Administering the BRI

1. Administering the BRI (Basic Reading Inventory) Adams 12 Five Star Schools District Literacy Team DLT, Fall 2010

2. Standardization • Follow the procedures as outlined in this packet—when in doubt, refer to the District Protocol, or contact the District Literacy Team. • DO NOT REFER TO MANUAL! DLT, Fall 2010

3. Who gets what? • Kindergarten through third grades use PALS • Fourth grade use Form LE*, if a student does not pass LE go to Form A grade 2 or lower. • Fifth grade use Form LE*, if a student does not pass LE go to Form A (text not used last year) grade 3 or lower. • Fourth and Fifth grades, below grade level, fluency scoring using the fluency rubric in the curriculum frameworks (see the green section, page 6.5 in the Language Arts Curriculum Framework) • *Midyear use forms LN & B DLT, Fall 2010

4. What do we use and when? • BRI should be used in the fall and the spring and will be entered into Scholarsmart. • Fall scores entered by September 24, 2010 • Midyear scores for non-proficient entered by January 21, 2011 • Spring scores entered by May 20, 2011 DLT, Fall 2010

5. Suggested 2-Year Ceiling BRI scores aren’t used to show growth. Instead they are a diagnostic tool to guide instruction. So it is recommended to stay within a 2 year ceiling when testing. For example, 3rd grade is considered grade level for a 4th grader at the beginning of the year. Assessing should stop at 5th grade if a student proficiently passes the passage with instructional comprehension. Why? Instructionally a student needs to have a deeper understanding of the text, instead of maxing out to the highest decodablity level. DLT, Fall 2010

6. How do you administer the BRI?Get Ready! • Prepare your testing space with the materials you need • Student masters (DO NOT COPY) of the word lists Form B, and graded passages Form LE • Teacher copies of the word lists and graded passages (a.k.a., performance booklet) • Pencil/pen, and/or highlighter for scoring • Timer for testing fluency • . . .and a quiet place for testing! DLT, Fall 2010

7. How do you administer the BRI?Get Set! • Take a moment to establish rapport with the child . . . • To watch a video of a teacher building rapport, insert the DVD from your BRI manual and • click on: “Teacher/Student Rapport Video.” • *Explain the purpose. • Example: “Good morning. The reason why we’re here is so you can show me how you read and how you think about your reading. This helps me start to know some things I’ll need to do as your teacher.” • *Outline the assessment procedures • Example: “Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to read a short passage and then I’ll ask you some questions about it when you finish. So you want to make sure you do your best and think about all the good things good readers do while they read.” • *You may explore the student’s interests • Some examples: • “What do you like to read?” “What is reading?” • “What do you do when you have time to do what you want? ” “What do you do when you come to a hard word?” “What is the easiest thing about reading?” “What’s the hardest thing about reading?” • *Answer any questions the student might have • Example: “Do you have any questions for me before we get started?” DLT, Fall 2010

8. How do you administer the BRI?Go! • Determine the starting point: • Administer word lists, starting with a level that you believe the child will be successful. • To watch an example of a teacher administering a word list to a student, insert the DVD from your BRI manual and click on: Administering Third-Grade Word List Video.” DLT, Fall 2010

9. Considerations • Use word lists to choose passage, NOT to determine reading level. • Be sure both teacher and student each have their copy of the word list. • Recording: • Put a “c” next to correct responses or leave blank • Write the phonetic equivalents next to incorrect responses • Write “sc” indicating when the child self-corrected immediately DLT, Fall 2010

10. Administering Graded Word Lists • Set the student up for success: begin with a word list that will be easy for the student • Have the student pronounce the words rapidly. Record the words that are not pronounced correctly in the sight column. At the end of the list, have the student reread the mispronounced words and record the second pronunciation in the analysis column. • Proceed to the graded reading passage: begin at the highest grade level at which the student correctly pronounced 19 or 20 words on a graded word list. Continue reading passages until student is no longer instructional level. DLT, Fall 2010

11. Important Reminders *At or above grade-level readers read the passages silently first, then answer comprehension questions. At the end, read orally for the miscue analysis. *Below grade-level readers read passages orally while teacher completes miscue analysis, then answers comprehension questions. DLT, Fall 2010

