessment Prole !

Reection
! This template is beneficial in reflecting upon the assessments used in my 1st Grade classroom

and school district because it encourages you to take a closer look into the particulars. The template is organized and has a compare and contrast feel, so you can easily see the pros and cons of each assessment, in comparison to similar assessments. I think that this activity also enables you to think about the data that each assessment provides, the skills present, and zooms in on how you can use the assessment to better your literacy instruction and further meet the needs of the diverse students in a classroom through differentiation, accommodation, and modification. Not only do the assessments inform instruction, but they also show the varied skills that a child has mastered and concepts that need additional support and this template solidifies that belief. The reflection process helps you to identify assessments that are effective, and helps a teacher to see which classroom assessments drive the bestpractice instruction that we all strive for.