PLANNING APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENTS

Created by Lane W. Clarke

EDU 743

How do assessments help our struggling readers?

We need to know what our students are struggling with before we can plan meaningful instruction?

To determine what to teach, teachers need to become “evaluation experts” (Johnson, 1987)

Would you consider yourself an “evaluation expert”???

Think about it…

Swimming in a Sea of Assessments

Teachers are told to use assessments- both summative and formative—but often don’t get the training and resources to conduct classroom assessments well (Paris & Hoffman, 2004)

Teachers are swimming in data- we don’t lack for data we struggle with how to use it!!

Do you feel like you have support to conduct and interpret assessments where you teach?

Think about it…

When we conduct assessments with our struggling readers they need to be

ReliableValidUseful

Two different types of Assessment

Summative Assessment (state/district based) Benchmark tests Standardized

tests State

assessments District

assessments Textbook

assessments

Formative Assessment (classroom based) Teacher

observations Anecdotal notes Checklists Rubrics Running records Writing samples

Do you use both formative and summative assessments? Which do you rely on more to learn about your students? Which do you rely on more to plan instruction?

Think about it…

“IF A TEACHER IS UNABLE TO EXPLAIN HOW ASSESSMENT IS USED TO INFORM INSTRUCTION, THEN THE ASSESSMENT IS OF LITTLE VALUE” (DORN & HENDERSON, 2010)

Linking Assessment and Instruction We need to know what kids can do to

use this as a starting point. We need to build on successes for

students while we move them forward in their skills.

Assessments must continue to support a teacher’s instructional decisions

Systematic Observations and documentation

Notice trajectories of students’ development over time

Connect instruction to ongoing assessments

One size DOES NOT fit all!

We need to be careful not to lump struggling readers into a homogenous groups needing the same kind of instruction.

All readers are not in the same place in their development regardless of their grade.

What are the patterns of strengths and weaknesses that the student has in literacy.

How is instruction provided to the struggling readers in your school???

Think about it….

Assessment is a reflection of instruction- it must provide evidence at two levels:

Independent What is the child

is doing/ or cal do by themselves?

Instructional What does the child

needs instruction in? Or can’t do by themselves?

Assessment of struggling readers should help us with:

Identification What does the

child struggle with?? Decoding words Comprehension Phonics Fluency Writing Phonemic

Awareness

Progress Monitoring How do I make sure

that the student is progressing? Ongoing assessment

of that skill Record keeping Summative and

formative assessments

Meetings about this student

Don’t Forget

The teacher is at the HEART of assessment