12. Administering the BRI: Reading 1. Begin with the grade level passage at which the student correctly and fluently pronounced 19 or 20 words on a graded word list (Independent Level). If the student is instructional level, continue testing as long as the word list is instructional. 2. Cover the student master of the passage with heavy paper so only the title shows. Have the student read the title of the passage and predict what it might be about. Jot the student’s response. 3. Tell the student to read the passage silently for at or above grade-level readers, orally for below grade-level readers and think about the passage, because comprehension questions will be asked. If the student reads silently, note and record any lip movement (LM), finger pointing (FP), or vocalization (V), for diagnosticpurposes only. To watch example of a student reading, insert the DVD from your BRI manual and click on: “Administering Second Grade Reading Passage .” 4. After the student finishes the passage, cover or remove the graded passage before asking the comprehension questions. To see a video of the comprehension question section, insert the DVD from your BRI manual and click on “Comprehension Questions Video.” DLT, Fall 2010

13. Administering the BRI:Below-Grade-Level Readers • Student reads passage orally and teacher conducts the miscue analysis and times for fluency. • Ask comprehension questions and record responses. • Scoring Miscues • Be consistent with the coding in miscues. (Remember to count total miscues.) DLT, Fall 2010

14. Administering the BRI:At or Above Grade-Level Readers • Students read passage silently. • Ask the comprehension questions and record responses. • Have student read the passage orally; teacher records miscues (may be done on 100 words of the passage. • Scoring Miscues • Be consistent with the coding in miscues. (Remember to count total miscues.) DLT, Fall 2010

15. Administering the BRI:At or Above Grade-Level Readers • If a student’s comprehension score falls within the instructional range (75% - 85%), have him/her read the passage aloud and record miscues. There is no need to administer the oral reading portion if the passage is at the student’s frustrational level. • Continue administering graded passages until the student is unable to answer more than 2 1/2 of the comprehension questions, makes so many miscues that a frustrational level is apparent, or reaches the 2 year ceiling. DLT, Fall 2010

16. OOPS!!! The publishers mislabeled the DVD. The reading portion is accidentally labeled “Second-Grade Word List” Video! DLT, Fall 2010

17. What are the codes for miscues? DLT, Fall 2010

18. Administering the BRI:Comprehension • Refer to DVD section: • Record and evaluate the student’s response to each question with a plus (+) for a correct response or a minus (-) for an incorrect response. Partial credit (1/2) may also be given, but only on two-part answers. • Continue with subsequent passages until the student is unable to satisfactorily answer at least 75% of the comprehension questions or makes many miscues. • Do not ask students to provide a retell prior to asking the comprehension questions. If, in response to question 1, the student provides a retell then script it and those questions answered through the retell need not be asked. DLT, Fall 2010

19. Important Reminders • Student answers need not conform exactly to the answers on the recording sheets, however in order to receive credit student responses must demonstrate understanding of and congruence with information in the passage. • A neutral probe: “Tell me more” may be used to help students elaborate on partial answers. • Be sure to watch for [any 2] or the word ‘and’ indicating two answers must be given to receive full credit. • A semi-colon (;) or the word ‘or’ indicates only answer one part is needed to receive full credit. DLT, Fall 2010

20. Scholarsmart:What should be recorded? The student’s highest instructional level within the 2 grade levels above ceiling should be recorded in Scholarsmart, as determined by: Comprehension and Word Recognition must be Instructional Level or above! (counting only total miscues) DLT, Fall 2010

21. What is considered grade level? DLT, Fall 2010

22. So, what if . . .? . . .the comprehension score and word recognition scores are not in alignment? The comprehension score becomes the determining factor. However, the nature and number of miscues should be an indication of instructional needs for this child. DLT, Fall 2010

23. Administering BRI: Fluency • For LAP students only • Time the student for 60 seconds during the oral reading portion of the test in an inconspicuous manner • Mark the 60-second spot in the text • Use the fluency rubric found in the green section (6.5) of the curriculum framework instead of the information found in the BRI manual DLT, Fall 2010

24. Next steps… • What does this mean for my instruction? • Summary sheets in appendix C (starting on p. 529) can help analyze: • miscues • comprehension strengths and needs • fluency • Where do I go next? • Examples for instructional next steps can be found chapter 4, starting on p. 61. DLT, Fall 2010

25. FAQs • Should I help students with words they don’t know? • The recommended procedure is to remain silent. (see DVD--word list video for example) If the student makes no attempt, teacher should respond, “Do the best you can” or “Go on”. (Refer to Scoring Key to determine scoring.) • Are the answers provided with the comprehension questions the only acceptable answers? • If a child’s response is logical, reasonable and demonstrates understanding of the passage, you may give credit for the answer. DLT, Fall 2010

26. MORE FAQs 3. Is it acceptable to reword questions that the student doesn’t seem to understand? Yes, if you can do so in a way that does not provide information that helps the student answer the question. 4. Others? DLT, Fall 2010

27. What’s the bottom line? For standardization and Scholarsmart scores, follow the protocol verbatim. For diagnosis, do what’s necessary to understand and design instruction for the student’s needs. DLT, Fall 2010