Reading Horizons Discover Assessment

1. Reading Horizons Discover Assessment Stacy Hurst stacy@readinghorizons.com November 29, 2012

2. Objectives of Today’s Presentation We will discuss… • the purpose, design, and administration of each type of assessment available in Reading Horizons Discovery direct instruction materials as well as the software. • how to use results from these assessments to guide instruction. • the relationship of Reading Horizons Discovery assessments to other assessments used to evaluate reading progress.

3. Objectives of Today’s Presentation: • Discuss the purpose, design, and administration of each type of assessment available in Reading Horizons Discovery direct instruction materials as well as the software. • How to use results from these assessments to guide instruction. • The relationship of Reading Horizons Discovery assessments to other assessments used to evaluate reading progress.

4. Two General Types of Assessment Formative Assessment • used during the learning process • can have an immediate influence on instruction • is usually not quantified/graded • feedback is more “in the moment” • process oriented

5. Two General Types of Assessment Summative Assessment • used to “sum up” what students have learned up to specified points in the instructional sequence • is quantified/graded • feedback is not necessarily immediate • influence on instruction is more remedial in nature • focus is on the outcome

6. Direct Instruction Assessments Formative Assessments: • Dictation Process • Transfer Cards • Reading • Writing • Games

7. Direct Instruction Assessments Summative Assessments • Skill Checks • Chapter Tests • Comprehension Questions • Spelling Tests • Coming Soon: Running Records

8. Skill Checks • Created to provide feedback on student progress with skills within each chapter • Can be given after a chapter test or intermittently during chapter instruction • Administered one-on-one • Teacher form and student form • Can be scored/administered one skill at a time or as a whole

9. Assessment to Guide Instruction • Can be used to ‘catch’ students before they get too far behind. • Especially useful for measuring MCWs

10. Chapter Tests • Created to measure student learning for the content of each chapter • Administered whole group or small group • Can be administered/scored skill by skill • Can be given as a pre-test as well as at the end of each chapter • Each skill in the chapter is tested • Each chapter test is worth 50 points • Reference lesson section is separate and optional

11. Assessment to Guide Instruction • Use as a pre-test to determine instructional course • Use to identify students who need further intervention/remediation

12. Comprehension Questions Inference Main Idea Inference Detail Vocabulary

13. Assessment to Guide Instruction • Can be used to determine comprehension strategies that need to be taught, practiced or emphasized • Provides an opportunity for vocabulary instruction • Can pinpoint areas of strength and weakness in comprehending text

14. Software Assessments Formative • Performance on the activities in each lesson influences instruction • Vocabulary Word Wall • Time spent in each section of the software is measured and recorded

16. Software Assessments Summative • Phonemic Awareness • Spelling/Word Recognition • Most Common Word Assessment • Passage/Story Comprehension • Chapter Tests

17. Phonemic Awareness • Assess seven areas of phonemic awareness (rhyming, syllables, initial sound, blending, final sound, medial sound, segmentation) • Designed to be a ‘readiness’ measure and to identify students who have not mastered these skills

19. Assessment to Guide Instruction • If a student fails a section of the assessment, they receive instruction for that element of phonemic awareness • Teachers can use results to provide direct instruction for struggling students

20. Spelling/Word Recognition • Test was created to identify skills that students have mastered as well as to show progress throughout the program • The test is a feature analysis so it is more diagnostic in nature • Spelling and reading scores are compared • Stops when student misses multiple features or words in a row • Is given up to four times throughout the software • Challenges students who decode well

22. Assessment to Guide Instruction • Information can be used to accelerate instruction • Identifies ‘holes’ that students may have in decoding by identifying specific skills that were not mastered • Provides insight to level of mastery by comparing spelling to reading using the same words • Shows how the student actually spelled each word

23. Most Common Words • Designed to assess automatic recognition of up to 300 of the most frequently used English words • Timer can be modified • Determines which Most Common Words lessons students receive on the software

24. Assessment to Guide Instruction • Can pinpoint specific words that students struggle with • Can be used for instruction across grade levels • Provides direction for accelerated readers

25. Passage/Story Comprehension • Given at the end of each story • Measures four areas of comprehension (main idea, detail, inference, and vocabulary) • Students take it twice and scores are compared • Half fiction, half non-fiction stories • WPM is recorded for teacher to see • Questions and possible answers are read to the student

28. Assessment to Guide Instruction • Identifies areas of strength and weakness in comprehension over time • Informs comprehension instruction for individuals as well as the whole class • Can compare silent reading fluency (wpm) with level of comprehension • Provides an opportunity for specific vocabulary instruction

29. Chapter Tests • Created to measure student learning for the content of each chapter • Can be administered to each student at the same time • Can be taken in place of, or in addition to, the paper/pencil version of the test • Can be given as a pre-test (for placement) as well as at the end of each chapter

30. Chapter Tests • Each skill in the chapter is tested twice in isolation and at least once in context • Chapter tests on the software include more response opportunities than the paper/pencil version • Reference lesson section is included for all students taking the reference lessons • Students earn coins for taking the test • Class averages are reported for each skill as well as the test as a whole

32. Assessment to Guide Instruction • Students failing an area of the assessment will receive additional instruction followed by assessment • Results can be ‘dialed down’ to the smallest skill or overall lesson content • Provides information for differentiated instruction • Skills in isolation and in context can be compared

33. Objectives of Today’s Presentation: • Discuss the purpose, design, and administration of each type of assessment available in Reading Horizons Discovery direct instruction materials as well as the software. • How to use results from these assessments to guide instruction. • The relationship of Reading Horizons Discovery assessments to other assessments used to evaluate reading progress.

34. Discovery Assessments and Other Assessments Reading Horizons Discovery assessmentsprovide information with how well students are responding to the instruction delivered within the program. However, if there are other reading assessments that are in place on the school, district, or state level, they can be used in conjunction with Discovery assessments to measure progress and identify areas that require specific types of instruction.

35. Types of Assessments in an RtI/MTSS Framework • Screening • Diagnostic Assessments • Progress Monitoring Assessments • Outcome Assessments

36. Some Examples • Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) • Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) or other Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) • Basal assessments • Running Records • Writing Assessments

37. Objectives of Today’s Presentation We discussed… • the purpose, design, and administration of each type of assessment available in Reading Horizons Discovery direct instruction materials as well as the software. • how to use results from these assessments to guide instruction. • the relationship of Reading Horizons Discovery assessments to other assessments used to evaluate reading progress.

38. Questions? info@readinghorizons.com